THE FOURFOLD CALL OF A DISCIPLE

The God of all creation wants you! He wants you so much that He sent His own Son to die for you. He has saved you and redeemed you. And as you put your faith in Jesus Christ, he is CALLING you, and beckoning you to be His devoted follower and disciple. Just as God called His prophets, and just as Jesus called his apostles, God is calling you in four specific ways.

1. He is calling you to HIMSELF.
Jesus said in what is commonly known as the Great Commandment, "Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38).

The highest calling we receive as Christians is to love God with our whole being. Basically, that is why we were created, to love God and find our delight in Him.

How do you love God? By loving Jesus, and obeying His commands. Jesus said, "If you love me you will obey my commands" (John 14:15). Does that mean I have to know every command in the whole Bible? NO! Not at all. Jesus said, as we just read in the Great Commandment, you are to love God, and secondly...

2. He is calling you to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
The second call of a disciple of Jesus is to love one another. As we continue reading the Great Commandment it says, "And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:39-40).

Here you have it... To answer the call to love God is to obey His commands. And more specifically, Jesus said if you love ME, you will obey MY commands. Jesus simplified things a lot by saying if you just do these two things, love God and love others, you will fulfill all the laws that are found in the Old Testament.

Jesus also pointed out in John 13:34, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have love you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." How do you demonstrate to yourself, and to everyone around you that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ? By loving your neighbor as yourself, and especially demonstrating that love toward your brothers and sisters in Christ.

The church is the Body of Christ. If I love Jesus, I love the church, because it is his presence here on earth. Someone may say, "I don't have to go to church to be a Christian." That may be true in theory, but in practice it is actually being disobedient to Jesus. Jesus said we are to love one another, be devoted to one another, care for one another, and bear one another's burdens. How do you do that if you are not involved in the local church. And actually we need to be more involved in church than just attending on Sundays, we need to be involved in other Christian's lives through participating in a small group. Getting to know their needs and cares, actually loving them through relationship, and doing the third thing we are called to...

3. A Disciple is called to MINISTRY.
Jesus said, "Even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" Mark 10:45.

In Greek, "serve" and "ministry" are one an the same word. Jesus gives us the example to follow, and that example is to ministry in the church, serving those in the church, helping to make the church better.

In 1 Corinthians 12:7 we are taught, "A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other." Help each other do what? So that we can help each other make the church all that Jesus intended it to be. Ministry is making the church more effective by serving those who are INSIDE the church. The church (that is the people) is dependent on one another to help each through ministry in order to accomplish the work that Jesus has called us to do.

The church today is often crippled in its ability to accomplish it purpose because too many believers expect the church to take care THEIR needs, but they don't offer their abilities and resources to help others out in any way. Too many Christians do not participate in church, just living for themselves. Some may go to church on Sundays for an hour, but then they just go back about their own business, pursuing their own personal agendas.

Each and every Christian is called to make a difference in their church, to help make it better than it was before they became a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a [vital and integral] part of it." Christians are having less, and less impact on the culture around us because too many Christians are not actively involved in ministry in a local church body.

4. Finally, Every Disciple is called to MISSION
In the Great Commission of Jesus we read, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have command you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).

As disciples of Jesus Christ we are all called to a mission. Missions is reaching out to those who are OUTSIDE of the church. Every Christian should have a MINISTRY serving people inside the church, and every Christian should have MISSION reaching out to people outside of the church, outside of the family of God.

Ministry is what makes the church strong and effective in encouraging and equipping disciples to be prepared for the MISSION outside the church. Without effective ministry going on inside the church, our mission to those outside the church is severely weakened.

The world is much too used to seeing Christians who are failing miserably in their walk, unhappy, burdened down with their own sin and guilt. Or on the other hand the world sees Christians as unloving, angry, condemning, judgmental, and acting as if they are better than everyone else.

If you are a disciple of Jesus you can make a difference. When you answer the call to love God in Christ, when you answer the call to love others as much as you do your own family and yourself, when you answer the call to ministry and mission, you will discover a new and powerful purpose for you life. Your life will never be boring again. You will discover an exciting adventure in service to Jesus and others. People will be amazed and impressed by the changes they see in you, and most importantly, they will be amazed by your God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My prayer is that you will answer the four-fold call to discipleship and begin making a difference for Jesus Christ in the world around you.

God Bless,
Roger