Discipleship

Table Rock Priorities
Written By Andrew Knight

Text: 2 Timothy 2:1-7 ESV

Introduction

Good morning Table Rock! My name is Ryan, and I am one of the pastors here. We have been going through our nine priorities—aspects and callings of our faith that we see come up again and again in Scripture—and we are wrapping up the eighth one this morning. So far, we have talked about Spreading, Prayer, Leadership, Witness, Loving All Peoples, Worship, and Mutual Care. Today, we will talk about Discipleship, and next week Don Straka will end this series with a sermon on Compassion. 

That means we have a new series coming up. For the rest of this summer, into the first weeks of September, we will be going through the book of Colossians and enjoying the reality we see again and again throughout that book, that Christ is Supreme! So, feel free to start reading through Colossians in your own time so you have some thoughts and ideas as we begin to read through it together in two weeks. 

This morning as we look at discipleship, we are going to use this passage in 2 Timothy 2, that actually doesn’t use the word disciple or discipleship, to help us as we discuss discipleship. We will also look at the rest of Scripture to help describe what this thing that we call discipleship really is, and 2 Timothy has some helpful aspects that we often overlook. 

And I pray you leave this morning loving these four points about disciples and discipleship:

  • Being a disciple is your identity.

  • Disciples pursue joy

  • Disciples replicate and grow

  • Disciples persevere

Being a Disciple is our Identity

Discipleship is the Christianese word that gets thrown about and has many different meanings. For some, it is the process of getting together with someone else to simply read the Bible. Some seem to talk about discipleship as if it is the second stage of a three-stage growth of Christians. First, you are converted. Second, you become a disciple of someone older and more wise, and third, you become the one discipling. So, discipleship is just a single stage of your growth. In this sense, being a disciple is something you do for a season, then you try to help make disciples and have passed out of that stage yourself. 

What is interesting is we have a whole priority called “Discipleship” yet that word is never even used in Scripture. The noun “disciple” is there in the New Testament. Jesus has disciples. There are disciples of John. That is what the word means, to be a follower of a teacher. It may seem very simple, but it has great implications. You, Christian, are simply a disciple of Jesus. 

What is interesting is how clearly it is said in Acts 11:26:

“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”(Acts 11:26 ESV)

Discipleship is more than witnessing teaching others; it is who we are as followers of Christ! The word disciple is used more than the word Christian throughout the New Testament, and as a writer has said,

“Disciple is an identity; everything else is a role.” ( Jonathan K. Dodson and Matt Chandler, Gospel-Centered Discipleship, 1 edition. (Crossway Books, 2012), 29.)

You, Christian, here fellowshipping with Table Rock Church this morning, are a disciple. You were made a disciple when someone like Paul and Barnabas and Mark and the other Apostles and followers of Jesus went out and shared the gospel with you, and you were converted. And, that process isn’t over yet! Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 28:22:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””(Matthew 28:19–20 ESV)

When Jesus commands his disciples (which includes us) to go out, he doesn’t just include conversion. Yes, that is the first step—baptizing the nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. But the process continues. We are called to teach one another “to observe all that [Jesus] has commanded [us].” That is a lifetime of work!  

So, the first thing we all need to realize is that being a disciple is our identity—it is synonymous with being a Christian. This is how scripture talks about it. It starts at our conversion and continues on throughout our entire life as we continue to learn more and love our God more. It isn’t just a stage, nor is it one simple piece of our life—it is everything that we are as a Christian.

Disciples Pursue Joy

If being a Christian is the same as being a disciple, then what does that actually mean? What are you to do, how are you to act, what does that identity look like? What we see in Scripture is that a disciple pursues joy in knowing God and seeing his glory! This is what we have been teaching you through our Priority Series is the hallmarks of a disciple! 

“We exist to spread a passion for the glory of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit”

Disciples are those who have found their purpose in knowing God and finding joy in his glory being revealed! And we realize the pursuit of joy affects our entire life. Out of passion and a joy for God and his glory, we see—

Disciples are:

  • Those who worship God in all areas of their lives (Worship)

  • Those who rely on an all-powerful God to provide their needs through prayer (Prayer)

  • Those who demonstrate their love of God to others through their words & actions (Witness)

  • Those who love all people: sinners & a diverse groups of believers (Loving All People)

  • Those who care for those believers around them (Mutual Care)

  • Those who have compassion on all those we are brought into relationship with (Compassion)

  • Those who both rally around leadership and strive to lead themselves in these areas (Leadership)

  • Those who want to see this amazing God known throughout the world (Spreading)

These priorities are not just the emphases that God has throughout Scripture, but they are the characteristics of his disciples. These are the outworking of your pursuit of joy in God, as it effects and consumes your whole life. Disciples are those who pursue joy in God through their entire life and being!

Transition

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” (2 Timothy 2:1–7 ESV)

And this is where we come back to 2 Timothy. Here, Paul is encouraging Timothy to not forget what he has been called to. Paul reminds Timothy of this earlier in the letter in 2 Timothy 1:8–9:

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling,” (2 Timothy 1:8–9 ESV)

Timothy’s identity of who he is—one saved and called to a holy calling by God—is something he shouldn’t be ashamed of. Timothy is to know that he is a disciple of Jesus, and he is to find joy in this truth! And as Paul gets to our verses in chapter 2, he is describing for Timothy the entailment—the natural outworking—of his identity as a disciple means:

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” (2 Timothy 2:1–7 ESV)

This section shows us a couple of very specific points about the life and characteristics of a disciple. From this passage we can see our third and fourth points:

  • Disciples replicate

  • Disciples persevere

Disciples Replicate and Grow

Paul gives Timothy a very specific mandate—Pass on what he has heard from Paul to other men, who will also pass it on to other men. As we mentioned, even though there isn’t the word “discipleship” in the New Testament, they not only talk about disciples, but about “making” disciples. The idea behind this is that people are being converted to Christ and becoming Christians. This is how much of the book of Acts describes what is happening when the different believers go out and begin witnessing to others. It says in Acts 14:21:

“When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,” (Acts 14:21 ESV)

This is what we typically mean when we use the word “discipleship.” It is the idea of helping to create new disciples. Now, lest anyone thinks this is just a New Testament concept, we see this throughout Scripture:

  • We see the example of Moses and Jethro in Exodus 18:13–27. There are many concerns and disputes arising, and it is taking all of Moses’s time to settle each of them. Jethro comes to Moses and encourages him to establish other men who have been taught how to rightly discern right and wrong and allow them to preside as judges and elders of the people and these disputes. Moses is raising up other disciples here—others who know and follow God. 

  • We see this in Moses and Joshua. Joshua is raised up by God and trained and prepared to take over for Moses as Israel enters into the promised land. 

  • We see this with Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kings 19. Elijah is concerned and complaining to God how there are not any others who love God, and God commands him to take Elisha and anoint him to be a prophet to follow Elijah. Elisha follows Elijah and learns from him—so well that he refuses to leave Elijah alone so that God can take him up to heaven. 

  • In the New Testament we see this with Jesus and his “disciples.” He chooses 12 and spends the majority of his three year ministry on earth with these men. They travel together, serve together, and learn from Jesus.

  • We see this in Acts as Paul takes Silas and Barnabas takes John Mark on their missionary journeys. Paul has other men like Titus and as we are seeing today, Timothy, who he has taken with him to teach, encourage, and exhort in their walk with God. 

Now an astute listener may say, “but those are all leaders. See, isn’t discipleship really something just the leaders are to do? That is how those models we talked about earlier happen—where you are a disciple for a stage, but then you are the leader making other disciples.” That would be a great question. In fact, even our passage here in 2 Timothy, Paul is largely encouraging Timothy to create disciples who are leaders: other men to pass on this gospel knowledge and ensure a chain of leaders who will continue this discipleship process on into the future. 

But this shouldn’t surprise us. I believe Don Straka quoted another Don, Don Carson, when he talked about Leadership. Carson has said about leaders and pastor/elders that “the most remarkable thing about [leaders and pastor/elders] is how unremarkable they are.” As an elder, I really appreciate being called unremarkable! Outside of specific gifts, elders and leaders are to simply be exemplary Christians. They are not perfect, but they should model the life that all Christians are called to. We shouldn’t be surprised that many of our examples of disciples replicating other disciples are leaders. But just so you can see that isn’t the case, listen to some of the other commands that deal with non-leaders replicating other disciples throughout Scripture:

  • In Deuteronomy 6 we see God calling us to keep his words in front of ourselves and in front of others—our children as we walk and live our life, our family as we engage in our house, and our neighbors and city as we interact in the marketplace of our work.

  • Ephesians 6:4 specifically calls fathers to train up their children in the same way.

  • Titus 2:4 calls older women to train up younger women. 

  • Matthew 28:20 calls Christians to send some to the entire world that they might go about the work of replicating more disciples throughout the entire world! 

  • Hebrews 3:13 calls all Christians to exhort one another to avoid sin and to stir each other up to love and good works. We help each other grow as disciples.

  • 1 Peter 4:10 talks about us serving one another with the gifts that God has given us.

As we talked about when we discussed our priority on Spreading, God wants to see others love him and his glory and find joy in Jesus—people across the entire world. And for that to happen, he has entrusted us with the work of partnering with his Holy Spirit to replicate disciples. 

And on and on it goes. Scripture is replete with example after example of our call to help replicate disciples. Not just the first time of replication (what we would call conversion), but the ongoing work of being conformed more and more to the image of Christ every day (as Paul would call it in passages like Romans 8:29 and Philippians 1:6). 

Yet, Paul doesn’t just encourage Timothy to only replicate. He has a specific type of replication in mind:

“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2 ESV)

The replication Paul is looking for is one that breeds others who will replicate. Faithful discipleship not only passes on what we know and love about God but raises up others who similarly love God enough to pass it on to others! This may seem like a superfluous statement, but without this type of replication, we end up with Israel, who often throughout the Old Testament forget within a generation what God had done for their parents, and grumbled and turned away to idols.

Disciples replicate by creating (through the help of the Holy Spirit) and encouraging other disciples who themselves will make disciples. 

Disciples Persevere

And last, but not least, disciples persevere. I don’t take it for granted that right after Paul has reminded Timothy about his identity in Jesus as a disciple, encouraged him to fulfill his love and joy in Jesus through disciple replication and growth, that he says this:

“Share in suffering” (2 Timothy 2:3 ESV)

This is one of Paul’s main points to Timothy throughout this letter. He believes the life of being a disciple and fulfilling all that it contains will take perseverance, and often through suffering. Look how he starts the letter in 2 Timothy 1:8:

“Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,” (2 Timothy 1:8 ESV)

This new life we have in the good news of our restored relationship with God, bought through Jesus’s blood, is amazing. We now have access directly to our God. We can begin, today, to experience a life not ruled by sin but rather by Holy Spirit wrought joy in God. We can experience God’s creation for what it is meant to be: an orchestral movement declaring the glories of his majesty!

And we get to be in relationship with those who will not or have not-yet trusted in Jesus and with those whom God has saved. We get to be in sweet fellowship and encouragement with friends and family who help us with this process of being a disciple. We have many incredible fun and joyful moments together. Snap chat laughs, hiking and camping, being in one-another’s lives.  

But it is no coincidence that it is right after Paul has described the most intense relational aspect of being a disciple—replication and growth—that he mentions “share in suffering.” Relating to others as you desire to either help create or teach and grow disciples will take perseverance. That perseverance may be necessary because of opposition from those outside you, your own sin, or those you are helping. You yourself may be one of those pushing against the disciple-oriented growth others are encouraging you toward. It is our relationships with others that will often create our need for perseverance. Jesus warned us of this. He said in Luke 14:33:

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33 ESV)

Jesus says this amidst the backdrop of relationships. We have to be ready to give up any comfort for the sake of being a disciple. Paul knows this, as he writes to Timothy from prison, likely in Rome. Here, Paul uses three examples to encourage Timothy on his path of discipleship. He knows Timothy’s own walk will need perseverance, and his interaction with helping to make disciples will as well. Let me use these examples as practical encouragement for you this morning as well as a means for you to think about what it might look like to be a disciple, to replicate & grow other disciples, and to persevere well.

Soldier

First, Paul uses the picture of a soldier:

“No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Timothy 2:4 ESV)

    • Distracted

      • Good things, like jobs, hobbies, and friendships become an end to themselves and not for our own growth or a means to help make disciples.

    • Who do we please?

      • First, I struggle because I want to please me. 

      • Second, I want to please those around me. 

Athlete

Second, he uses the picture of an athlete.

“An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” (2 Timothy 2:5 ESV)

    • Effort & Energy

    • Rules

Farmer

Third, he uses the image of a farmer.

“It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.” (2 Timothy 2:6 ESV)

    • Taking the initiative

    • Time

    • Patience

Suffering

All of these have aspects about suffering. A soldier runs the risk of dying. An athlete beats his body and, frankly, hurts it in the process of competing. A farmer works long, lonely hours. Are we ready to do what it takes to be a disciple and make other disciples?

Reward

What is amazing is that creating and growing disciples comes with a reward! Each of these pictures Paul mentions also has a positive aspect. The soldier can win the pleasure of the one he serves. The athlete can win and be crowned victor. The farmer is going to get the first share of the crop. What is the reward in living our life as a disciple and helping to make other disciples? Paul says it this way in 1 Thessalonians 2:19–20:

“What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” (1 Thessalonians 2:19–20 ESV)

John also echoes this sentiment:

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4 ESV)

Would you have said it that way? I bet if I asked you to complete the sentence, “I have no greater joy than…” you would have said “Jesus” or “God.” Not those you have discipled. 

Yet we find joy in boasting in those whom we have discipled! Whether it is the one-time conversion or those we have walked a lifetime with. This isn’t a joy that competes with our joy in Jesus, but rather it is the completion of our joy in Jesus. It is the fruit of our joy in Jesus coming to fruition—others becoming disciples and being strengthened as disciples! This is exactly how God wants it: our joy isn’t found solely internally but is also found externally as we share the love of God with others. It is an expanding and spreading love, like God’s, which seeks to see others find their joy in Jesus!

Conclusion

I love this summary of discipleship by Jonathan Dodson, a pastor and author. 

“Making disciples happens through gospel-centered going, baptizing, and teaching. Disciples are made, whether for the first or the fiftieth time, through the gospel.” (Ibid, 35)

Christians, you and I are disciples. It is synonymous with being a Christian. We are those who look to Jesus and follow him and his ways. And the joy that we find in God through Jesus Christ permeates and consumes our entire life. And it leads most naturally to us replicating disciples: either for the first time or for the hundredth time. And as disciples we persevere. God doesn’t promise us it will be easy, but he promises it will be good, it will be growing, and he will be faithful. 

As we celebrate communion this morning, that is one of the things we are doing in this act: we are discipling one another. Reminding each other of who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

Andrew Knight
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