Day 73: Disciple

I can't really believe that it is 2012 already. I brought in the New Year with dear friends, people who I know God has blessed me with for specific reasons. At midnight, I was already being blessed, which was ridiculously encouraging.


This morning I got into my Sunday rhythm, even though I desperately wanted a few more winks of sleep. It may not have been the best idea for me to go to sleep around 2:30 when I knew I had to be at the 8 am, but that's neither here nor there :)

I went to church, found my amazing buddy Kade and friend Yeonsoo, and spent the morning learning about God's faithfulness to Joshua. We were in and out of the lesson, because sometimes Kade needs “me” time, especially if he is overwhelmed. But, we were in long enough to hear and learn about the scripture verse, which was Romans 8:37 – “We are more than conquers through Him who loved us.”
It was a very interesting way to start the new year, remembering that anything is possible through Christ, and that we can overcome anything that may have overwhelmed us before when we allow Christ to reign in our lives.

After being blessed by Kade, which happens every time because he's so awesome (today he asked me if the Christmas gift I gave him was a car, or a tub...LOL), I went to work in the coffee ministry. And, after that, it was finally time to sit in on the noon service.

Since we finished our series on Salt + Light, JM did a standalone teaching on John 20: 19-23.
In this passage, the resurrected Jesus appears to his disciples:

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

First, Jesus finds the disciples hiding from Jewish leaders. JM's first big point was that the natural bent of the church is to hide and lock the doors. We are so often content with “playing church” that we rarely step out from our doors and Christian bubbles and attempt to live out what it means to be the church. We live in fear, and sometimes doubt, wondering what people will think about us when we share the gospel, or what they will think of our lives.

We are naturally inclined to believe what we know to be true and to keep it to ourselves as opposed to opening ourselves up to others and sharing what we have. And this so resonates with me. It's easy to be a Christian when you are around other believers. But how about at work? Or with a family that doesn't know the Lord? That is when we need to be bold, but we tend to hide.

This also flows into the idea of what it means to follow Jesus, instead of just being a Christian. Sadly, it is possible in our society to be a “Christian” and not a disciple. Well over half of our population will identify as Christian without even really knowing what that means. The term Christian started out as a derogatory term, and is quickly making its way back there because of the way we as Christians are handling ourselves. We are saying one thing, but doing another.

A disciple, on the other hand, is a follower, and really an apprentice to their teacher. In the bible, the word Christian is only used three times, but the term disciple litters the pages. Being a disciple is not only knowing the truth, but living the truth.

I could care less about being a Christian. I want to be a disciple.

Jesus, after finding his disciples hiding and showing them his wounds to further prove who he is, gives his peace to them and then speaks of sending them as the father has sent him.

This is where the great commission comes in; Jesus sends us out to the world as He was sent out. This is where fear and doubt can start to creep back in. But, this is also where we can overcome, and where we are more than conquerers through Him who loved us!

God does not call the equipped, but he equips the called, and it is the same here. Immediately after speaking on how the disciples were to be sent out, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into them and they received it. This is reminiscent of the garden, and God breathing life into Adam. We are incapable of doing anything apart from the Spirit, which is why Jesus breathes it into the disciples.

But, the key is that we have to receive it. If we don't receive the Holy Spirit, we can do nothing..and it's not just us. Because Jesus is both man and God, we assume that He is able to do everything because He is God.

We forget that God limited himself in Jesus so that he could show us how to live in humanity. Jesus was ABLE through the Spirit to do everything that he did.

And that same spirit lives in us.

Now, we're not Jesus...or even close, of course, but the Spirit that lives within us is the exact same. Through the Spirit we are able, just as Jesus was when he received it.

The last part of the passage talks about the forgiveness of sins. When we receive the Holy Spirit, and become disciples of Jesus, we are able to preach the gospel of the resurrected Christ. And, in that gospel, we are given authority to tell anyone and everyone that they have been forgiven of their sins through Jesus. We are not forgiving them for their sins, but we are telling them that Christ already has.

But, with this, we are also given authority to bring people back to Jesus in love, when we know that they are off the path of Jesus. When we can see that disciples are falling away, we are called to remind them of who God is, and what He's done for them. We are called to bring our brothers and sisters to repentance when they are in sin, and to remind them that God is there to forgive a repentant heart.

After breaking down the passage, JM recapped and clued us into a few take away thoughts:

1. We are called to live as disciples. Follow Jesus, and be an apprentice. Learn the ways of your teacher and then live them out. Jesus wants us to either be hot or cold; lukewarm will not do. You are either for Jesus, or against Him, but all he honestly wants is for you to make up your mind.
   
2. We are disciples together. You need community in order to be a disciple. If you want to grow and develop in your walk with Jesus, you need to be surrounded by other believers and disciples. Just like Jesus found his disciples together, so we must be as well, but not hiding behind locked doors. We must be bold – together.
   
3. We are called to live on mission and live out what Jesus teaches. Find out where God has called you, and who He has called you to go with.
   
   

And, lastly, the questions that resonated the most with me were these:
What are you going to follow in the new year? What are you doing to give your life to?

Will we give our lives to money, success, marriage, romance, dating, hedonism, pleasure, food, drink, entertainment, the weekend? Will we accept that this is all God made for us? Is there something more?

Here's what's up:
There is a King and a kingdom who has created you for so much more. Live in light of what you were created to do. Live as a disciple, following your teacher in knowledge and deed.

Ask yourselves these questions, and really answer.  Think about them deeply and let God's voice wash over you.  Have no fear; walk worthy of the call He has placed in your life.



In Christ,



Lilia