USE IT

USE IT:

I recently started a new “job” at my church here in Forney, Texas. I say “job” because serving the Bride of Christ is no job at all, but my privilege and absolute pleasure! Recently one of my supervising pastors (who is coaching me on public speaking and sermon preparation) offered the critique that I need to make my sermon introductions personal and not just about someone I know or knew, but rather about MY experiences in life.

He offered up that point because getting the audience to engage and relate to the story you’re telling translates into their relating to the speaker’s presentation of the gospel message. If you don’t engage the audience with “your story,” then folks will probably remain disconnected when you start sharing God’s story.

My first thought was, “I’ve not really been through anything in life - certainly not anything like that young lady who traveled to China to rescue baby girls from being snatched up into the sex-trade” (See my recent blog titled “DISCIPLE” for more on that).

Then I realized what I was doing...  I was putting up a layer of insulation between me and the audience. I was protecting myself by telling a story about someone else and THEIR experience; that way if people criticized it they wouldn’t really be criticizing me...

It’s rather funny / ironic that I would give a sermon titled “Having Been Brought Through” and use someone else’s story to introduce it. So this morning I woke up with these thoughts running through my head: “What has God brought ME through? What has God been preparing ME for in life to define my service, ministry, and to obey His command “DISCIPLE?” So I started writing them down:

• shy kid who has always dealt with insecurity
• always being picked on in school
• the death of my BEST friend at age 12
• growing up disconnected from my dad
• feelings of perpetual inadequacy from my mom
• betrayal by people I thought were my friends
• an epic fail in opening my own business
• ongoing financial stress because of that failure
• a decade of anger and rage in my 20’s
• failed relationships in dating
• finding out my girlfriend was a drug dealer (long story!)
• feelings of failure and defeat in being 40 and never married
• marrying a woman at 42 who was abandoned by her ex-husband
• becoming an instant dad to two little girls
• another failed business venture - more financial stress
• years of rejection in ministry
• twelve months of unemployment...

And that’s just some of what I came up with in about 5-10 minutes.

I’m blogging about this because “having been brought through” by God is exactly what Jesus was telling those 11 disciples to consider in Matthew 28:19. Jesus is NOT saying “Go and make disciples!” Our Risen LORD was telling them (and is telling us) to “DISCIPLE!” But in order to do that we have to 1) stop and 2) reflect back on "having been brought through." We have to become incredibly and intimately involved in God’s story in OUR OWN lives in order to become intimately involved in God’s story of redemption.

Unless you see God’s intimate grace, mercy, compassion, justice, patience, and love in YOUR story - then you can't “DISCIPLE” anyone - because YOU haven't been discipled.

What you can do without looking back is spin your wheels ranting about do’s and dont’s... you can waste time teaching your kids, family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers about a religious system (people called those people "hypocrites!" in the New Testament)... You can be self-righteous and judge others for not sharing your subjective personal beliefs... you CAN do lots of things that amount to heaping piles of dung, but what you CANNOT do is fulfill Jesus’ summary IMPERATIVE COMMAND: “DISCIPLE!”

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So what’s the takeaway? What’s the ACTION STEP for you today? If you really are a follower of Jesus - a redeemed child of God - then your exclusive vocation in life is exactly what Jesus called you to be: His disciple. Our occupations vary, but as followers of Christ there is but one vocation: DISCIPLE. That exclusive vocation has one exclusive summary imperative command: “DISCIPLE!” Disciples of Christ have that one objective this side of eternity.

If you’re someone who is struggling with questions regarding faith, Christianity, and Jesus: then I’d like to encourage you to stop, look back at your life, then simply ask Jesus to help you to truly know HIM - not a religion, not useless ceremonial rituals, not synthetic garbage about do’s and dont’s, but to know HIM. When Jesus answers that authentic prayer from the depths of your broken heart (and He went to the Cross in order to answer that exact prayer!) remember what He brought you through - then use it to fulfill His summary imperative command, “DISCIPLE!”

If you’re someone who has already been redeemed by Christ, but you’ve never engaged in anything much more than being a spectator or commuter Christian, i.e. sermons, Bible study, and maybe a fish sticker on your car... then I’d encourage you to look back at what God has brought you through in life and consider how you can use those experiences for His glory and “DISCIPLE!”

In closing, I’ll leave you with this: In Mark’s gospel we read about Jesus saving a demon possessed man (5:1-20).

After Jesus has cast the demons out we read:

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Why did Jesus “deny” this man’s request to follow Him? The answer is: Jesus didn’t. The 12 disciples had not yet “been brought through” anything like this demon-possessed man had been brought through by God. This man (who had spent weeks, months, maybe even years suffering from the pain and oppression of bondage in sin and intense internal spiritual warfare) was ready and had nothing left to learn - he was ready. The 12 still had a long journey before them... and one (Judas) would never get there.

Jesus knew that because of what this demon-possessed man had “been brought through” he was ready to “DISCIPLE!” So that’s exactly what Jesus told him to do:

“Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Jesus’ exclusive summary imperative command for His authentic followers is exactly that “Go and tell people how much the LORD has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.” Jesus’ command is NOT to attend a church ceremony, to attend another Bible study, or to accumulate information that never translates into obedient action. It is not about hearing another sermon so you can feel convicted, improved, holy, sanctified, or “connected to God.” It’s not about you.

Like that girl who was raped in China while on a mission trip, like that man who was possessed by demons and rescued by Jesus, and like... me; use the betrayal, loss, and stuff Jesus has brought YOU through to do the only thing He asks, compels, requires, and commands His disciple to do... “DISCIPLE!”

Use it,

-Kevin