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Secret #63 can best be summed up with the
words of Jesus: "For John came neither
eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a
demon!' The Son of Man came eating and
drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous
man and a drunkard, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners!'" (Matthew
11:18-19) This was his reputation. He was
known as a friend to the disenfranchised. And
those who became followers of Jesus were to
be just like their Master.
SECRET #63: The follower of Jesus
stands with the broken, abused, addicted and
the poor, imitating the Master.
Immediately after Jesus called Matthew, the
tax collector, to follow Him, Matthew threw a
party. Naturally, Matthew invited His family
and friends to this party and this was quite
a gathering of other tax collectors and
sinners or the non-religious. Matthew records
it in this way: When the Pharisees saw
this, they said to His disciples, "Why is
your Teacher eating with the tax collectors
and sinners?" But when Jesus heard this, He
said, "It is not those who are healthy who
need a physician, but those who are sick. But
go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE
COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not
come to call the righteous, but sinners."
(Matthew 9:11-13)
In the synagogue, even today, there is a
weekly reading of the Scriptures. When Jesus
showed up at the synagogue in His home town
of Nazareth, He read the weekly reading that
was really about Him from the prophet Isaiah:
And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power
of the Spirit, and news about Him spread
through all the surrounding district. And He
began teaching in their synagogues and was
praised by all. And He came to Nazareth,
where He had been brought up; and as was His
custom, He entered the synagogue on the
Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book
of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And
He opened the book and found the place where
it was written, "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS
UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO
PREACH THE
GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO
PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND
RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE
THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE
FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." (Luke 4:14-19)
When John's disciples were sent to question
Jesus about His credentials, Jesus
articulated the same Messianic theme: At
that very time He cured many people of
diseases and afflictions and evil spirits;
and He gave sight to many who were blind. And
He answered and said to them, "Go and report
to John what you have seen and heard: the
BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL
PREACHED TO THEM. Blessed is he who does not
take offense at Me." (Luke 7:21-23)
Later, Jesus said to a person who had invited
Him to dinner, "When you give a luncheon
or a dinner, do not invite your friends or
your brothers or your relatives or rich
neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you
in return and that will be your repayment.
But when you give a reception, invite the
poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and
you will be blessed, since they do not have
the means to repay you; for you will be
repaid at the resurrection of the
righteous." (Luke 14:12-14) Jesus was all
about working with and hanging out with the
broken, abused, addicted and poor-the
disenfranchised of society-and wants His
followers to do the same.
One more observation here is Jesus chose as
His key followers a group of men from the
non-religious world. He chose men who were
just ordinary and uneducated men, teenagers,
in fact, to lead the most revolutionary
movement ever. As the most popular spiritual
leader during that time, Jesus didn't stand
with other spiritual or religious leaders in
the community. In fact, He put them down and
embarrassed them time and time again. He
seemed to be bent on humbling them, because
they loved being in such exalted positions.
Believe me, they didn't have much to do with
the non-religious. They stood far away from
them. On the other hand, Jesus not only stood
with them and hung out with them; He also
touched them. And when Jesus touched someone,
they were encouraged, healed, and empowered!
SECRET #63: The follower of Jesus
stands with the broken, abused, addicted and
the poor, imitating the Master.
FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.
"Make disciples of all nations" is the
command we just discussed that Jesus gave to
His disciples. It's important, however, to
examine just what is the making of a
disciple. You see, there is no way you or I
or anyone has the capability to make a
disciple. Remember, I said disciple making is
caught and not taught. There is something
more to it than that. This brings us to
SECRET #62: The follower of Jesus knows
disciples aren't made, but summoned.
The only way a person becomes a disciple is
to be summoned. You see, a disciple is
literally a follower, therefore a follower
must be called into action to start
following. The one who calls you to follow is
the teacher-the leader-the Master. What I'm
learning is that the only one I've ever
encountered who is worthy of being a Master,
my Master, is Jesus.
When you examine Jesus, you will frequently
hear the two most revolutionary words ever
spoken-two words that have actually turned
the world upside down. These two words are
"FOLLOW ME!"
One of the earliest times Jesus delivered
this challenge was with a group of
fishermen-Peter, Andrew, James and John. Take
a look into this scene: Now as Jesus was
walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two
brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and
Andrew his brother, casting a net into the
sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to
them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers
of men." Immediately they left their nets and
followed Him. Going on from there He saw two
other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and
John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee
their father, mending their nets; and He
called them. Immediately they left the boat
and their father, and followed Him.
(Matthew 4:18-22)
Then there was the special encounter Jesus
had with a tax collector by the name of
Matthew. As Jesus went on from there, He
saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax
collector's booth; and He said to him,
"Follow Me!" And he got up and followed
Him. (Matthew 9:9)
A disciple or follower must be summoned or
invited to follow. Once invited, you start
following as soon as possible. Why? It's
because this invitation is from the Master,
Himself.
Jesus gives us some insight into how this
summoning process occurs in the 6th chapter
of John's Gospel. He says, "For this
reason I have said to you, that no one can
come to Me unless it has been granted him
from the Father." (John 6:65) So, it's
God, the Father, who is behind it all.
Earlier in this same scene Jesus says, "No
one can come to Me unless the Father who sent
Me draws him."
So, here's how it seems to work. Jesus does
what His Father moves Him to do and say. And,
in the case of inviting people to follow Him,
the Father is the one doing the drawing in of
the potential followers. A full-court press
is needed to make disciples of all nations.
There are three players in the making of
disciples. FIRST-The Father through the
Spirit is drawing all people to Jesus.
SECOND-Jesus is the irresistible one people
are drawn to. THIRD-Those who are already
followers of Jesus are diligently introducing
people to Jesus-advancing the conversation of
Jesus whenever possible.
As you can see Jesus is central to the entire
process. The Father draws people to Jesus and
His followers get to know Him personally and
make Him known in every way possible. Jesus
is the Master worthy of an answer to His call
to follow.
Jesus reveals this before and
after His command to "make disciples of all
nations" when He said, "All authority has
been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
SECRET #62 is: The follower of Jesus
knows disciples aren't made, but
summoned. Have you felt the drawing
of the Father or the calling of Jesus to
follow? Then, do whatever you have to do to
follow Him as closely as you can.
FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.
In the 3 ½ years of Jesus' teaching of His
disciples there's no doubt about several
recurring themes throughout. One of the most
dynamic, recurring themes is Jesus' answer to
the question, "What is the greatest of the
commandments?" His answer was "You
must love God with all your heart and your
neighbor as yourself."
Another very familiar theme of Jesus'
teachings is found in some of His final words
to His disciples. It was one of Jesus' final
commands. He commanded: "Make disciples of
all nations (cultures)!" This is where I
get SECRET #61: The follower of Jesus
is diligent to make disciples of the Master
wherever he goes.
Matthew recorded Jesus' words in this way:
"All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age."
(Matthew 28:18-20)
There is only one command in these verses and
it's not "Go!" The only command is "Make
disciple of all nations!" Then, there are
three participles that offer how to do
this-by going, by baptizing and by teaching.
I don't want to get bogged down with the
participles other than to give my quick
opinion on them. "Going" has to do with
taking the initiative in "making disciples".
"Baptizing" may not have anything to do with
water. Remember John's words: "I baptize with
water, but He who is coming after me is
mightier than I and will baptize you with the
Spirit." "Teaching" doesn't have to do with
imparting more doctrines, but it is teaching
in such a way that people will embrace these
things Jesus taught by embracing them as a
lifestyle-by being like Jesus. We can discuss
these matters on a later podcast.
Historically, we have spent so much time
cussing and discussing what Jesus meant by
going, baptizing and teaching that we miss
the primary command to make disciples. This
is because it's much easier to go on a
mission trip, sprinkle or dunk others in
water, and teach, teach and teach more and
more of our particular belief systems to our
followers.
Making disciples is more difficult. There are
two basic difficulties. FIRST-the command is
to make disciples of Jesus, not make
disciples of our particular spiritual flavor
or bent. Now if you are going to commit
yourself to make disciples of Jesus, you must
be a disciple or follower of Jesus yourself.
I've often said that following Jesus is the
toughest thing I've ever tried to do. Before
I became a stubborn follower of Jesus, I
practiced "making disciples" by assembling
people into a classroom. I thought it was all
about teaching them to become a disciple of
Jesus. Now, I get it. "Making disciples"
cannot happen in a classroom. "Making
disciples" must be caught and not taught!
It's something that must be caught from you
as a genuine follower of Jesus!
SECOND-Jesus said, "Make disciples of all
nations!" This is the second difficulty
in making disciples. We are to make disciples
of all nations. Nations is actually the word
that means cultures. Jesus commands His
followers to make disciples of all cultures.
The real difficulty here is the natural
tendency is to change other cultures to be
like our culture. Instead of making disciples
of Jesus of all nations, where every culture
freely responds to the good news of Jesus in
their own way, we tend to make cultural
disciples of all nations-to make them look
and sound like us. So, other cultures are
taught to sing our songs, speak our lingo and
practice our culture as their own. This isn't
making disciples of all cultures.
"Making disciples" of Jesus in every culture
of the world is the mission of those who
follow Jesus. Most of my life I only made
disciples by accident. Since I have become
passionate about being a follower of Jesus, I
now see every person I meet as a potential
follower of Jesus. You see, when you own it,
you can't help but spill all over those you
touch.
There are three steps I want to suggest:
FIRST-Be a serious disciple or follower of
Jesus yourself. SECOND-Make it your habit to
insert Jesus into the conversation whenever
you can. THIRD-When you see another person
acting, talking, thinking or loving like
Jesus, point this out to them and affirm them
for it. SECRET #61: The follower of
Jesus is diligent to make disciples of the
Master wherever he goes. Remember,
discipleship can't be taught-only caught!
FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICKHERE.
We've been discussing how the intent of Jesus
was to launch a movement around Him and His
teachings. What's interesting about the Jesus
movement is that it is really the presence of
the King and His Kingdom. This is why it's so
viral, irresistible and irreversible. It
can't be stopped and Jesus, the King, is at
work all over the world.
A sad rumor that permeates so many faith
groups is that Jesus has limited Himself to a
given group of believers to do all the work
of reaching out to the entire world only
through their efforts. This is not only sad,
but laughable. There is no way God is waiting
on Christians or your sub-brand of
Christianity to reach the entire world for
Him. King Jesus and His Kingdom are at work
in every culture of the world.
When Paul spoke in the marketplace in Athens,
he expressed some revolutionary ideas about
what God is up to in the many cultures of the
world: So Paul stood in the midst of the
Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe
that you are very religious in all respects.
For while I was passing through and examining
the objects of your worship, I also found an
altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN
GOD ' Therefore what you worship in
ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God
who made the world and all things in it,
since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does
not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is
He served by human hands, as though He needed
anything, since He Himself gives to all
people life and breath and all things; and He
made from one man every nation of mankind to
live on all the face of the earth, having
determined their appointed times and the
boundaries of their habitation, that they
would seek God, if perhaps they might grope
for Him and find Him, though He is not far
from each one of us; for in Him we live and
move and exist, as even some of your own
poets have said, 'For we also are His
children.' Being then the children of God, we
ought not to think that the Divine Nature is
like gold or silver or stone, an image formed
by the art and thought of man." (Acts
17:22-29)
God is at work in every nation or culture,
making Himself available so that all men
might seek Him and find Him. Note this work
of God is not dependent upon any specific
religious group or mission. God is at work in
these cultures. He cares more about these
cultures than any other person or religious
organization on the earth. God did set
"eternity in the hearts" of men and women
everywhere.
Our responsibility is to be aware of what God
is up to around us and get there as soon as
possible. This is just the opposite of what
we usually are thinking. We usually go places
to stir things up, start new ministries or
promote new projects and then ask God to come
along and join us. This is bass-ackwards, in
my opinion. Instead of advising God where He
should direct His attention toward our
initiatives, we must seek what God is doing
and where it is He is doing it. This is
essential to what we are to be all about.
Following Jesus is learning to follow His
lead. This is SECRET #60: The follower
of Jesus sees where his Master is at work and
goes there immediately.
Jesus is at work on things that are on His
heart. Jesus loves to see His followers live
out a genuine Kingdom lifestyle. Jesus loves
to see followers love their enemies. He loves
to see followers love one another. Jesus
loves to see His followers be diligent to
feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty,
shelter the homeless and clothe the naked.
Also, Jesus is at work among non-believers
and non-religious people everywhere as well
as among non-Christian, religious people
everywhere. This is why Jesus is so
attractive within the Muslim, Buddhist,
Hindu, Jewish and even agnostic cultures.
This summer a friend of mine told me he had
met two Buddhist monks who had studied the
scriptures of all of the major religions and
came to the conclusion that Jesus is the
ultimate fulfillment of every one of these
religious systems. Just yesterday I received
word that there are more and more Buddhist
monks genuinely following Jesus.
Why is this happening? It's because God is
already at work in the hearts of men and
women of the cultures of the world. You want
to learn some of the most fresh and dynamic
perspectives you'll ever hear about Jesus?
Learn about Jesus from your non-Christian
friends. You will see Jesus in a whole new
way. Practice SECRET #60: The follower
of Jesus sees where his Master is at work and
goes there immediately.
FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK
HERE.
One of the most misunderstood terms in the
spiritual arena is "holy". Unfortunately,
"holy" has become so intimidating and
unreachable. It has a super-spiritual
connotation to it. But Jesus doesn't want you
to be a super-saint or a super-spiritual person.
There are three problems with this
misunderstanding. FIRST-To be "holy", sets up
a level of spirituality that is unattainable
and intimidating. So, "holy" is not something
we seek, unless you are an "out-there" sort
of spiritual person.
SECOND-To be "holy" sets up a 1st class
Christianity or spirituality versus those who
are 2nd class or coach. Talk about shutting
the door of the Kingdom on people!
THIRD-To be "holy" is to operate under a
gross misunderstanding of what "holy" really
means. It's usually half-understood.
Literally, "holy" means to be separated unto
God for His mission. However, where I grew up
to be "holy" was shortened to mean " to be
separated". The way it was applied to me was
that we are to be separated-different from
the rest of the world. It was definitely a
"We-four-and-no-more kind of lifestyle!" We
were an established holy huddle in our
community. We were different because we
didn't do certain things-attend movies, drink
any alcohol, dance or even skate to secular
music. We were different all right and
successfully turned people away from the
attractive, irresistible Jesus. I'm turned
off with this kind of spirituality today!
To be "holy" is just the opposite of what
Jesus intended. He mostly used the term
"holy" to describe the Holy Spirit, holy
angels, and the Holy Place-the Temple. As I
said earlier the term "holy" means to be
separated or set apart unto God for His
mission. The Spirit is holy. The angels are
holy. Even the Temple was holy-separated unto
God for His mission.
Jesus was most upset and angry with those who
continually acted holy and missed out on true
holiness. He rebuked those super-spiritual,
nit-picker, hair-splitting, feather-plucking,
hyper-critical leaders who set themselves up
as the religious examples of righteousness.
They majored in the minors and minored in the
majors. They professed righteousness without
possessing it and they did it by carefully
following their traditions, man-made
commandments and religious causes. This kept
them set apart and separated from the rest of
the world. As they worked hard to keep the
613 laws-248 commandments and 365
prohibitions-they just kept drawing the
condemnation of men on the righteous acts
before God.
The Scriptures taught holiness, but the
meaning of it was not to just be set apart
and be different, gathering yourselves into a
holy huddle. In the Hebrew Scriptures it is
clear that God wants those who claim to be
related to Him to be holy. This sets us up
for SECRET #59: The follower of Jesus
is separated unto God for His mission.
In Leviticus 11:44-45 it says: I am the
LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be
holy, because I am holy. I am the LORD who
brought you up out of Egypt to be your God;
therefore be holy, because I am holy.
Later in Leviticus 20:26 it says: You are
to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am
holy, and I have set you apart from the
nations to be my own. Paul and Peter in
the New Testament speak of being "called
to be holy" and "make every effort to
live in peace with all men and be holy".
Peter says in his first letter: But just
as he who called you is holy, so be holy in
all you do.
Even though Jesus doesn't command His
followers to be holy, in the spirit of what
is understood by the references in Leviticus
and by the few references to be holy by a few
of Jesus' disciples, Jesus does actually
teach holiness-to be set apart unto God for
His mission. I think Jesus is all about
teaching those who want to be His disciples
how to be holy. He does this by His two most
revolutionary words: FOLLOW ME! In contrast
to the super-spiritual community of the
Pharisees and the Sadducees, Jesus invited
the people who were interested in following
Him to: "Come to Me, all who are weary and
heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take
My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND
REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and
My burden is light."
Do you see it? To be holy is to be set apart
for God's use and purposes. Jesus invites us
to follow Him-to be aligned with Him in such
a way that we are on the mission He has
planned for us-to walk, talk, think and love
like Jesus. Jesus doesn't want us to be holy
in the super-spiritual sense of the word, but
holy-set apart to follow Him. SECRET #59:
The follower of Jesus is separated unto
God for His mission.
