Thursday, December 6, 2012

Disciples Make Disciples


The following piece by Francis Chan appears at the Catalystspace site. I have highlighted some sections that are important to consider. Chan has spoken a number of times at Catalyst and my wife and I heard him about 5 years ago. He had a significant impact on us. See the link for the Catalyst site below.

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Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples

By Francis Chan & Mark Beuving

Two thousand years ago, Jesus walked up to a handful of men and said, "Follow me."
Imagine being one of those original disciples. They were ordinary people like you and me. They had jobs, families, hobbies, and social lives. As they went about their business on the day Jesus called them, none of them would have expected their lives to change so quickly and completely. The disciples could not have fully understood what they were getting into when they responded to Jesus's call. Whatever expectations or doubts, whatever curiosity, excitement, or uncertainty they felt, nothing could have prepared them for what lay ahead. Everything about Jesus-His teaching, compassion, and wisdom; His life, death, and resurrection; His power, authority, and calling-would shape every aspect of the rest of their lives.

In only a few years, these simple men stood before some of the most powerful rulers on earth and being accused of "turn[ing] the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). What began as simple obedience to the call of Jesus ended up changing their lives, and ultimately, the world.
What Is a Disciple?

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? The answer is fairly simple, but it changes your life completely.
The word disciple refers to a student or apprentice. Disciples in Jesus' day would follow their rabbi (which means teacher) wherever he went, learning from the rabbi's teaching and training to do as the rabbi did. Basically, a disciple is a follower, but only if we take the term follower literally. Becoming a disciple of Jesus is as simple as obeying His call to follow.

When Jesus called His first disciples, they may not have understood where Jesus would take them or the impact it would have on their lives, but they knew what it meant to follow. They took Jesus's call literally and began going everywhere He went and doing everything He did.
Its impossible to be a disciple or a follower of someone and not end up like that person. Jesus said, "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40). That’s the whole point of being a disciple of Jesus: we imitate Him, carry on His ministry, and become like Him in the process.

Yet somehow many have come to believe that a person can be a "Christian" without being like Christ. A "follower" who doesn’t follow. How does that make any sense?
Many people in the church have decided to take on the name of Christ and nothing else. This would be like Jesus walking up to those first disciples and saying, "Hey, would you guys mind identifying yourselves with me in some way? Dont worry, I dont actually care if you do anything I do or change your lifestyle at all. Im just looking for people who are willing to say they believe in me and call themselves Christians."

Seriously?
No one can really believe that this is all it means to be a Christian. But then why do so many people live this way? It appears that we’ve lost sight of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The concept of being a disciple isn’t difficult to understand, but once you understand what it means, it changes everything.

This article was excerpted from Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples, 2012 by Francis Chan & Mark Beuving. Published by David C. Cook, www.davidccook.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Check the Catalyst site for more articles, dates for upcoming Catalyst conferences and other resources.
http://www.catalystspace.com/content/read/multiply_disciples_making_disciples/


Learn more about Francis and the organization Multiply he is helping to launch 
http://www.francischan.org/#/multiply

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