Pew Partners or Travelers Together?

International Director's Letter - TEAMHorizons Volume 5 Issue 1
by Dr. Charles Davis

So, what exactly does it mean to be a disciple? Seemed important to Jesus, but I’m not sure I know what he means anymore. And, for that matter, what does it mean to make disciples? And why in the world would we want to sacrifice our time, energy and money to send someone somewhere else in the world to make disciples? And what does the church have to do with any of it?

I go to the worship services of our church on Sunday mornings and my mind wanders. Are we all disciples because we show up here and sit in these rows on Sunday mornings? Is this it? As long as we keep the programs running, meet the budget, listen respectfully to our pastor who preaches his heart out once a week, are we disciples?  Or does it take something else? Am I supposed to do something? Does being a disciple mean to volunteer for the worship team or the children’s program or usher duty? Is that what Jesus meant?

And if I bring someone else to the worship service and he sits there respectfully listening, am I making a disciple? Or does he need to pray a prayer and then sit there respectfully? Do I need to tell him that he is a sinner who is going to hell unless he believes in Jesus? Does that make him a disciple? Or does it work better if I bring him and the pastor tells him that he is a sinner and going to hell unless he believes in Jesus? Is that what it means to make disciples? Do I have to go to seminary or Bible college and become a professional “God person” in order to make disciples?

And when professional “God persons” are sent somewhere else in the world to make disciples, are they supposed to start programs where people come to sit and listen respectfully to someone preach on Sunday morning? If Jesus meant that, why did he talk to his disciples in just about every place and at every time except in a building on Sunday morning? What if other cultures don’t like sitting in rows on Sunday morning? What if they like sitting on the floor? What if their weekly day off is really on Friday? How do they become disciples? Or why would we send someone to make disciples someplace where they’ve already got their own church buildings and programs... places like France, Portugal, or Italy?

And exactly why does the church seem to have so little to do with following Jesus and so much to do with listening and learning more and more and more? Every Sunday I learn more about the Bible. I hear some insight that I hadn’t had before. I hear a story that is interesting. As long as we keep sitting respectfully in pews side by side next to people we don’t know very well, and learn more new stuff , are we a good church? Is this what Jesus meant when he said he would build his church? Does that make us disciplea of Jesus, or disciples of the pastor? Why do so many young people want to know about Jesus, but don’t give a Fig Newton for the church?

Did Jesus really mean what he said when he looked at his disciples and said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?” At that moment, at least according to Dr. Luke, he had just said some outrageous things like, “Love your enemy, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” He had just called the poor, hungry, sad, and rejected people blessed, and had called the satisfied, rich, insulated, and accepted people  the ones to be pitied. Could being a disciple of Jesus mean giving away more... or denying myself more... or mourning more... or being ridiculed more?


Of course I wouldn’t do any of those things if I didn’t believe that he is the Lord, that he is God incarnate, and that he broke the power of sin so that I could deny myself. I would have to believe that he is who he says he is if I were going to take any of this seriously. But once I believed, it would seem that I had only just begun (as the Carpenters sang so plaintively 35 years ago!).

So does it mean that if I want to be his disciple, I not only have to believe, I have to really do what he says... no matter what he says? In that case I would have to live every day in desperate dependence on him, because denying myself, giving away more, loving my enemies, and doing everything else Jesus said, go totally against my nature.

I would be in for a long journey of faith, following Jesus. I would fail often. I would have to ask forgiveness and learn from my mistakes. I would have to keep taking steps of obedience, no matter where they led me.

And, come to think of it, in the process of making all my mistakes and stepping in potholes along the way, I would probably have the opportunity to invite someone to share the journey with me. My very failures, mistakes, and tentative steps would be what I would have to share with someone else on the journey -- someone who was interested in this person, Jesus, and wanted to be his disciple as well. As we shared our journey together, we would actually be engaged in the process of making disciples. My companion would be helping me follow Jesus. I would be helping him. I would share with him something I was learning through my journey, and he would share with me something that he was learned about his – two disciples, walking together, talking about obedience. Could this be the essential meaning of the church? Could this be the church? Could it be that simple?

But what about the property, programs and power? Don’t two disciples, walking together, have to meet somewhere? Don’t they have to decide what they are going to do together? Isn’t someone going to emerge as the leader? Of course. The important thing would be to remember that if they are following Jesus, as His disciples, then Jesus would decide when, where, and how they met,  because he is on a mission to save the world.

Jesus is on a mission to redeem the lost and to reconcile all things to himself. He is on a mission to save the planet. He is on a mission to complete the greatest creation of all time, the Body of Christ. He is on a mission to find the lost and broken, make them whole and show them the way home. He is looking for people from every tribe, people, language and nation to be part of the great assembly around the throne. He is setting up his Kingdom in which all those who become his disciples will rule as a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

If I learn to follow Jesus and obey everything that he has commanded, then I join others on their journey and together we can make disciples of each other. As more and more people join our pilgrimage, we will grow closer and closer together because we are going to the same grand event, the wedding feast of the lamb.

A while ago some good friends invited my wife and I to go to a football game at the University of Michigan. We left our home in suburban Chicago early on a Saturday morning because we had a five-hour drive in front of us and we wanted to have lunch with our friends before the 1:00 game. When we started out, I couldn’t tell if anyone else on the road was going to the same game. As we crossed the state line into Michigan, however, I began to notice others who were going to the same game. Flags, colors, and mascots began appearing in car windows. One large RV was painted completely in blue and gold. When we took the exit to the stadium we were bumper to bumper with everyone else. By the time we were walking across the final street to the stadium we were part of a great multitude, all united in a common vision of winning a football game. It would be impossible to get to the game without joining the crowd streaming there.

That is a very small example of what the church of Jesus Christ is like today. Millions of disciples across the globe are all travelling to the throne room, in eager anticipation of the greatest day in the history of the world when the Body of Christ will be complete and will come face to face with her Lord and Master. That’s a journey that I want to be on!

Why would we want to just sit in our comfortable pews on Sunday morning when we can join the disciples who are following our Lord on his mission, inviting others to join us? Why would we want to stay comfortably removed from any sacrifice and trouble when we have been invited to join King Jesus on his mission to save the world?

Why would we be content to just believe when we can be his disciples?