Category Archives: Evangelism

Telling Others about Jesus

by

What does it mean to make disciples who make disciples? Well, it may mean many different things to different people, but it all starts with seeing people in the same way that God sees them. It starts by seeing every person as someone special who’s been created in the image of God. Every individual person has been created in the image of God because God wants to have a relationship with that person.

And we make disciples by being very intentional in all we do, to point others to Jesus. Making disciples who make disciples is primarily about being intentional in all of our actions and in all of our relationships to move people in the direction of being more like Jesus.

We want others and we want ourselves to look and be more like Jesus. Five-weeks, ten-weeks from now, 6-months, 12-months from now, will we be more like Jesus than we are right now? Our friends or co-workers now, who don’t yet know Jesus, will they know more about who Jesus is and why it is worth it to give their whole lives to follow him? Will they know more about that in the weeks and months to come than they do right now?

Here’s a helpful visual. If we were to think of a number line—this number line has positive and negative numbers on it. It’s numbered from a negative 10 all the way to a positive 10. Negative 10 represents someone who is a militant atheist. This person gets aggressive at the very thought of God. That individual represents a negative 10.

A little further up the scale, we have a friend who’s heard the good news about Jesus. She may even be able to explain the good news to us, but she hasn’t yet repented of her sin and trusted in Jesus. She may be represented on the scale at a negative one or two.

Zero is the moment that a person actually comes to faith in Christ.

So, we have a family member who just became a Christian in the last month. She’s so excited to be a Christian, but she doesn’t know what following Jesus looks like. She would be a positive one or positive two.

And then we have someone who has been faithfully following Jesus for decades. He regularly practices spiritual disciplines. He tells others about Jesus. He may be a 7 or an 8 on the scale. [No one actually makes it all the way to positive 10 until we are finally glorified and with Jesus in heaven!]

So, we have this scale. We can all picture the scale in our minds. We may even have friends, family members, and co-workers, who, if we were asked, we could put them at some point along that scale.

Now, our job, in making disciples who make disciples, is to move that person to the right on that scale (toward the higher numbers). Now, it’s extremely important for us to understand that this is ultimately a work of God. “We” don’t do it. God does it. But God uses us as his means to accomplish this. He uses us as we open and share the Word of God with these individuals. He uses us as we are prayerfully dependent on the Holy Spirit to work.

So, for our militant atheist friend who is currently a negative ten, if we could, by God’s grace, get him to the point where he would acknowledge the possibility that a supreme being exists, that would be a win. He’s moved from a negative 10 to a negative 9 or maybe a negative 8. He’s moving in the right direction.

Now, of course, our ultimate goal is present everyone mature in Christ so we should have a godly desire to see this friend actually get to a zero and then to grow in Christ, but it’s still a win for him to move from a negative 10 to a negative 8.

And for our family member who just became a Christian in the last month, by God’s grace, we hope that she’ll move from a positive 1 to a positive 3 in the next twelve months.

We’re making disciples who make disciples by moving people to the right on that scale.

So, I have two questions to leave you with. First, what number would represent where you’re at right now on that scale? Second, if you’re a Christian, what are you doing to help move others (and yourself) to the right on that scale?

If we’re going to make disciples who make disciples, we have to open our Bibles and tell others about Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

by

Matthew 21 has been called the beginning of the end—the beginning of the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Here’s how Matthew 21 shows us that Jesus is the long-awaited King. There are three testimonials.

First, we have the testimony of Jesus himself.

Matthew 21:1–3
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

During the Passover week, the population in Jerusalem would swell to 3 to 4 million people. It would have been an amazing sight—to see the number of religious pilgrims flooding into the city.

But Jesus and his closest disciples would have only made up 13-people. In a crowd of 3- to 4-million people, by themselves they likely wouldn’t even have been noticed at all. But Jesus does something unusual. He does something that he’s never done before. Jesus sends two of his disciples ahead to fetch a donkey so that he can ride into the city on a donkey.

But they’re not fetching the donkey because Jesus is tired of walking. Everywhere he’s gone in his earthly ministry, he’s walked. The average person didn’t ride an animal. That was reserved for rich people, or for people who couldn’t walk for themselves—like Mary when she was pregnant with Jesus.

Jesus is asking for the donkey because he’s wanting to make a statement. He wants to stand out. He wants people to notice him—but not in a prideful kind of way. He’s making a statement about who he is. He’s wanting the people to see that he’s the king that they’ve been waiting for, but at the same time he’s going to show them that he’s not the king that they think they’ve been waiting for.

Jesus is going to ride into town on a donkey, not on a warhorse. Jesus is going to come into town humbly. He’s going to come into town as someone who wants to save his people. But he’s not going to save them in the way they think they need saving. They think their coming King is going to drive the Romans out of the land. They think their coming King is going rule with force. But that’s not who Jesus is. Jesus is a servant King. He’s a savior King. He’s a humble King. He’s a gentle King.

So, Jesus sends for a donkey. This is the first testimony that this Jesus is indeed the long-awaited King.

The second testimony is the testimony of scripture. In verse 5, Matthew quotes the Old Testament prophet Zechariah. He quotes from Zechariah 9:9. Time won’t permit us to look at every verse in Zechariah’s prophecy, but I do want to focus on one quick idea in Zechariah’s prophesy.

Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

“Behold, your king is coming to you.” The clear promise of scripture here is that a king is coming. That Matthew, who is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would use this passage in the context of Jesus coming into Jerusalem tells us that Jesus is this King.

This isn’t Jesus making a big deal of himself. This is the testimony of scripture. Jesus is the long-awaited King.

Third, we have the testimony of the people.

Matthew 21:7–11
7 They [that’s the two disciples] They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. [i.e., he sat on the cloaks—he didn’t straddle both donkeys] 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

A close reading of this passage shows us that there are three groups of people here. First, there are the two disciples in verse 7. Those two are the ones who return with the donkeys and they put their cloaks on the donkeys.

Second, there’s the crowd that’s singing “Hosanna.” They’re described in verses 8 and 9 and 11.

And third, there’s the crowd in Jerusalem. They’re the ones who don’t know what to make of Jesus. This group is described in verse 10.

What typically happens when we read this passage is this. We typically conflate the second and the third group, and then we talk about how fickle the crowd is. We’ll say things like, “The same crowd that was singing his praises just a few days prior is now crying out for Jesus to be crucified.”

But that’s missing the point of what’s happening here. This second crowd, who are singing his praises, are some of the fellow pilgrims making their way into the city. They’re the ones, according to John’s Gospel, who were with Jesus when Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb.

The third group, on the other hand, the crowd in Jerusalem, are likely Jerusalem natives. According to Luke’s Gospel and John’s Gospel, they’re likely a part of the Pharisees.

Here’s the point. Different people respond in different ways to Jesus.

Some, who are familiar with the work that he’s done, see Jesus for who he really is, and as a result, they respond with praise and enthusiasm. They recognize him as the Son of David. They recognize him as the promised Davidic King. And they give everything to follow Jesus. These are pilgrims on a journey, and they give their very cloaks to honor their King. The cloak would have been the most valuable possession these pilgrims had with them.

And then there are those who are happy with the status quo. They don’t want things to change. They’re happy with their positions of power, and they don’t want to give that up even if it means finding the Messiah. They’re the ones who react with scorn. “Who is this?” “Who does this person think he is?”

And the crowd that had been praising Jesus all along, they respond with these words, “He’s a prophet. That’s who he is. He’s a prophet.”

But please don’t underestimate their response. We may think that this second group got it wrong. Or at least we may want to tell them that they don’t have it all the way right. But what they’ve said is profound. They’re response that Jesus is prophet is a profound response. The Jewish people had been looking for a prophet ever since Moses. Moses promised the people that God would one day send another prophet to them.

Deuteronomy 18:15–19
15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

Friends, Jesus is that prophet. Jesus is that long-awaited prophet. According to the book of Hebrews, Jesus is the better Moses. Jesus is greater than Moses (Heb 3).

Listen to the testimony of scripture. This is Hebrews 3.

Hebrews 3:1–3a
1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses.

There were two testimonies given by the people. One was a testimony of faithfulness and belief. The other was a testimony of faithlessness and unbelief. Which testimony will you give Jesus today?

Walking Together

by

Perhaps you’ve read church membership covenants that are full of the language of “I” and “my”—first person SINGULAR throughout the covenant—no references to “we” or “our.”

Is this a problem for a church membership covenant? Is this significant? I would argue that it’s extremely significant.

But you might think that I’m making a mountain over a molehill. But this isn’t me making a mountain out of a molehill. This has everything to do with understanding what the church is.

We’re not the church individually. We’re the church collectively. Individually, we’re a part of the church. Individually, we’re members of the church, but we’re not the church individually.

In Ephesians 4:1, Paul urges his readers, “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” In our English language this fact may get past us since we have only one word for “you”—whether we’re speaking of the singular “you” or plural “you all” or “y’all.”

But the language that the New Testament was written in is more precise than that. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, and in Koine Greek there’s one word for singular “you” and there’s a completely different word for the plural “y’all.”

And, yes, I’m sure you’ve already guessed it, the “you” that Paul uses in this verse is the plural “y’all.” He goes on to expand on that by using the language of “bearing with one another” in verse 2.

The “one another” phrase clearly spells out the importance of relationship. It spells out the importance of community. But this isn’t the only place in the New Testament that talks about how we treat “one another.” Tthere are nearly 60 passages in the New Testament alone that speak of “one another.”

  • Encourage one another (1 Thess 5:11)
  • Bear with one another (Col 3:12–17)
  • Forgive one another (Col 3:12–17)
  • Teach one another (Col 3:12–17)
  • Serve one another (Gal 5:13–15)
  • Confess our sins to one another (Jas 5:16)
  • Honor one another (Rom 12:10)
  • Love one another (John 13:34–35)

And we could go on! The point is simple and clear. We weren’t made to live by ourselves. We weren’t meant to struggle by ourselves. We weren’t meant to pursue Jesus by ourselves. We’re meant to do that in community—with one another.

Here’s something important I tell people when they join the church. When you join a church, you’re giving permission to your fellow church members to get in your business! That’s what you’re doing when you join a church.

And the flip side of that is true also. When we as a people receive someone into church membership, we’re telling that person that he or she has permission to get into our business.

We’re saying to one another, “I love you enough to allow you to speak the truth of God’s Word into my life, and I love you enough to speak the truth of God’s Word into your life.”

Friends, we were made for this. We were made to live in community. The “we” language of a church covenant is EXTREMELY important. We do this together.

God Is Faithful

by

How do we respond to God? When God shows himself faithful to us, do we respond with faith in return? The history of God’s people paints a different picture.

In Nehemiah 9, the Levites recount God’s steadfast faithfulness to his chosen people.

In verse 7, we’re reminded that God was with his people from the beginning, since Abraham. We’re reminded of God’s faithfulness to his people when God rescued them from Egypt (verses 9ff). We’re reminded of God’s faithfulness to his people while they wandered in the wilderness (verse 21). And we’re reminded of God’s faithfulness during the period of the judges (verse 27).

Again and again, we’re reminded of God’s faithfulness to his people.

But God’s people didn’t always respond with similar faithfulness towards God.

In verse 16, we’re told of how God’s people had “acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey [God’s] commandments” (cf. verse 29). We’re reminded of how they fashioned a golden calf for themselves (verse 18).

Yet in response to the unfaithfulness of his people, God responded with grace and mercy.

Nehemiah 9:17
But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

We’re reminded again and again of God’s faithfulness towards his people, and we’re reminded again and again of their own unfaithfulness. The whole history of God’s people is that of a people who do absolutely NOTHING to deserve God’s love and faithfulness, yet he gives it to them at every turn.

Time after time, God is faithful, and then God’s people are unfaithful in response.

But, lest we be too hard on these people who lived centuries ago, let’s remember this. We are those people. We’re the same people.

Here’s what I mean. You and I have done NOTHING to deserve God’s love and faithfulness. The Bible even goes so far as to say that you and I deserve the opposite of his love and faithfulness. We deserve his wrath (cf. Ephesians 2). That’s what we deserve. That’s what we’ve earned.

At most every turn, when God shows himself faithful to us, we rebel against him. We choose our own way instead of his way. In many ways, we live as a stiff-necked people—just like they did.

And what does God do? What does God do in response to our rebellion? What does he do in response to our stiff-necks?

In response to our rebellion, God sent us his Son—his only Son, Jesus Christ. In response to our sin, God sent Jesus to bear the penalty that we owe for our sin. In response to our stiff-necks, God provides a way in which we can be reconciled to him.

We didn’t deserve it. We hadn’t earned it. It was an act of sheer grace. But praise be to God for his never-ending mercies!

Because Jesus bore our sins on the cross and because God raised Jesus from the dead, all who turn from their sins and believe in or trust in Christ, ALL who do that will be saved—all who do that will inherit eternal life.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter how unworthy you think you are. Because where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (Rom 5:20).

But you need to trust in Christ Jesus. You need to lay hold of the gift of God through his Son Jesus. If you’ve never done that, you can do it today! You can do it right now. You can call out to God and trust in him today.

For his glory,
Pastor Brian

Loving Your Enemies

by

Jesus said a lot of countercultural things when he walked on this earth, but near the top of that list has to be when he told his followers to “love their enemies.” It’s hard enough to just love our neighbor—which is something else that Jesus told us to do—but to love our enemies—for many of us, that’s just a bridge too far. Why should I love my enemies?

Many people will recall that in 2012 the whole idea of same-sex marriage was in the media almost every day. It’d be another three-years before the Supreme Court would make same-sex marriage the law of the land, but in 2012 the movement was already gaining widespread momentum.

In May of 2012, President Obama addressed his “evolution” on the issue—he was for it, then he was against it, and then he was for it again. The whole country was in an uproar. There wasn’t any middle ground. There wasn’t a safe space to hide and avoid the controversy.

That summer, Dan Cathy—COO of Chick-fil-a—announced his opposition to same-sex marriage, and as a result of his announcement, Chick-fil-a was immediately thrown into the cultural firestorm.

There were those who adamantly disagreed with Chick-fil-a’s stance and they threatened to boycott Chick-fil-a, and there were those who equally as adamantly agreed with Chick-fil-a’s stance and they rushed to Chick-fil-a in droves. It was—if you will—a political stalemate.

But maybe you wonder, what did Dan Cathy do? What did Cathy do while some were threatening boycotts and others were cheering support?

According to media reports, here’s what he did. He decided to move toward his “enemy.” Cathy decided to reach out to Shane Windmeyer—the founder and executive director of Campus Pride, a pro-LGBT campus group. Windmeyer was a gay activist and an openly gay man.

Cathy reached out to him because Cathy wanted to hear more about LGBT concerns regarding Chick-fil-a. Cathy said this about why he reached out to Windmeyer.

“We don’t have to agree with our enemies but we still have to honor and love them.”

Not long after that meeting, Windmeyer told the Huffington Post that he considered Cathy a friend.

How might our lives—how might our culture—look different if instead of cutting off relationships, we chose to say, “I don’t share your convictions on such-and-such topic, but I would like to hear more about why this is so important to you.”

How might our lives and our culture look different if we began to be civil to one another again? How might our lives and our culture look different is we began to love our enemies?

Kathy Litton, a pastor’s wife in Mobile, Alabama, wrote this profound statement. “As long as I think of my enemies as ‘bad’ people, they will remain my enemy. The moment I choose to see them with a gospel lens, is the moment I can truly love my enemies.”

Jesus has called us to live counter-cultural lives. There are any number of ways we can live a counter-cultural life for Jesus, but we can start by loving our enemies (see Luke 6:27b). Straight away we notice the counter-cultural nature of Jesus’ call to discipleship. He tells us that we’re to love our enemies.

The word that used here for “enemy” means to “hate someone and wish them injury.” This isn’t just someone with whom you don’t get along. This is someone who wants to see you get hurt. And Jesus tells us that we’re to love that individual or that group of individuals.

There are several different Greek words that are variously translated as “love.” Some of these words are more powerful words for love than others. The word used here is the most powerful of all of those words. It’s agape love. Agape love is a love that seeks the best interest of the other. It’s the kind of love that God has for us.

When God so loved the world—in John 3:16—he “agaped” the world. That’s the type of love that we’re to have for our enemies. That’s the type of love that we’re to have for those who want to bring us harm.

To love someone with agape love is to delight yourself in them. It’s a love that’s not motivated by what the other person can do for you. Agape love is volitional. It’s making a decision of the will to love another.

If we “love” only because we know that we’ll be loved in return, friends, that’s not what Jesus is talking about here—or anywhere else in the New Testament, for that matter. In Luke 6:32, Jesus says, “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.”

Here’s what Jesus is saying.

If I love my wife (and I should love my wife and I do love my wife), it’s a pretty safe bet that I know my wife is going to love me back. And if I love my children (and I should love my children and I do love my children), it’s a pretty safe bet that they’ll love me back.

There’s nothing counter-cultural about that kind of love. Jesus tells us here that even “sinners” love those who will love them back. And by “sinners” here, he’s not referring to the fact that we’re all sinners (cf., Romans 3:23). He’s using sinners here in a more designated sense. He’s talking about those who consciously choose not to follow Christ.

Even they have no problem with loving someone who will love them in return. In essence, he’s saying, “Give me a break. Everyone does that. Everyone loves the person who will love them back.”

So Jesus asks, “what benefit is that for you?” The word translated here as “benefit” is the same Greek word that’s elsewhere translated as “grace” or “favor.” In essence, here’s what Jesus is saying.

“Why should God show you any grace, why should he show you any favor for loving those who love you in return?”

Christians—those who follow Jesus—ought to be different. We ought not to just blend into the crowd. There should be something distinctive about the way we live.

When we see racial injustice, we ought to reply in a way that’s distinctively Christian.

When we see oppression, we ought to reply in a way that’s distinctively Christian.

And here’s why that should happen. When a Christian grasps—I mean when she really begins to understand—what Jesus accomplished on her behalf on the cross, it’ll change everything.

When she begins to understand that it wasn’t because she was such a lovable person that Christ loved her, it’ll change everything.

When she begins to understand that before she came to Christ, she was God’s enemy (cf. Romans 5), and that while she was still God’s enemy, God sent his only Son to die for her, it’ll change everything.

The reason many of us aren’t regularly amazed at God’s great love for us is that we think that we somehow deserve his love. We think we had it coming. It’s almost as if we say to ourselves, “It’s the least God could have done for me.” That seems to be the attitude that many people have.

But no, no, no, friends, listen. We don’t deserve God’s love. We deserve God’s wrath. But listen closely, friends. Here’s the glorious news. Even though we deserve God’s wrath, God sent his wrath on his Son Jesus as he hung on that cross. Jesus took the wrath that we deserve. And in return God sent his love to us.

It’s what Martin Luther called the great exchange. Jesus takes our sin, and God gives us his Son’s righteousness. And why did he do that? For the joy set before him (Heb 12:2)—because he loved us.

And because he loves us, his love transforms us. John the apostle said it this way. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

His love transforms us. Because he loved us, we’re able to love even the vilest of sinners. Because he loved us, we’re able to love our enemies.

Do you see? Because of his love for us, our attitude toward others is changed. We now have an attitude of love for others—and not just those who love us in return.

So, why should we love our enemies? Because the love of Christ has transformed our hearts and his love for us compels us to love our enemies.

A Country Full of Idols

by

When Paul visited Athens, his spirit was provoked within him because the city was full of idols (Acts 17:16). As I write this, I am in a country full of idols—more than 300 million idols to be precise! Each day as I drive down the streets through the flood of humanity, my heart is broken to know that 999 out of every 1000 people I see are pursuing these false idols.

More than one-sixth of the earth’s population lives in this one country. They are a beautiful people. They are all image bearers of God (Genesis 1:26). Yet they are a people who are far from Christ. They are a people who need the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When questioned about Jesus before the Jewish authorities, Peter said,

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12

Without the gospel of Christ, we are all without hope. I hope you will join with me in praying for these people. Pray that the gospel message will make it to them in time and pray that the Lord would open their hearts to respond to the gospel.

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Romans 10:14–15

Making Disciples who Make Disciples, Part 6 (final)

by

Where to make disciples?

Where are we to make disciples? Here’s the simple answer. Wherever the church is, disciples are to be made. But I’m using the word “church” here in a biblical sense—not in a modern sense. The church doesn’t refer to a building. The church refers to God’s people.

  • So, when God’s people gather on Sunday mornings, we ought to be about disciple making.
  • When God’s people gather in a mid-week home growth group, we ought to be about disciple making.
  • When God’s people share a meal with other, we ought to be about disciple making.
  • When God’s people enjoy recreational activities together, we ought to be about disciple making.

Wherever we find ourselves we should be about making disciples. Whether we’re at home, at work, at school, or just hanging out, we should be about making disciples.

We should be helping other people to grow toward Christlikeness—moving towards Christlikeness. And at the same time we ought to be growing toward Christlikeness ourselves.

But notice this as well. Disciple making doesn’t just happen in our immediate locale, wherever that may be. We’re to make disciples of all the peoples of the world as well. That means that we’re supposed to be strategic and intentional in our disciple making.

It’s not enough to only make disciples in your home town or in your home state. It’s not enough to only make disciples in North America (or whatever continent you live on). Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations.

That word that’s translated “nation” in Matthew 28:19 is the word from which we get our English word “ethnic” or “ethnicity.” So, we’re to make disciples of every ethnic group all over the planet. Not just those who look like us and act like us.

God is greatly glorified when people from diverse backgrounds gather and worship him.

So, where are you going? Are you willing to go as far as the other side of the world to make disciples? Are you willing to go to the other side of the street to make disciples?

Wherever we go—wherever God’s church is—disciple making should be taking place.

Making Disciples who Make Disciples — Part 2

by

Why make disciples?

The easy answer—and the most straightforward answer—to why we should make disciples is “because Jesus told us to do so.” I mean, that should be enough, shouldn’t it?

When you ask your 5-year-old to do something and he says to you, “why?” In a moment of parental exasperation, we say, “Because I told you to. That’s why!”

While this answer is true, it’s often not adequate. There’s more to the why question than a matter of simple obedience. The “why question” might be reframed into a “what question.”

What exactly is happening when a person becomes a disciple of Jesus?

And here we need to understand that every single human being on this planet—all who have ever lived and all who ever will live—every single one of us are born “on the wrong side of the tracks”—spiritually speaking.

The Bible teaches us that at one time we were all “by nature children of wrath” (Eph 2:3), and we were spiritually dead in our trespasses (Eph 2:5). Our sin had separated us from God so that there was a wall between us and God (Isa 59:1–2).

We all deserved God’s wrath to be poured out on us. We weren’t innocent—not one of us. We have earned his righteous wrath (Rom 6:23).

But God in his grace sent his Son into the world. His Son lived a perfect life. His Son was innocent in every sense of that word.

And then that innocent Son went to the cross to bear the penalty that we owed for our sin. As he died on that cross, he wasn’t dying for his sin—remember, he was innocent. No, he was dying for our sins. He was paying the price that we owe.

And then after he died, he was buried, and on the third day he rose victoriously from the grave and defeated even sin, death, and the devil.

So, let’s return to the original question. Why do we make disciples? Yes, we do it because God told us to, but more a important “big picture” answer. The reason we make disciples is because this is the way God rescues sinners from the punishment they deserve.

When you speak to “Unbelieving Bob” about Christ, and Bob turns from his sins and trusts in Christ, let me tell you what just happened. At that moment when Bob trusts in Christ, God rescued him from an eternal hell.

The reason we make disciples is because it’s God’s means of rescuing lost sinners into a relationship with him.

Do you know any sinners in need of rescue?

 

[I’m grateful for Colin Marshall and Tony Payne and their book, The Vine Project, available here. Many of the ideas in this series of blogs have come from this book.]

Making Disciples who Make Disciples — Part 1

by

What’s the main point of the Great Commission?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard countless sermons on the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:18–20
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

But as much as we hear this passage preached, so many people still don’t really have a grasp on what the main point of this passage is.

Is the point of this passage the “authority” that Jesus has? He tells us that he has ALL authority in heaven and on earth—that’s a lot of authority! But, as important as that authority is, that’s not the main point of the passage.

So, maybe the main point is the “going.” Jesus tells us in verse 19 to “go” and make disciples. I know at least half of the sermons I’ve heard on this passage have made “going” the major thrust of this passage, but as important as “going” is, it isn’t the major thrust of the passage.

The word that’s translated, “go,” in the English is actually a participle in the original Greek language. Participles usually serve as adjectives and nouns, rarely (if ever) as main verbs, so we know this isn’t the major thrust of the passage.

There are two other participles in this passage. They are the words that are translated “baptizing” and “teaching.” Once again, “baptizing” and “teaching” are very important, but these things are not the main point of the passage.

In fact, in the Great Commission there’s only one command given. There’s only one thing which Jesus tells his followers, “DO THIS.” And that one thing is found in verse 19. Jesus tells us to “make disciples.”

Really, it’s that simple, friends. Immediately before Jesus ascended into heaven, his final command given to his disciples was to make more disciples.

Over the course of the next few blog posts, I’ll be unpacking what it means to make disciples who make more disciples.

“A Vision for the Lost,” by William Booth

by

I recently read this illustration by William Booth. It cut me to the quick.

 

An-Illustration-of-William-Booth-visionI saw a dark and stormy ocean. Over it the black clouds hung heavily; through them every now and then vivid winds moaned, and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only to rise and foam, tower and break again.

In that ocean I thought I say myriads of poor human beings plunging and floating, shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and as they cursed and screamed they rose and shrieked again, and them some sank to rise no more.

And I saw out of this dark angry ocean, a mighty rock that rose up with its summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the stormy sea. And all around the base of this great rock I saw a vast platform, I saw with delight a number of the poor struggling drowning wretches continually climbing out of the angry ocean. And I saw that a few of those who were already safe on the platform were helping the poor creatures still in the angry waters to reach the place of safety.

On looking more closely I found a number of those who had been rescued, industriously working and scheming by ladders, ropes, boats and other means more effective, to deliver the poor strugglers out of the sea. Here and there were some who actually jumped into the water, regardless of the consequences in their passion to “rescue the perishing.” And I hardly know which gladdened me the most—the sight of the poor drowning people climbing onto the rocks reaching a place of safety, or the devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole being was wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance.

As I looked on, I saw that the occupants of that platform were quite a mixed company. That is, they were divided into different “sets” or classes, and they occupied themselves with different pleasures and employments. But only a very few of them seemed to make it their business to get the people out of the sea.

But what puzzled me most was the fact that though all of them had been rescued at one time or another from the ocean, nearly everyone seemed to have forgotten all about it. Anyway, it seemed the memory of its darkness and danger no longer troubled them at all. And what seemed equally strange and perplexing to me was that these people did not even seem to have a care—that is any agonizing care—about the poor perishing ones who were struggling and drowning right before their very eyes . . . many of whom were their own husbands and wives, brothers and sisters and even their own children.

(William Booth, A Vision for the Lost, as quoted in The Vine Project by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, pages 55-56, Matthias Media)