Full disclosure, cuz that’s how I roll.
I started reading this book, Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life, by Jeff Vanderstelt, because I’m still trying to figure my church out.
We are a church of disciples. Our mission is to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39), and go out and make disciples (Matthew 28:19).
Now I get the whole loving God and others, part. I know how to do that. It’s the making disciples part that I’m a little (a lot) fuzzy on.
So I picked up this book thinking it could help me.
Oh boy…I’m starting to understand and things just got scary!
If I am understanding correctly, the author is taking about discipleship as something that consumes your whole life.
It is not something you happen to do one time, by coming forward to be baptized or raising your hand once, when asked if you are ready to turn your life over to Christ. Or even spending a couple of hours in a building every Sunday.
Oh no. God is not asking us to vote for him. He’s not asking for us to ONLY trust our afterlife in his hands. No, he’s asking for every. single. day. starting. here. and. now.
Even that doesn’t sound too hard. I’m a nice person, if I do say so myself. I could easily pass as a Christian. But he’s not calling us to be Christians. He’s calling us to be disciples.
Do you remember His first twelve disciples? He trained them. Then he told them, you’re good. Now go out and train more. And they did.
They went from drinking spiritual milk to eating spiritual food. Now Jesus gave them three years to grow up. Maybe we need a little bit more time than that (maybe not), but if you have been sitting on your butt in a pew for 20 or more so years, it’s about time to de-latch from the nipple and start eating some real food.
You’re being lazy and is time to start feeding yourself and feeding others.
Now the scary part!
Do you remember how Jesus and his disciples lived? Like, together. Always. They gave up their jobs. They gave up their families. They gave up their possessions.
I’m starting to understand a part of being a disciple is giving up my life. My personal life. My comfy cozy, I so love my quiet time, away from all human contact, life.
It’s opening your home up for someone who needs a place to stay. It’s cooking a meal for someone who’s caring for a sick spouse. It’s babysitting someone’s kid so they can go to counseling. It’s like going to church EVERY SINGLE DAY, ALL DAY LONG.
It sounds terrifying!!!
And it would be, if I didn’t believe the gospel. If I didn’t believe how much Jesus sacrificed for me. If I didn’t feel His love, acceptance and freedom, every waking hour. If I didn’t have my own story to tell. If I didn’t have a relationship with my Savior.
If you don’t believe, you won’t obey.
If you do, how can you not?
Growing Faith 