2024 June news-letter article

Dear fellow follower of Jesus,

Are we disciples, or do we just claim to be disciples?  Better yet, assuming we are one, are we the disciple we claim to be?  It’s deja vu (“all over again”, in the words of Lorenzo P. Berra); and this may be the only time I’ll ever use a French term in a news-letter article.  Yes, the first two sentences above were the same first two sentences as my most recent article.  Please go back and read it if you haven’t yet.  Reading it is imperative because it defines “disciple”, and if we’re ever going to answer these questions honestly, we must understand what a true follower of Jesus is.

Are you a disciple of Jesus?

Really?

If you’re wrestling around with your answer to this question, PLEASE come see me.  We want everyone to know Jesus as their Lord, and we want everyone to know that they know that they know that they know Jesus.  We want everyone struggling with this question to experience the assurance of salvation we find in I John.

Now, I shall assume everyone still reading claims to be a follower of Jesus.  At the same time, I shall assume that none of us are the follower we claim to be.  We can all stand to look more like Jesus than we do today.  Praise God we all look a bit more like Jesus that we did “yesterday”; but by His grace, we can all look a bit more like Jesus “tomorrow” than we do today.

Sunday, May 05, 2024, you likely heard the most passionate and brilliant and stirring sermon you’ve ever heard (I know, I can be more humble tomorrow, and every day there after, than I am today).  In that sermon, from the Great Commission (Matthew 28:11-20), I said that if we aren’t making disciples, we aren’t really being disciples at all.  So, since you claim to be “in line”, with Jesus as our “line leader”, who else are you working to get to join the “line” along with us?

Last summer, I preached a sermon series [that literally came out of a box from the North American Mission Board] entitled “Who’s Your One?”, during which I challenged us all to find ONE person who is near to us and far from God.  Who is your ONE, and what are you doing to point this person toward a relationship with Jesus?  By praying for our ONE, and living with intentionality as we have a relationship with them, we will naturally live on mission all day, every day.  We will naturally think evangelistically as we go through our mundane tasks and chores.  By praying for our ONE, God will open our eyes to see others, at the grocery store, or in our family, or at the bank, who may not know Jesus.  By living, intentionally pointing our ONE toward Jesus, a side effect will be that we naturally point every one toward Jesus.  By loving and serving our ONE, earning their trust, equipping ourselves to have [potentially awkward] conversations about spiritual things, and treating them with profound hospitality, will begin to treat all our neighbors with the same intention.

In that “Who’s Your One?” sermon series, I gave you three challenges.  I reissued those challenges on May 05.  I remind you of those challenges again here.  1) Invite a family into your home, where someone in your family shares his/her story.  This can be a new neighbor; this could even be a family within our church family that you don’t yet know well.  If not directly evangelistic, this could simply be an exercise in hospitality, and a willful attempt to “grease the skids” taking relationships to the next level.

2) Invite someone to share a one-on-one meal, where you share your testimony.  We have tools to strengthen your ability and comfort level in sharing your personal testimony.  Come see me and I will give these to you.  It could be a full-blown meal; it could be a drink at Oma’s.  Sit down, one-on-one with someone who you believe may not know Jesus, and have the courage to converse about [potentially awkward] spiritual things.  It could be your ONE, it could be a “guinea pig” that’s less intimidating than your ONE.  If you don’t have a relationship like this with someone who is [probably, you believe] lost, then you need to build this kind of relationship with someone unchurched.

3) Invite someone to church, to worship alongside you.  DO NOT invite someone that is part of another church family.  We don’t poach sheep from other flocks.  Do invite someone that fallen out of a church family (perhaps our own church family).  Do invite someone for whom church would be an alien experience, a co-worker perhaps, or even someone in your family.  If you think our church family isn’t welcoming enough, or if you fear that our church might not be gracious toward your ONE [or any other neighbor of yours], come see me.  We need your insights as we work to improve our first impressions.  Whether you can commit to serving on such a team, we need your wisdom, your heart, and your input.

So, are you like me?  Have your toes been thoroughly stepped on by these challenges?  Do you feel convicted that you aren’t living on mission very well?  Do you struggle to identify your ONE?  Do you go, and make no efforts to make disciples?  Are you not the disciple you claim to be?

Welcome to the club.  Let’s do better.  Aren’t we thankful for the grace of God?  Don’t we want others to experience this grace too?  We have a Good News worth proclaiming; now let’s get to proclaiming it!

That sinners be converted, and Thy name glorified,
--A.J.