As followers of
Jesus, if someone asks you what the Great Commission is would you be able to
direct them to Matthew 28:18-19? Jesus' Great Commission to his followers was
to make disciples of all nations. Jesus wants us all to be disciples of him.
What exactly does that mean? Are we all supposed to drop everything we are
doing and leave everything behind to do God's work like the original 12
Apostles? Are we supposed to put on our white shirts and black ties or Sunday
dresses and go door-to-door talking about Jesus with anybody who will open
their doors?
First maybe we
need to define what the word "disciple" means. Webster defines it as
"1. A learner; a scholar; one who receives or professes to receive
instruction from another. 2. A follower; an adherent to the doctrines of
another." Doesn't that sound like all faithful Christians? It sort of does
to me. We faithfully follow Jesus. So maybe we are already disciples of Jesus.
Is there a difference between being a disciple and being a believer? I believe they are not synonymous.
Jesus made that pretty clear. Every disciple is a believer. However, not every
believer is a disciple. It is too simplistic to think that a disciple is just a
more serious version of a believer. I believe a disciple is much more than a
believer. To be a disciple of Jesus we need to be more disciplined in our Bible
study, prayer, witnessing, non-conformity to the world, giving to the work of
God and other aspects of our walk with God. Being a disciple of Jesus is about
committing to a way of life and of learning and growth. It goes past just
believing in something, it is more about learning to follow and to live our
lives in a new direction, full steam ahead.
The Bible tells us that God has a plan and purpose for
each of our lives and a disciple of Christ knows and understands this. Read
Ephesians 2:10; “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. Because of this plan He has
created us with certain gifts and abilities so we can play our part in it. Just
imagine that we could have been born at any time in history, but God chose for
us to be born now. We are not here by chance and we are not living at this time
in history without purpose. God has a plan and purpose for each of us and it is
a great one! When we deliberately seek out God’s plan for our life and play our
part in it, we find ourselves being the most happy and as fulfilled as we can
be in this life. Finding and following God’s plan is a big part of being a true
disciple.
In John 13:34-35
Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another.” A true disciple loves people like Jesus
did.
In this life we
have a choice to spend our money how we please. We can choose to save it and
spend it all on ourselves or we can see ourselves as stewards of God’s
resources. A true disciple sees the world and its needs through God’s eyes and
uses their resources accordingly.
A true disciple knows how great it is to
know, love and serve Christ and they want to help others to follow Him too. For
me personally, the day I became a Christian is the greatest day of my life.
Knowing Jesus personally and asking Him into my life was a true turning point
for me. My life is full of hope, purpose and meaning and I want to share this
with others. I also want to share the great love Jesus has for others too. I am
more than a believer; I am one of Jesus' disciples. We all need to be one of
Jesus' disciples. To answer our questions above; no we don't have to drop
everything and we don't have to go door-to-door. We just have to know God's
purpose for us, use the gifts He gave us to shine a light on God's grace and
love for all of us, love one another as Jesus loves us all, be wise stewards of
His resources, and share the good news of God's love every chance we get.
By Ed Olson
