Upward: Discipleship
by David Matranga
Have you ever been given an opportunity that changed your life? Something so simple as an invitation can set the course of your future and put you on a new path.
I’m reminded of an invite like this in the Gospel of Mark.
And [Jesus] went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the [son] of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.
- Mark 2:13-14
Levi was a tax collector. That meant Rome, Israel’s overlord, employed him, so he was probably not very well liked. Tax collectors were seen as the enemy, as traitors, dishonest, and unworthy. And truthfully, maybe he was those things, but Jesus gave him an invitation, and it changed everything.
Jesus didn’t walk up to Levi or Peter – or you and me – and say, “Quick! Repeat this prayer and you won’t have to worry about Hell anymore.”
Now, I’m not saying that the sinner’s prayer isn’t capable of being the way that people become disciples of Jesus. The problem is, many people think they are disciples when they truly are not. Accepting Jesus into your heart can often be a stationary invite, and what I mean by that is everything stays the same. If God moves and you don’t, are you a follower? If you accept Him and then your life never changes, are you a disciple?
Jesus offered Levi something more costly than what we hear in many churches across the country, but it was profoundly deeper and better. He said, “Follow Me.”
He’s still saying that to us, today.
This Series
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be writing about how to live out a life that God designed for us to live. The way that looks in our community is 1) We look upward, to God as our example and learn to become disciples 2) We look inward at our own community and learn to bear each other’s burdens and strengthen each other in the faith 3) We look outward to the world around us, armed with our purpose from the Lord, and do God’s work. Today, we want to talk about what it means to look upward, to truly be a disciple.
What Does It Mean to Follow Jesus?
It doesn’t look like popular, American Christianity. Dallas Willard, in The Great Omission, argues that we have changed the Great Commission from being about making disciples to instead filling our churches with people who simply call themselves Christians. In Follow Me by David Platt, Platt reports that 4/5 of Americans call themselves Christians, so we’ve done that part well. The problem is, studies show that the beliefs and lifestyles of so many of these people are not much different from the rest of the world.
Following Jesus means we have to get up and follow Him. As we read in the Gospels, Jesus called His disciples, and they got up and left what they were doing. How different is this than the rich, young ruler who said the right things and did most of the right things but could not follow Jesus?
Following Jesus means we have to follow Him first. Listen to what Jesus said to some individuals who told Him they wanted to follow:
And [Jesus] said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
- Luke 9:59-62
Jesus’ responses may seem harsh to us, but they are full of wisdom. We can’t follow Jesus if He comes second, if He’s next on the list of things to do. “I’ll follow Him once I get my life in order,” “I’ll follow Him after I settle down,” or “I’ll follow Him after I make a little more money doing this” is a recipe for disaster and heartbreak. Doesn’t the Bible remind us to seek the Lord while He can be found?
Following Jesus means follow Him closely with conviction and intimacy.
Following Jesus means follow Him in surrender, deny yourself daily, take up your cross, and follow. We may surrender money, a relationship, a job, a hobby, or certain TV shows we like to watch, but we get to become disciples of Jesus instead!
Following Jesus means follow Him until you look like Him. “Disciple” literally means “student.” It is an apprentice, someone who studies the master with the intention of becoming like him.
Following Jesus means become fishers of men, making others into disciples of Jesus as well.
How Does Community Play into All of This?
We’ll discuss this next week, but for now, suffice it to say that we need each other to do what Jesus has commanded us.
Until then, remember that discipleship is “a long obedience in the same direction” (Eugene Peterson). It’s the act of becoming like Jesus, of being a student to the Lord.
If you want to know who you ought to be like, look up.
I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. – Jesus
(This blog post is part of a series. To read part 2, click HERE)
