{"id":7864,"date":"2019-08-01T06:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T10:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ben-sternke-live.prev17.rmkr.net\/?p=7864"},"modified":"2025-03-07T18:54:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T22:54:56","slug":"why-disciple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/why-disciple\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Would Anyone Want to Be a Disciple of Jesus?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past couple decades or so,\u00a0lots of churches have\u00a0begun to focus\u00a0on discipleship<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0There’s a recognition that we’ve largely assumed that if we simply focused on church growth, discipleship would just sort of… happen. We are realizing we’ve neglected Jesus’ explicit commission to “go and make disciples.”<\/p>\n

And this renewed focus on discipleship is a good thing! But in our work with leaders, we’ve noticed that many churches dive straight into the work of developing a plan<\/strong><\/em> for discipleship\u00a0without first articulating clearly WHY<\/strong><\/em> they’re doing this in the first place. The result is a whole lot of confusion and very little movement.<\/p>\n

Why start with why?<\/h2>\n

Every three-year-old knows it’s important to ask why.<\/strong> It’s we adults that have trouble remembering how crucial it is!<\/p>\n

\"Start<\/a>Simon Sinek addresses this problem in his book\u00a0Start With Why<\/a><\/em>. The basic premise is that while most organizations can tell you WHAT they do, and a few can tell you HOW they do it, very few can tell you WHY they do what they do.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s their ultimate purpose? Why do they get out of bed in the morning? What\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n

Sinek’s basic argument is that why<\/em> we do something is far more important and powerful than what<\/em> we\u2019re doing or\u00a0how<\/em> we\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n

So WHY be and\u00a0make\u00a0disciples?<\/h2>\n

It seems to me that lots of churches know that they should be focusing on discipleship (WHAT), and some churches have a plan for it (HOW), but very few churches can really talk about WHY discipleship to Jesus is such a big deal.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Why focus on discipleship in the first place? Why be disciples of Jesus? Why make disciples of Jesus?\u00a0<\/strong>Is this just a new church growth strategy? Or have we really embraced a more fundamental theological shift?<\/p>\n

\"city-man-person-skyline\"<\/p>\n

The most obvious WHY for discipleship is that Jesus told us to do it.<\/strong> And while this is a decent motivation, Jesus\u2019 commands are never arbitrary.\u00a0There\u2019s a reason<\/em> he told us to follow him and make disciples.<\/p>\n

The problem is the way we often talk about discipleship makes it feel like it is\u00a0<\/em>arbitrary, that it\u2019s less of a vital thing and more of an extra-curricular activity, an add-on to the \u201cmain thing,\u201d which is typically \u201cgetting saved.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what’s in your gospel?<\/h2>\n

So it all comes down to what we believe the \u201cmain thing\u201d really is. What is the good news we are proclaiming?<\/strong>\u00a0What is the gospel?<\/p>\n

\"Heaven's

Can you hear the angels singing?<\/p><\/div>\n

Let’s test it it out. If this is your good news…<\/p>\n

God will forgive your sins and let you into heaven if you believe that Jesus\u00a0died on the cross for you…<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…then there is no reason at all to become a disciple of Jesus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Indeed there\u2019s no reason to involve Jesus\u00a0in your faith at all. You’re not trusting\u00a0<\/em>a person, you’re just assenting<\/em> to some facts.<\/p>\n

Under this understanding of the gospel there’s no logical or compelling reason to become a disciple of Jesus. There’s no WHY.<\/p>\n

A bigger gospel that leads to discipleship<\/h2>\n

But the gospel is so much more than forgiveness and heaven-when-you-die!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Disciples

Disciples learning to live in the kingdom<\/p><\/div>\n

Let’s try it out. If\u00a0this<\/em> is your gospel…<\/p>\n

You can participate NOW<\/strong> in the life of the Trinity, joining with him in what he\u2019s doing right now on earth. Through Jesus Christ, life in God’s kingdom is available to you now. You can start immediately.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…then becoming a disciple\u00a0perfect sense!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why? Because how else will I learn to live this new life? If I surrender to this gospel, I realize that I\u00a0really don\u2019t know how<\/em> to live in God\u2019s kingdom. I don’t know how\u00a0<\/em>to participate in the life of the Trinity.<\/p>\n

But Jesus does!<\/strong><\/p>\n

So the\u00a0way\u00a0<\/em>we enter life in God\u2019s kingdom now is by trusting Jesus now to teach us and empower us to enter into this new kind of life. He leads us step-by-step into kingdom life.<\/p>\n

Discipleship to Jesus is the natural way to say Yes to the gospel of the kingdom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keeping the gospel of the kingdom central<\/h2>\n

In other words, discipleship finds its WHY in the gospel of the kingdom<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But if we try to focus on discipleship while retaining anemic and truncated conceptions of the gospel, we\u2019ll always fall flat on our face, because there isn\u2019t a sufficient WHY to propel people through the sacrifice and effort that discipleship requires.<\/p>\n

This is a drum we tend to beat a lot<\/a>, but it needs to keep being said, over and over, until we really begin to change the way we preach the gospel.<\/strong> In our pulpits, small groups, dinner conversations, and neighborhood barbecues.<\/p>\n

If we want to see a discipleship revolution take root in the North American church, we have to intentionally change the way we think and talk about the gospel<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>I believe this is one of\u00a0the<\/em> watershed theological issues of our time, frankly.<\/p>\n

If we can truly begin to preach and respond to\u00a0the gospel of the kingdom<\/em>, the one Jesus and Paul and whole New Testament preaches, it will naturally<\/em> lead to discipleship, because the WHY will be obvious.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lots of churches are getting serious about discipleship, but do we really know WHY we’re doing this? 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