So I am sitting here in the middle of a jungle in Leon, Nicaragua. I woke up this morning to the sound of chickens and cows walking by my hammock. I spent my day making concrete water filters for the local community, enjoying some much needed rice and beans, and hiking a volcano only to sled down it on a piece of ply wood. What is this life? I get to be the hands of feet of Jesus each and every day, and at the end of the day celebrate in His beautiful creation. The day has ended and now I lay in my hammock, looking up to the most beautiful view of stars. There are no lights, no busy streets, no rack and stack homes, just open fields and a sky packed to the brim with bright stars. I can only imagine how many nights the apostles spent like this. I started to reflect on the day and I feel like Christ gave me some revelation. Earlier in the day we had studied Matthew 5. When Jesus is talking to His disciples on the mount, and I started to wonder what Jesus wants discipleship to look like for us.
He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthe 5:3-11
The first thing He said to His disciples wasn’t some glossy version of the gospel or some puff up speech to make them feel confident about this decision. No. Christ told them how it was. He told them that they needed to change the stance of their heart. He told them the opposite of what the world told them. He told them to go low. Really low and pursue righteousness no matter what the cost. He made sure they knew that they would be persecuted and would go through trials. He knew that if their heart wasn’t in the right place then they would burn out quickly. He never made christianity appear as a walk in the park or nice evening stroll. He prepared them for the reality of living out The Gospel.
Jesus model of discipleship wasn’t a bible study once a week. It wasn’t simply a date at a coffee shop where one person poured into another. He lived life with these men. Each and every day they were surrounded by each other. They slept on the road next to each other; they ate and walked with Him. Cried and laughed with Him. They watched how he lived life and that was the greatest model of discipleship. Yes He gave them revelation of the new covenant but if He didn’t walk and do it with them, then He would have no foundation or reliability to what he was preaching. Jesus walked the walk and talked the talk.
This is part one of this series on discipleship, but the question is. Are you a disciple of someone? The second question is. If you are currently being discipled by someone, is it modeled like Jesus modeled it. Or are you settling for a cheap version of it?
