When I came to Foothills in 2015, I was given the auspicious title of “Pastor of Discipleship.” I had never been called that before! I had several pastoral titles, youth, worship, associate, but never…Discipleship Pastor. It was a great time for me to settle in and really think about what it means to help shepherd people, to help people “follow Jesus.”
We have all been focusing on what I have been pondering the last couple years.
During our current sermon series we have been investigating what it means to glorify God, make disciples and reflect God’s love. We have all been focusing on what I have been pondering the last couple years. If you’ve been in church for any length of time or have ever committed to following Jesus and trusting Him for salvation and the forgiveness of your sins, then whether you know it or not, you have been discipling and have been discipled. What do I mean?
Once we step forward as a Christ follower, that changes things.
Once we step forward as a Christ follower, that changes things. Our relationships change. For one thing, our relationship with the Bible changes! It goes from being a mysterious, time-honored book to being the living, active Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). When Jesus calls people, “follow me,” He shows us what and how to follow with His Word. Our response to and affection for that Word is key to how we go forward. I know people often have mixed feelings when it comes to the Word of God. I get it. My feelings for God’s Word vacillate as well – I want to do what it says, but I don’t always like what it asks me to do.
I want to pass along a couple key ideas about the Word and discipleship.
A disciple must master the Bible.
First, a disciple must master the Bible. That’s a tall order. Personally, I’m humbled by how little I know and have internalized! By “master,” I don’t mean we totally figure it all out, and then move on to the next challenge. What I mean is that we have to continually wrestle with it and learn what it is saying— about me, about God, about sin and my world. Then we have to figure out how we’re to navigate all that together. The more we wrestle with God’s Word, the more we grow in our mastery of it. God’s Word is alive — a new challenge awaits us with each reading. Our task as disciples is to read the Bible and then let the Holy Spirit show us how to apply it to our life.
While we must master the Bible, we must also be mastered by it.
While we must master the Bible, we must also be mastered by it. Often our only focus is wrestling with God’s Word, but a disciple submits to God’s Word, recognizing that God doesn’t bow to our opinion or our will. As we meditate on God’s Word seeking His guidance, we are made wise. “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” Psalm 19:1. That type of wisdom can be defined as someone who knows how to apply God’s knowledge to their life accurately. This takes a supernatural infusion of humility. Unfortunately, we are often better at collecting wisdom than applying it. It’s for this reason I am so excited about Life Groups and the opportunity they present to discuss the application of God’s word in small group settings. The teaching we get on Sunday morning certainly offers us challenges from God’s Word, but doesn’t it make sense to spend some time with our fellow disciples to apply those challenges? Sunday mornings don’t give us that opportunity – so we make time to do it in smaller groups.