Following Christ
#BeUMC - Part 3
Sunday, July 9, 2023
Matthew 28:16-20, Philippians 4:8-9, Colossians 3:12-17
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.
Matthew 28:19-20
And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. The peace of Christ must control your hearts—a peace into which you were called in one body. And be thankful people. The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:14-17
Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:
Most of us are familiar with the Great Commission - “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a). It’s easy to think of “making disciples” in terms of teaching, peaching, baptizing, etc. In other words, this is the role of pastors, Sunday School teachers, small group leaders, Christian Educators and others in some form of vocational ministry who are trained to preach and teach and baptize.
When we turn to the rest of the New Testament, however, we clearly see that the role of making disciples is not actually limited to the apostles. Rather, it is the work of the apostles to continually equip others to do the work of making disciples. If we want to know whose job it is to make disciples, the answer is simple… other disciples. Part of discipleship is multiplication. Disciples naturally make other disciples because that’s how Jesus and his followers taught us as we have been discipled.
“But,” you might say, “I can’t teach or baptize. I don’t know enough. What if I don’t have the right answers?
Let me encourage you now, you don’t know enough and you don’t have all the right answers. Neither do I. Neither did Billy Graham or Mother Theresa or Peter or Paul. And neither has any disciple or disciple-maker throughout history. Our task is simply to pass on what Jesus has taught us. The best way to do this is not by passing on our knowledge of Jesus to others, but by modeling by example the way of life Jesus taught us to live.
Paul writes that as Christians, as followers of Christ, as disciples, we must “put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” We must be tolerant with each other and forgive each other as Christ forgave us. We must live in the unity of love, encouraging and building one another up in the name of Christ with a spirit of gratitude and praise.
In other words, making disciples is less about what we do, or what we say, and more about who we are and our way of being in the world. When we “put on Christ,” or to put it another way, when we allow the Spirit to remake us in Christ’s likeness, our natural way of life will be so beautiful and compelling to others that they will want more of these Christlike attributes in their own life as well. As we grow together in developing Christlike character and love, our fruit continues to multiply and bear more fruit. We don’t make disciples by trying to convince people that they need to think or believe everything exactly like us. We make disciples by living out Jesus’ example of love so that others will want to follow, just as we have chosen to follow Christ.
So here’s the big question: Do we hang our Christian discipleship more on the fact that we “believe” in Jesus, or on the fact that we are actually following his teaching? And which one do others most see in us?