As followers of Jesus, we have a commission and it is about much more than we usually make it. This is a video I did for Leadership Networks online conference the NINES last Friday. It was given to church leaders, but regardless of your place in the body of Christ I hope it is challenging or encouraging to you.
SCOTT LEHR THE NINES 2012B – Computer from Southbridge Fellowship on Vimeo.
We are commanded to “make disciples.” Have you ever wondered what exactly is a disciple? We can’t know if we have made someone a disciple, if we don’t know what a disciple is.
Very simply the term disciple means a learner. However, we know from looking at the New Testament pattern that the kind of disciple we are commanded to make is more than someone who simply learns information. We can see it is someone who experiences transformation. I believe when we look at the pattern of the New Testament we see four key characteristics of a disciple.
1. Saved: A disciples has trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior. As Jesus says to Nicodemus, they have been born again (John 3:1-21). That is the reason John wrote his gospel (John 20:30-31). There is saving power in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). The invitation is for everyone (John 3:16-17, Romans 10:9-13; Titus 3:5). The first mark of a disciple is that they are saved.
2. Surrendered: The decision to trust Jesus as Savior is not the final decision to surrender to Jesus Christ. The life of a disciple is characterized as a life of faith (Hebrews 11:6), which is a life of continual surrender. The first step of surrender after salvation is baptism. The very passage that commands us to make disciples commands that we baptize them (Matthew 28:18-20). Baptism is the New Testament way of declaring to the world that you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. The second mark of a disciple is that they are surrendered.
3. Relating: What we see naturally happens as a pattern in the New Testament after someone trusts Jesus as their savior is that they get into relationships that are grounded in God’s Word. Acts 2 is an excellent example. In one day 3,000 people had repented of their sin, trusted Jesus as their Savior, been baptized and then we see that they were meeting together regularly (Acts 2:40-47). They were in relationship with one another. As you look through the New Testament you see command after command that requires that we are in close relationships with other believers. They are called the one anothers of scripture. Things like “Be devoted to one another” (Romans 12:10), “confess sin to one another” (James :16). These types of commands can only be fulfilled when a disciple is in authentic relationships with other followers of Jesus. The third mark of a disciples is that they are in relationship with other disciples of Jesus. This is one of the reasons why being a part of a local church is so important.
4. Reproducing: We also, see that a genuine disciple is reproducing themselves by sharing their faith. The easiest passage to demonstrate this from is Matthew 28:18-20, but we see it everywhere. That is what the book of Acts is all about. That is why you see Paul starting so many churches after his conversion. This is the reason why God leaves us here after we trust Jesus as our Savior. He could beam us straight to heaven, but instead He leaves us here to seek and save the lost. It goes beyond merely leading them to the saving knowledge of Jesus though, we are to help them grow as well. Part of the Great Commission is that we teach them everything Jesus has taught us. The fourth mark of a disciples is that they are sharing their faith with others so they too can be saved and in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
For more on making disciples you can watch a sermon I preached on this here: Engage
These are the four key marks of a disciple that I see when I study the New Testament. I will conclude with two simple questions:
1. Are you a disciple who demonstrates all four of these characteristics? Are you saved, baptized, in biblical relationships with other believers and sharing your faith with people who are yet to know Jesus then teaching them to grow in that new relationship?
2. Do you see more or less characteristics of a disciple as the New Testament pattern of discipleship?
Last Sunday we commissioned or third short term team from Southbridge for their trip to Madagascar Africa to minister alongside our missionaries Grant and Jodie Waller. Here is an update from the Waller’s to help you better pray for them and our short term team.
Dear Prayer Team,
Well our last month has come before we head for stateside assignment. Aside from all of the excitement of preparing for being in America for the next 4 months, we are also preparing for a mission team from Southbridge Fellowship. This is a particularly exciting trip, as the team will begin implementation of a long-term community development plan we have been working on. Please pray for this team as we work together to see the vision of life change among the Mahafaly come into fruition!
As we look back on the last four years, we are amazed at all God has done in Southwest Madagascar. Here are just a few things that God has allowed us to be a part of…
* We have learned Malagasy and are both fluent enough to be able to develop meaningful relationships, share the Gospel, and disciple growing believers
* Our team has grown from just our family to over 21 people!
* Hundreds of previously unreached Mahafaly people have accepted Christ as their personal savior
* 4 Mahafaly villages are being transformed by God’s power as they have begun the process of forming into churches
* We have been able to develop meaningful relationships with 5 local churches in Tulear and are ministering alongside them
* We have developed an exciting partnership with Southbridge Fellowship in reaching the Mahafaly for Christ
* The Adopt-a-Village program has developed into 50 groups (Sunday School classes, families, GAs, WMU, community groups, etc) adopting villages for prayer!
* The start of a local Baptist seminary in Tulear
* The beginning of incorporating a community development plan among the Mahafaly
* We have seen significant relationship growth with University students and staff through several special events
* 2 of the 5 Southwest people groups are now officially engaged! And the team is working hard to learn about and minister to the other 3!
Really, this list is just the surface of what God has done in the last few years in Southwest Madagascar. He has done so much more than we could have ever imagined! Thank you for being so faithful and committed in praying with us to reach these people. We can’t wait to be back in America and get to share with you first hand how God has been working in our lives and in the lives of the people here.
See you soon!
Grant, Jodie, Elijah, Titus & Baby #3
Family BLOG: wallerfamilymadagascar.blogspot.com
Team Website: madaboutstories.com
Please pray for the Waller’s and our Southbridge team who is currently with them in Madagascar.
Here are the vows that many of the husbands and wives of Southbridge exchanged today:
Wives: I vow to honor and respect my husband, as an act unto the Lord. I promise to be faithful to him, to speak well of him, and to help him lead our family. I vow to willingly submit to his leadership.
I believe our marriage is to be a picture of the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ for lost sinners like me. I promise to submit to the Spirit of God and allow Him to lead me in my relationship with my husband, understanding we both have a mission of sharing the love of Jesus with a lost world, and knowing that part of that mission is uniquely carried out in our relationship.
Husbands: I vow to love my wife as Jesus loves His church. I promise to be faithful to her, to protect her, and to provide for her.
I believe our marriage is about more than we see on a daily basis. I believe our marriage is to be a picture of the gospel, seen by how we relate to one another. I realize I have a high calling to love my wife like Jesus Christ loves the church. I vow to give myself to my wife with the same kind of selflessness Jesus demonstrated in giving Himself for me. I promise to submit to the Spirit of God, as I lead my wife spiritually to present her before Jesus as a beautiful woman without wrinkle or blemish, as close to Jesus as I can possibly lead her. I vow to love my wife as Jesus loves me. I promise to live in a marriage on mission to share Jesus with a lost world, by sacrificially and selflessly loving my wife and looking out for her best interest above my own.