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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