In our new series ‘Becoming Real Followers of Jesus’, we’ll be learning how Jesus shaped His disciples for greatness. One definition of a leader is someone who people want to follow. Jesus has over 2.6 billion followers in the world today and Jesus is all about reality. He came over 2,000 years ago with a real plan of salvation for the world. His plan to do this was through first transforming a group of ordinary people who would in turn influence the multitudes throughout history (Matthew 10:2-4).
These people remain famous today because they are known as The Chosen (see The Chosen tv series which allows us to see Jesus through the eyes of those who knew Him: the 12 Disciples). In this preaching series, we will look in detail at each individual disciple, their particular characteristics and how Jesus trained them, beginning by discovering what we can learn from the disciples’ response to the call to follow Jesus.
Over 3 years, Jesus shaped His disciples in His own image. Nicky Gumbel said “People gaze at celebrities and reproduce their mannerisms and appearance. If you are captivated by Jesus, you will be transformed into His image.” Jesus transformed His disciples:
- transformed mind: to believe what Jesus believed;
- transformed character: to live the way Jesus lived;
- transformed relationships: to love as Jesus loved;
- transformed habits: to train as Jesus trained;
- transformed service: to minister as Jesus ministered;
- transformed influence: to lead the way Jesus led.
What does it mean to be a disciple?
1. There is a call to discipleship (Matthew 4:18-22; John 1:42; John 1:47-49; Luke 23:34; Luke 24:49)
2. There is a cost of discipleship (Matthew 16:24; Matthew 6:21; Matthew 6:33)
3. There are consequences of discipleship (Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Peter 2:9)
Apply
1. There is a call to discipleship. All 4 gospels tell how Jesus called His first disciples (Matthew 4:18-22). If Jesus could call you on your phone, would you be like the disciples and answer immediately? Peter and Andrew, James and John left their nets at once and immediately followed Jesus when He called them. They were fishermen, they would have been very messy and smelly! They didn’t say ‘hang on, I need to change, to look my best. I just need to sort a few things out first.’ Perhaps you’d rather Jesus sent you an email instead of a video call so you could spend time thinking about your answer, and answer Him in your timing and when you’re ready. Well, that’s not how Jesus works. He is calling you to come as you are, right now. Jesus already knows all about you. He already knew a lot about His disciples before they first met Him. In Jesus' first meeting with Peter, Jesus told him that He was going to change Peter’s name (John 1:42). In accepting that, Peter recognised Jesus’ authority and demonstrated his openness and willingness to be formed by Him. Jesus also showed He already knew Nathanael’s character (John 1:47-49). Jesus’ word of knowledge about Nathanael convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus called the disciples to Him, not so He could get to know them, but so that the disciples could get to know Him. He already knew them and knew why He wanted each one of them in His team. They needed to find out why they had to follow Him. This call was a call to discipleship; a call to be trained and transformed by being committed to the ministry of Jesus. “Come, follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.”
In what ways do we follow Jesus?
Follow Jesus in His teachings. We need to know what Jesus taught because it was profound and shaped the world. He taught about love; we must love and seek God before anything else, we must love our neighbours, and not just love our friends but also our enemies.
Follow Jesus in His example. Even when He had been tortured and was being crucified, Jesus forgave (Luke 23:34). If you have this attitude of Jesus in both big and small things, you will have much more peace. Have you forgiven people who have hurt you, or perhaps are continually hurting you? Do you pray they would know the love of their Heavenly Father? That’s what Jesus would do.
Follow Jesus personally. This is what the disciples did. They didn’t hear Jesus’ teachings via a friend of a friend. They spent time with Him and learnt from Him directly. When we know the Holy Spirit, He can help us every day to follow and be more like Jesus (Luke 24:49 NLT).
2. There is a cost of discipleship. Jesus made it very clear from the beginning that it is no easy thing to be a follower of His (Matthew 16:24). Pastor Francis Schaeffer said, “This is not an age to be a soft Christian”. We are in a world where there is an increasing contrast between light and darkness. As a Christian you can’t be one foot in the world and one foot with Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” We must die to ourselves, die to our ambitions and our way of thinking, to be a follower of Jesus. Following Jesus will cost you:
- Time: Your focus needs to be on Jesus, not just on worldly goals and the values of this world.
- Money: The rich young ruler proved he was following money more than he was following God. We need to give everything to Jesus. It will affect your pocket; Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
- Energy: What are you spending your energy on that informs your decisions? Do you give the best part of your day to Jesus (Matthew 6:33)?
- Social acceptance: When you align yourself with Christ, there may be people who are anti-Christ and reject you. Many Christians have lost friends and family.
There may be decisions you have to make to live 100% for Jesus, and there may be things that God is calling you to turn away from, but it will be worth it!
3. There are consequences of discipleship. If you are a disciple of Jesus, you will be matured in your character. You will be changed. You will be different. You will be developed in your capabilities and ministry because you are learning from the best mentor & teacher. You will become a team player because you will move from ‘me’ to ‘we’. Not least, you will know that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the King of kings, Lord of lords, Prince of Peace, Almighty God, is always with you (Matthew 28:19-20). When you answer the call of Jesus to follow him as a disciple that there will be costs, but there will also be consequences and blessings beyond what you can imagine in this life and great blessings in the life to come. And the best thing you can possibly do is to give your life wholly to Christ. It’s the disciples who are really committed who have the most fulfilled lives. 1 Peter 2:9 sums this up beautifully, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
