January 2024 Revealing Light Newsletter

“What is holding you back from making disciples?”

That’s a helpful and necessary question for us to ask ourselves if we have a hard time taking the initial step to make disciples. The Barna Group asked a similar question when they surveyed Christians who were very or somewhat interested in making disciples. The common obstacles consisted of: wanting to be taught how to disciple well, trouble trying to keep it engaging, making it a priority with everything else in my life, struggling with the feeling that I’d be imposing my beliefs on someone else, and trouble finding the right resources to disciple with. [Barna published their findings in their book, Growing Together, online article “Two in Five Christians Are Not Engaged in Discipleship”, and Facebook]

You may find that you resonate with some of these similar fears, obstacles, challenges, or hurdles. In this series we are going through on Sundays, we are wanting to help us overcome any of these fears and obstacles together, to give us encouragement and to help equip us together to take the steps in making disciples. If you missed any or want to rewatch any of these sermons, you can find them on the Eugene Christian Church YouTube page, app, or website.

- Daryl Struemph

Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1–2 (NASB 2020)

It is such a gift to be able to read God’s Word that He has revealed Himself through, both in written word (the Bible) and the flesh of Jesus Christ. As humans, we regularly see how something can be misinterpreted between two people in a conversation; it requires asking and receiving clarity from that other person to help us better understand what they were saying. When we read God’s Word on our own, we can have the human tendency to misinterpret and misunderstand what God was trying to share with us. Why not receive clarity from Him by relying on God’s Spirit to guide us through His Words that He has shared with us?

Many people have taken the task to know the Bible forward and backward, to study it daily for years; yet, without relying on God’s Spirit to help us understand what God was truly saying, then we can come to our own conclusions that misunderstand God. We see many people throughout history find themselves in this situation. We read about the Scribes and Pharisees who were diligent in reading God’s Word daily, yet, misunderstood God’s Word as they came to their own understandings and conclusions. Jesus comes on the scene in the flesh, and guides the Pharisees and Scribes to what God was truly meaning when He shared what He shared through His people. It’s helpful to let God tell us what He means when He is communicating with us by words and action.

Later, the Apostle Paul was telling the Christians, “what I share with you is not from human knowledge but by what God has revealed and shared to us. This is not human knowledge but the wisdom from God.” (Gal. 1:12 paraphrased)

Another time before this, Jesus as a 12 year boy was hanging out at the temple with the temple’s teachers. While He was there, He began to share and teach the teachers! They were amazed that this young boy could receive the knowledge He had which they had not heard before. What Jesus was sharing was not from human thought but was from God the Father. (Luke 2:41-50)

And there are several times recorded in the gospels when people were listening to Jesus and saying things like, “what is this teaching He is sharing? We have not heard anything like this before! Where did He receive this since He is without the education of the main schools?” (Jn 7:11-52)

Again, many people have studied God’s Word and have come to their own conclusions that can be misunderstanding what God was actually saying. I would rather let God guide us in clarifying what He was trying to communicate to us than for us to come to our own conclusions of what we think God was saying (John 7:15-18). He guides us through His active Word, by His active Spirit, and with His people that the Spirit resides in. That’s the other great gift of being adopted into God’s Family with other brothers and sisters in Christ. We can share what God has been sharing with us through His Word and Spirit. We can do this together, sharing the light and truth of God throughout this world. But, we still must take caution and “test” people’s messages with the Word of God because God will not contradict Himself (by Word and Spirit). If we come to believe something that contradicts what God has revealed in the entirety of His Word, then it is most likely not a message from God. (1 John 4:1-3)

As we are disciples who are living in Christ, we rely on God’s Spirit and Word to guide us and transform us into the maturity of Christ. (Col. 1:28-29; 1 Thess. 2:13)
 
- Daryl Struemph

There are several ways disciples of Jesus make disciples. It depends on each person, each situation, each disciple you are discipling, each personality type, each season of life, etc... When it comes to how we make disciples, it may be different than someone else who makes disciples. It isn’t necessarily an “one-size-fits-all”, but it does help if it is easy to replicate for those disciples to then make disciples who make disciples.

We do see from Jesus that discipling entails intentionally sharing life together as we are growing and following Jesus. Some people have painted this picture as inviting other people to walk alongside each other as they journey through life following the path of Jesus. Discipling isn’t a program or a project, but a lifestyle that disciples of Jesus live. We don’t necessarily graduate from a “discipling program” to then check off and say we completed that task. It’s intentional and very relational with people. You are both in this relationship with God, growing each day as disciples while making disciples of Jesus.

One approach to making disciples is to invite 3-5 people to be in a discipling relationship together for several months who will then also turn around and make disciples of Jesus themselves. In these groups, they will be reading through a chapter of the New Testament each day (10+ months), beginning with Matthew through Revelation. As they rely on God’s Spirit and His lively and active Word, they will reflect on and answer two questions: “What was the most significant thing the Lord shared with you in this chapter?” and “How can you live this lesson out in your daily life beginning today?” One day each week, the group will gather formally for 90 minutes to catch up, pray, and share their reflections from any two chapters that week. This is sharing that intentional and relational time together as Disciples that also provide time for being shaped and transformed by God’s Word and Spirit through the reflections of other disciples too. This is briefly one of many discipling options.

- Daryl Struemph