LIFE: According to Jesus


10/09/2011 - Go & Make



The world lost a great innovator this week. Steven Jobs the genius who founded Apple Computer in his garage died this past Wednesday at the age of 56. He had battled pancreatic cancer since 2004 and had a liver transplant in 2009 but none of that stopped him from innovating and rolling out product after product that have changed the way we live right up until the day before he died when the iPhone 4S was unveiled by the new CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, his hand-picked successor.

In one article I read this week the writer said, "Steve Jobs saw the future and led the world into it. He moved technology from garages to pockets, took entertainment from discs to bytes, and turned gadgets into extensions of the people who use them. Jobs told us what we needed before we wanted it." He had an incredible mind!

Not a lot has been written about Jobs' personal life. Like the company he led he kept much of that in secret. But I've heard a quote a number of times this week that comes from a 2005 commencement speech he delivered at Stanford University.

And in that speech he said this, "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you're going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." That's not a bad perspective on life.

Steve Jobs has a pretty good handle on his own mortality especially during the final years of his life. And it kept him focused on the things that he felt were most important.

I think Jesus would agree with that. Jesus often spoke about death as a means of keeping life in its proper perspective. And life is what Jesus came to give us. "I have come that you may life, and have it to the full," he said, which is summed up pretty well in this short video.

Show Life with God DVD (1:20)

LIFE: According to Jesus, that's what we've been talking about over the last few months and today we're going to wrap up the series, but certainly not wrap up the pursuit of that untamed life that Jesus came to give us. That needs to go on for a lifetime.

We started out by saying that life's a yoke and the life that Jesus offers begins when we link up with him. And when we take his yoke upon us and learn from him he promises that we'll find rest for our souls because his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

And then we said that life's a process, a process by which we move from being curious about Jesus to being convinced about Jesus and then being committed to Jesus and finally continuing to follow Jesus for a lifetime.

And then we looked at the seven marks of a disciple, the things that Jesus said, "Unless you do these you cannot be my disciples." The first was to love Jesus more than anyone or anything else. The second was to abide in his teaching. The third, fourth, and fifth marks were to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow him. Mark number six was to love one another and mark number seven was a commitment to investing our resources into God's kingdom. That's LIFE: According to Jesus.

But not only does Jesus want us to be his disciples he wants us to make disciples of others. In fact, those were his famous last words before he ascended back to the Father.

In Matthew 28:16-20 , a passage often called the Great Commission, we read, Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

For years I thought the main command in this passage was "go." Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations. And I grew up in a church that talked a lot about going. And some in our church did go. They went to places like Europe and Africa and Asia and became full-time missionaries and we supported them and that was wonderful.

And then there were others that tried to go, but they couldn't go because they couldn't raise enough money to go where they wanted to go. But most of us didn't go, at least not that far. We didn't get on planes or boats and cross oceans and learn foreign languages to tell others about Jesus. We thought that was the job of the missionary.

But then I discovered that the main command in this passage is not "go." The main command is "make disciples." In fact, it's best read like this, "As you go, or while you go, or going through life wherever you go and whatever you do make disciples of all nations."

In other words, this is not a command for a select few. Jesus is not speaking only to those who become professional missionaries. This is a command for all of Jesus' followers. In fact, he gave it to a crowd that included both worshipers and doubters alike. That's who Jesus was talking to on the mountain that day. Jesus is inviting all of us to be his disciples, his followers, his learners, and to make disciples as we go through life. That's LIFE: According to Jesus. And that must be our mission as a church as well.

Neil Cole, the founder and executive director of Church Multiplication Associates an organization that has started hundreds of churches across the country and around the world says this about the importance of making disciples.

"Ultimately each church will be evaluated by one thing ... its disciples. Your church is only as good as its disciples. It doesn't matter how good your praise, preaching, programs or property are. If your disciples are passive, needy, consumeristic, and not moving in the direction of radical obedience, your church is not good."

Wow! Those are pretty strong words by a guy committed to following the command of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations. And we're committed to that command too. We want to see people come to faith in Christ and move from being curious to being convinced to being committed and to continuing to follow Jesus for a lifetime. Over the years we've called that being a fully devoted follower of Jesus who makes a difference in this world. But how does that happen? How do we make disciples?

I've been thinking a lot about that recently, about how disciples are made and developed. How does a person, myself included, move from Jesus' invitation "to come and see," check me out, to his invitation to "come and die?" How do we move from being curious about Jesus to being willing to take a bullet for Jesus because we love him that much?

Last week, I met with a group of about twenty pastors and that was the agenda for our time together. We came to talk about discipleship and what that looks like in our churches. And we all agreed that there's no formula for making a disciple. There's no magic program or secret curriculum that we take somebody through to make them a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. It's not that easy. Jesus didn't leave us with a manual. Instead, in many ways the curriculum is as unique as the person.

But we did agree that certain things are necessary. And one of the pastors drew three big circles on the white board and talked about the three spheres that Jesus invites us into, the same three spheres that we talked about on Vision Sunday.

The first is the circle called communion. Jesus enjoyed sweet communion with his heavenly Father and he invites all of us to enjoy that communion as well. In our mission statement we call it life in Jesus. This is where we follow Jesus' example of spending time alone with God in solitude and prayer and the Scriptures, turning off the noise of our culture so we can pay attention to the one who calls us his beloved son or daughter.

We can't be a disciple of Jesus without abiding in his word and spending time alone with him. That was the second mark of discipleship that we talked about in this series. It's those times with Jesus that give rest to our souls. But it's also times like this when we listen to teaching and respond in worship that we're drawn closer to Christ.

How are you doing in that area? Life is busy. Life is noisy. And we don't get much encouragement from the culture to slow down and be still or to gather for worship like this on a Sunday. But if we don't it will hard to enjoy the kind of life that Jesus is offering to us. LIFE: According to Jesus includes time spent with him.

The second circle is community. Jesus invited people not just to himself, but into a community. The first community he invested in was the Twelve, his original disciples, who were later called apostles when he sent them out to spread the message of the kingdom. We can't be a disciple of Jesus on our own. The Christian faith was never meant to be a solo sport. It was always meant to be lived out in community with others who are pursuing Jesus. Jesus had an even smaller circle than the Twelve. He enjoyed an even deeper relationship with Peter, James, and John.

And so in our mission statement we say Valley View is a community of grace. We'll always be upholding the value of community around here because we need each other. We can't become disciples on our own because our life in Jesus was meant to be lived our relationally. Mark number six of discipleship was love one another. Jesus said, By this everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another.

And so we invite you to join a hub or jump into a Bible study or go to the men's group or a women's group. If you're a couple go through Alpha Marriage and invest time into building your primary community with your spouse. We can't love one another if we're not in relationship with one another. The church is first and foremost a community. And if none of those work for your schedule right now then please make time for one or two others in your life who are pursuing Jesus.

You weren't meant to follow Jesus alone. If you are, you're going to struggle. Take a step into community and pursue Jesus with others. That's LIFE: According to Jesus.

The third circle is co-mission. This is what we call impacting our world. Jesus impacted his world with the good news of the gospel. It wasn't just about his own walk with God as important as that was. It wasn't just about hanging out with the Twelve as important as that was. It was about being on mission together. We often say Valley View is a hospital on a mission, wounded people trying to bring a bit of healing to this world.

Jesus described his mission in his inaugural sermon in Luke 4:18-19 when he said, The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And so we join Jesus on that mission. The church doesn't exist for itself. We exist for the world. We're here to make a difference in this world. We want to be a blessing to this world. We want to bring a little bit of heaven to earth. We want to be salt and light. We want to be good news and proclaim good news because we believe that the kingdom has begun and like yeast it's slowly working its way through dough of this world and like a mustard seed it's slowly spreading its branches. And so we invest our time, talents, and treasure into the kingdom as we saw in mark number seven.

Of course, Jesus' mission included a cross that became the ultimate symbol of his submission to the Father and of his love for us. He died so that we might live. And so he urges us like we saw in marks number three, four, and five to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow him.

How are you doing in the area of mission? Are you in the game or sitting on the sidelines? Are you using your time, talents, and treasure to serve Christ and his kingdom? How are you relating to those less fortunate than you? The poor and the oppressed? LIFE: According to Jesus proclaims good news to the poor.

Jesus invites us into all three spheres because all three are necessary. It's not enough to just enjoy communion with Jesus without community or co-mission. It's not enough to enjoy community with others without communion or co-mission. It's not enough to be on co-mission without enjoying communion with Jesus or community with others. All three are important.

And at the center is the sweet spot, a life of communion, community, and co-mission in harmony together. That's what Jesus enjoyed and that's what he invites us into. That's where we find rest for our souls. That's LIFE: According to Jesus. And as a church that's what we invite others into as well. "Come and see" gradually becomes "come and die" so we can truly live in him.

In their excellent book on missional discipleship called Untamed Alan & Deb Hirsch write these words, "The local church was never intended to be a vendor of religious goods and services. Too often the church is viewed as existing to serve my spiritual needs, and if it doesn't fulfill them according to my particular tastes, then I leave and find one that does ... for awhile. Viewed this way, the community exists for me, not me for the community.

"We need to stop thinking of the church as a service provider, as a consumable product, as something that exists for my personal benefit. Rather, we must move from the community for me to me for the community. Jesus is clear about this: it is in loving others that we are loved, and in giving that we will receive.

"Discipling is the task of every Christian. And it is not just offered to those who have come to faith in Jesus. We believe it is a great mistake to restrict discipling to just Christians and keep it within the confines of the Christian community. We as believers are called to disciple everyone who comes into our orbit of influence - it's that simple.

"It is about bringing people closer to Jesus and teaching them his ways. It is about loving people and exposing them to the grace and wonder of God's heart, helping them see and experience the values of the kingdom and calling forth those values that may lie dormant in their own hearts and lives. It is about letting the beauty of Jesus and his kingdom come through."

That's what we mean when we say that Valley View desires to be a community of grace impacting our world through life in Jesus.

Questions of the Week

  • In this series, we've talked about seven different marks of a disciple. Which of these marks do you gravitate towards? Why? Which of them do you find particularly challenging? Why?
  • What are some ways that we at Valley View can practice being in communion together? Community? Co-mission?
  • How would you describe the mission of God in your own words? Why is understanding that mission important for our life in Christ? For our health as a community?
  • What are some ways that you are involved in making disciples? What are some things that we can all do to practice the art of making disciples? How can we encourage each other in this task?