Looking back at what we have learned about discipleship over the last few months, it can seem a bit overwhelming and maybe even intimidating. We have thrown around phrases like "discipling movement" (from Heartland's Big Hairy Audacious Goal), "dying to self" (from Greg Ogden's book Discipleship Essentials), and "life-changing relationship" (also from the BHAG).
We have established that in Matthew 28:19 Jesus called us to, "go and make disciples of all nations." In our post Being a Disciple we learned the four things that we must consistently practice alongside one another in a discipling relationship: ABIDING in Jesus as our lead discipler, GROUNDING ourselves in the Bible as our main text, SHAPING our lives together through prayer, and COMMITTING to an accountable relationship.
We referred to Heartland's Core Values in our discussion of the level of authenticity we must have with one another to truly enter into a discipling relationship, focusing on the value of HONESTY with ourselves, one another, and God. We also highlighted the need to focus on living our lives in a Christlike manner, imitating Jesus, since our actions speak louder than words.
With the authenticity of a discipling relationship, and the goal to form our actions to our intentions to live more like Jesus, comes the necessity to not only invite others into relationship with us, but to challenge them to hold up their end of an authentic relationship.
Frankly, all of this looks plain hard! How can I disciple someone if I'm not done being discipled? How can I show someone the character of a perfect God through my broken and flawed mortal life? How can I issue a challenge to someone when constantly fall short?
Grace and God's provision, that's how. He is not asking us to be perfect, we can't. He is not asking us to have finished the race, we never will. He is not asking us to work from a place of having everything figured out, we don't. "Nothing is more powerful than when (we) consistently and intentionally COMBINE the gospel of Jesus with (our) own down-to-earth, imperfect, and authentic life," (BHAG FAQ's). Discipleship is personal at its core, it is about two people being real with one another and holding each other accountable - or as we like to say around here, asking "What is God telling you, and what are you going to do about it?"
What is holding you back from truly becoming a disciple?
