By Curtis White
1. Consider who we serve.
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was[a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Our God is a TREMENDOUS God. He created the universe to demonstrate His power, and He created us to honor Him. He has given us dominion over the earth. We are His emissaries, and we are protected in our exploits to bring Him glory. It brings God great pleasure to see us trust Him. When Adam walked with God in the Garden, he feared nothing. But when God put Adam out of the garden, this separation caused Adam to become fearful, anxious, insecure, and emotionally unstable. Thus, like Adam, separation from God causes us to be at the mercy of the world. Separation from God causes ones confidence to wane. Jesus overcame the world to give us the opportunity to repent, and return to a right relationship with God, as Adam had before sin crept in to the garden. Our people must be encouraged to continually repent, or turn back to God, who provides safety, security, and therefore confidence and stability in an uncertain world.
2. Are you protecting God’s people?
1 Peter5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Young Disciples are an easy target. For one thing, they are limited in their knowledge and understanding, and must be taught how to practically apply the scriptures to their lives. They require nurturing, reinforcement of spiritual principles, and the instilling of deep convictions through demonstration, mentoring, and partnering. We cannot Baptize, and then move on to the next immediate study, unless we have competent, reliable people to entrust the overseeing of their spiritual development to (2 Tim 2:1-2). If we don’t, then it is our responsibility to see to it that they are not abandoned. Bumps must be navigated, questions must be answered, and loving patience must be exhibited so that the lure of the kingdom outshines the lure of the world.
Old Disciples are an easy target. For example, drifting, dullness, dry quiet times, lack of fruit, impurity, courting sin, and lack of openness all lead to discouragement, and are all “fall away” factors. Continual follow-up with our people is necessary to divert distractions, and build faith and Godliness in them. A daily evaluation and realignment of priorities is necessary to make sure that we operate out of a kingdom first motivation. Loss of gratefulness and lack of incentive indicate a hardening of the heart which results in a wavering commitment to serve God. We are to constantly recall people to rekindle their zeal for God and his mission.
3. Confront Sin
Gal 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Who needs to set the example here? We must be above reproach, open about our struggles, and modeling an example of true repentance. Then, and only then, can we approach a brother in the spirit of love, and offer correction and recourse. Accepting sin in our life sets the criteria of expectations for our followers. Persistent sin can plague our people. It beats them down and discourages them. How can we offer them hope if we don’t deal with it radically ourselves? Work with them, encourage them, and inspire them that victory can be achieved in any struggle through Jesus Christ.
4. Employ “The Hebrew Method of Teaching” with New Disciples.
Some people need to be shown everything. They need to be taught how to pray, how to share their faith, how to study the Bible with people, how to conduct themselves in the fellowship, HOW TO DATE in the kingdom, etc. I know I did when it came to the kingdom. Especially In studying “First Principles”. I am still learning. In all of these things:
A. First Explain It.
B. Then Model It.
C. Then Do It Together.
D. Then Allow Them to do It and you Critique.
Jesus multiplied Himself through His disciples, and we must multiply ourselves through our disciples. This is the only way that the world can and will be effectively evangelized. Be patient and consistent. Train, encourage, teach, rebuke, and correct. Then, turn them loose on the world! But don’t forget to bring them back and find out what happened!
5. Model Audacity!
1 Sam 17:36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
David was so bold!!! And we need to lead with the same audacity because we serve a God of thunder and lightning and earthquakes and volcanoes and unimaginable power. Look at this statement:
1 Sam 17:45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
Is that “Gutsy” or what? We have to be brave and bold, heroes of the faith. Remember, He fights our battles, not us in our own strength. The power and glory of God lives in us and we must confront challenges accordingly. If God is for us, who can stand against us? Lead your people with audacity! Let them see God’s power working mightily in you. David walked humbly before God, but when the occasion presented itself, he rose up bravely to meet any challenge. David inspired the entire Israelite army, who stood paralyzed by fear while Goliath taunted them every day. He got them moving. He was the catalyst who caused the rout of the Philistine army. We also are to be “catalysts” among God’s people.
Heb 10: 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
6. Feeling Alone? So Did Jesus!
Matt 20:22 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
“We can,” they answered. Probably the greatest lesson that I had to learn as a disciple, was that when push comes to shove, sometimes, all you have to hold on to is God. We must equip our people to be prepared to deal with this. Of course I pray that this will never happen again in my lifetime, or anyone else’s for that matter, but history has a way of repeating itself. Leaders will go “south”. Movements will get “derailed”. Plans and desires will collapse, and your faith may be severely tested. This is the time to remember Jesus’ suffering, and praise the fact that now; you have a little better understanding of the totality of what He went through for your sake. This, although very painful, gave me a deeper understanding, a closer fellowship, and a much greater appreciation of what really happened on the cross. He could have come down, but He didn’t. What will we do?
7. Sentimentality Will Destroy Us
As much as we’d like to, we cannot force people to be committed. We cannot “will” people into being disciples. We can’t get people halfway there, and hope that somehow they’ll “get it” further down the road via osmosis. Developing a “fringe” in our movement has, and will destroy us, if allowed to flourish. Uncommitted- is not a tolerable condition. It is the sin of selfishness. The Master puts it this way: Luke 14:27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. And that is pretty final. Excuse me. Not “pretty “final, but “final” final. Tolerating a “fringe” is like dragging a dead weight that will bog down and discourage the truly committed. It becomes like trying to row a boat with the anchor still in the water. In order for real progress to ensue, it must be cut loose. The branch must be pruned, if you will. Criticalness is another manifestation of sin. When we are not doing well spiritually, we shift the focus off of ourselves and onto others, looking for flaws and shortcomings so we can feel better about ourselves. Hearing and meeting needs is essential to a spiritually healthy church, but “cow towing” to grumblers is a perversion of Jesus’ message. Address problems, learn, mend, and always make improvements, but always keep your people moving forward in unity of the spirit.
Gal 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[a] 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
2 Tim 2:16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth…… Anybody else come to mind????
8. Not Everyone Grows at your Pace.
Some people are just “late bloomers”. Character development takes time, sometimes years to achieve, but don’t be discouraged. Just because you newest disciple isn’t “blowing it out totally” doesn’t mean they are not committed to getting there. Sometimes, we must resist the temptation to get frustrated with the speed of someone’s spiritual development. Rom 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. Timothy had character attributes that he had to overcome, and Paul was very patient with him. As a direct result, Timothy became an awesome evangelist. However, sometimes, our people just flat-out need to repent. In that case we need to lead the way with finesse’ and a bit of diplomacy. 2Tim 2: 24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
9. Love Your People.
Isaiah 40:11 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Everyone has needs. For a person to deny that fact indicates a lack of openness. The typical “Church greeting”, “How’s it going Bro”? Great! Amen! How are you doing? I’m GREAT too! Amen! See yah later Bro”! This is not being involved in someone’s life. People often tell us what we want to hear, to protect themselves from opening up the real wounds that fester beneath the surface. At the risk of being rejected, we, as leaders, must take the time and tenderly probe their hearts to find the hurts and massage them with the Word of God. Neil Young wrote a song that states “But only love can break your heart”, and what does God look for in us?
Psalms 51:16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are[a] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
So there you have it. The whole kingdom revolves around love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love takes time, patience, sacrifice and energy. We must be willing to take the risk of being rejected, taken advantage of, humiliated, and abandoned. But Jesus experienced all these things, and continues to love us. Is leadership in the kingdom a choice? What is our mission as disciples? Do the math!!!
All Glory to God Almighty!
Curtis White
Leave a Reply