I ask a simple question today - would more disciples like you help the church? Another way to say the same thing is - Would more you's be good?
I got the question from one of my pastor’s recent sermons, and it is a great question. Would more disciples like you help the church? Think about how you would answer that yourself, go on and do it now - i.e. take a pause and think about / pray about your answer before continuing.
If you are a Christian, the answer to that question involves looking at if you are trying to, or planning to, take your walk with God seriously. The answer also involves looking at how you impact both the world and the body of Christ.
In addition to that question, I would / do ask a few more to further analyze our relationship with God-
Would the body of Christ grow, both numerically and spiritually, if every Christian had the same commitment and dedication to it that you do?
If you were running a ministry would you want someone like yourself helping / assisting you?
Would anyone know that you were a Christian if you do not or did not tell them?
If you died right now, would the speakers at your funeral have anything regarding your walk with Christ to mention?
And the big one, if you died right now, do you know you would go to Heaven?
My point in sharing my pastor’s question, and posing a few more myself, is to get everyone to evaluate their own life / relationship and walk with God. The base question is - Could your walk with God be better? And the simple answer is - yes it could be.
That answer is true whether you are Billy Graham or you are a newly baptized believer. You will never be perfect, if you could you would not need Christ, and there is always room to improve. That later almost goes without saying. The real key though is what, if anything, are you doing about improving your walk with God? Another question is, how does your walk impact the body and the world? Beneath the series of questions we have ask today, there is a underlying trend that ask the following things - are you a good disciple? a bad disciple? a complaining disciple? a hard working disciple? a lazy disciple? a invisible disciple? A visible disciple? etc
There are some that could, and do, answer the above questions and come to the conclusion that, even though they could improve, overall the body / world would benefit from more disciples like themselves. Of course if we come to the conclusion that we are worthy of emulation there is a issue of not allowing pride to overcome us. For today’s discussion that issue, pride, really is not relevant as there are people that can honestly say YES, more disciples and Christians like themselves would help the body and the world, but they are not claiming to be perfect. Again being worthy of emulation and capable of duplication, does not mean a Christian is perfect, or that they can not improve. It just means that they are pursuing Christ with their life and allowing that passion and devotion to pour out into the world. It is their heart, drive, and motivation, not actual perfection, that makes them worthy of emulation. To me, the fact that such Christians do exist is a great thing. It means that we have people that we can learn from, and that those are in our lives to help us model our walk with God.
To those that can honestly answer that more disciples like them would help the body I have one additional question to ask - what you doing to make sure that happens? If nothing then you may want to re-evaluate your answer. If you do have a positive answer to the last question, then congratulations and good work. Stay at it, and make sure that the trend continues.
Now for to the majority of Christians out there. Those are the ones that when they answer the above questions honestly they do not come back with the conclusion that more disciples like themselves would be good for the body or the world. If that is your lot, then the question today is what are you going to do about it? As with most things, there are several options for you to follow once you reach the conclusion that you are not worthy of emulation.
Are you going to just accept that and then forget it. That would be ignoring the facts that you have reached and moving on as if the new information is irrelevant. If that is your answer, then I would say that you probably need to re-evaluate your entire relationship with God. I say this because as Christians we are called to be models to the world, and fight against our sinful nature. Once that nature and trend of our lives is revealed, we should desire to change that trend and begin improving our walk with God. It may not be easy to hear, but if you are willing to remain where you are - unworthy duplication - you may need to consider your entire relationship with God.
If you think you are not worthy of duplication, then maybe you will pursue the second option. That is saying “hey I am failure, and that is what I am.” If that is so then I would again call you re-evaluate your relationship with God. I say this because God takes our failures and makes them successes. God does not desire for you to live a defeated and demoralized life. He desires a active, and positive life for you. All good things come from God, and He will not allow His children to suffer anything that they can not overcome / withstand with Him. Accepting you are a sinner, incapable of attaining Heaven on your own and without Christ, is key to salvation, but once that is done God calls us to be REBORN in Him. That new life is not one of failure, it is one of triumph and success.
So, if you reach the conclusion that you are a failure and that is all there is too it, I would urge you to pursue God and find that you are not a failure in Him, and there is more to your walk with God then failure. You can become a example, a role model, and have a positive impact on both the body of Christ and the world if you are willing to simply trust God at His word. That means believing Him when He says He is able to guide and prosper your labors. This also means that you have to stop focusing on your human nature, including your past, and begin focusing on your future and your Heavenly father.
If you came to the conclusion that your current state of discipleship, if replicated, would not be beneficial to the body, then there is also a third option. That option is seeing what your current state of discipleship is, accepting that it is below what is needed, and then deciding to change course. It is not too late.
Changing course means pursuing the things that God has for you, and becoming a example to others of what a Christian is and should be. That may be taking some steps in your personal life to eliminate habits, activities, and characteristics that currently are in your life, or it may be as simple as prioritizing God over the things that are now the highest priorities in your world. As we mentioned previously, God has promised all that follow Him that they will succeed at the things that He has for them. He desires and wants you to be a active participant in His Kingdom. He wants and desires for you to seek Him. He wants you to be a light to the world, not showing your love to the world but His love for the world through you. If you are in this third group, those that see they need to change and are willing to do so, then you have already taken a huge first step to becoming the disciple that Christ desires you to be.
Simply put, it is not too late regardless of your current state, or which option you are prone to follow. You can become a disciple of God that is worthy of emulation. You can become a disciple that, if replicated, would be beneficial to the body and the world. This is not due to your nature, your ability or is it done for your glory. All of this is possible due to the nature of the one that saves, forgives, restores, leads and prospers us all. Remember, all that He does glorify Him, and all that follow Him SHOULD glorify Him as well. We, and our labor/s, are not to be praised, but He that sends and leads us is worthy of both honor and praise. He desires to, and is able too, use you. He desires to, and is able too, mold you into His man, woman or child. He desires to, and is able too, restore you. Simply He is, and always will be, the God of creation and eternity worthy of glory and praise.
So today, after you ask yourself the questions above, and once you have come to honest answers regarding them to them, then trust in God to help you follow through on what you need to do. If you are already a worthy disciple, then develop ways and means to share that lifestyle and those ways with the world. If you are a disciple that needs a bit of tuning and adjustment before you are ready to be replicated, or before you are ready to start replicating yourself, then trust God to show you what and where you need to change.
