Dear Explorer,
Re-Read Matthew 28:16-20
Yesterday we talked about going versus as you are going.
If we assume that “go” is not the first assignment, then what is?
Our commission as we go about our lives is to make disciples.
What is a disciple?
A disciple is a personal follower or a student of someone. We are called to be teachers, mentors, disciple-makers for Jesus. I believe that our call is to teach (or disciple) every person we meet.
Sometimes we are surrounded by followers of Jesus. Then our task is to help them becoming better followers by encouraging them and lifting them up in prayer.
Sometimes we encounter someone who doesn't know the first thing about Jesus, then we are called to model the same way Jesus modeled His obedience, so that it is attractive to them and encourage them to ask questions.
Sometimes, we get to help an empty person invite Jesus into his/her God-shaped vacuum, then our job is to show them how to follow Him.
In other words – my job, as I am going through life, is to encourage and positively influence every person I meet. I need to make sure that every encounter moves that person one step closer to following Jesus better – regardless of where they are currently.
I've heard followers complain that they have been placed in an office or a dorm or a school where they cannot find another follower to encourage them. Great! God has placed you there to be light to lead others to Him. Get busy.
Others complain that they don't even know an empty person, they are surrounded by fellow followers. Great! God has placed you there to be the light to encourage them to go deeper in their walk with Jesus and to excel.
God has prepared that place for you – no matter where you are – to encourage and model and teach other people to become better disciples and followers of Jesus.
Now look closely. Where are we to find these disciples to teach and train?
From every nation. There is none excluded. That's important because some followers tend to limit their discipleship to people who are like them. God says that as He puts us in contact with other people, we are to lead them to become followers of Jesus – no matter what their background, their ethnicity, or race or nationality.
But I find an even greater tendency in our world today. Many people don't want to focus on the people around them. They want to focus on other people groups or ministry opportunities away from their home area. I'll admit it's often a lot easier to minister to strangers rather than to those around us in our own surroundings. Remember that we are to make disciples as we are going about our daily routines – that will include a mixture of people that we are close to (family, friends, roommates, etc.) and people who are different from us.
I don't see or encounter many other people. But sometimes my neighbors stop by. I need to be aware of my responsibility toward them. I get a lot of e-mails from friends all over. I need to be aware of my responsibility to them. Sometimes I encounter a delivery person or a repair person, doctors or nurses. I need to remember that I have been commissioned to encourage them to follow Jesus more closely. But truly, maybe the hardest of all to remember, is that I have been commissioned to help my husband, David live closer to Jesus. Now, David is already a follower and is, in many ways, more mature than I am. But my assignment is to live my life in such a way that he wants to walk even closer to Jesus.
The key is to minister wherever God places us – starting at home and then our surroundings wherever that may be!
Once they become disciples or followers of Jesus, what is the next command?
Every new follower needs to be baptized. Now, is baptism necessary to become a follower or does it wash away our sins?
No. But it is Jesus' command and model for us to demonstrate publicly and to ourselves that we are beginning a new journey, a new commitment, a new discipleship, living a NEW WAY.
Baptism is a visual picture of salvation. It shows the death to SELF (being buried in the water) and the new life with Jesus at the control center. This baptism is described in Romans 6:3-7. It is like John's baptism in that it is a public display that you are repenting or turning from your sins. And it is like Jesus' baptism – in that you are making a public commitment. But it is different because you are showing that now you are following the NEW WAY with Jesus at the control center of your life. We call this baptism “believer's baptism.”
What do you think Jesus meant when He commanded us to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?
Of course, this refers to the Trinity and is a reminder that our God is One God yet exists in 3 dimensions or aspects. We've looked at the Trinity on Day 158.
Baptism in Jesus' day was a ceremony used by people to symbolize moving from one religion to another. People could be baptized into Judaism from paganism. But some pagan religions also practiced it as a symbol of “membership” or belonging. I believe that Jesus wanted it to be clear that you are not baptized into a church group or a particular religion. This baptism was to God in His fullness, but to God alone!
We'll stop here and continue this discussion tomorrow. Think about where God has placed you (where you spend most of your time) and what you can do to encourage those around you to walk closer to Jesus.
In His service, dale
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