Disciples are Discipled and Disciples Disciple
Text: Luke 5:1–11 ESV
When it comes to Table Rock priorities (of which we have 10), our hope is that what lands on us is not something new or novel but that the necessary and natural parts of Christian belief become normalized. And so, on to our Table Rock Priority of ‘Discipleship.’ Let’s take the root-word, ‘disciple.’ The New Testament understanding can be captured by the words: follower, learner, or imitator. With that in view we could define discipleship as, “a process and practice of following, learning, and imitating Jesus and helping others to follow, learn, and imitate Jesus. To say it most straightforwardly, disciples are discipled, and disciples disciple. Let me say this again, disciples are discipled (by the Spirit of God and the body of Christ), and disciples disciple (one another).
Introduction
I’m sure no one could have predicted or forecasted how the Son of God would enter and carry on in this world. He was not some sequestered ‘god’ in a synagogue or temple, but the God-made-man alive and available in a sea of people. He was often dead center middle of the first century Palestinian town square. First of all, Jesus was in pursuit. He was pursuing His people (intentionally and actively, not reactively). We do not find Him waiting for someone to initiate or start a conversation. He was the initiator, the catalyst in conversation most often. He was the walking, talking, present God-man among His people. He was a present pursuer of His people. His birth shows us this in incarnation, his death shows us this in propitiation, and his lifestyle shows us this in multiplication!
Why would we take our ministry queues, our discipleship queues, from anywhere or anyone other than the person and purposes of Jesus Christ? He embodies and exemplifies purposeful, personal, relational, and intentional redemptive strategy.
80% of Jesus’ ministry was local! It was not breadth, as we think it to be. It was not global as we think today. But Jesus was incredibly deep. 12 men. That was his method. And his footprint was mainly a mere 8 square miles. And most of it close to the coast of the Sea of Galilee where the seedbed of the economy was based.
And Jesus was a recruiter of sorts!! He was recruiting men and women from their old lives, their old ways, their old jobs and occupations, and old purposes to a new way, life, purpose, and identity. This world-wide strategy was kicked off with a five-word phrase for some, “Come and you will see…” and two words for others: “Follow Me.” What was Jesus up to? Who was he about? Simply and clearly, Jesus was about disciples! Though that point may be somewhat missed today, it was not missed by pupils or young men who were invited by tradesmen of the day into these learning apprenticeships. It would have been loud and clear to them, and they either would or would not accept. There was no one-foot-in or one-foot-out. There were no dual-apprenticeships…a little of this or a little of that. You either were a disciple of a particular individual or you were not.
Now, the whole ethos or understanding of a disciple learning a trade was replication and reproduction. He succeeded or failed on his ability to learn and imitate. He must catch it and then own it personally. Jesus’ strategy was very straightforward. You see disciples, disciple. They follow and they fish. They learn to lead themselves and others to a fountain of fresh water!! However you choose to say it, disciples cannot be disciples without maturing and making!! This is the calling and commission of everyone who has been and will ever be converted.
In Matthew 4, Jesus says,
“Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19 ESV)
He said, “Follow” and “I will make” you into something! It’s “follow me, and I will turn you into something.” In fact, I will turn you into someone. It’s not “follow me and it’s up to you to do all this stuff.” It’s “follow faithfully and I will show you what fruit looks like—in you and through you!!” (Now, let’s not miss this: Jesus’ discipleship started early. Much earlier than most of us think. He started with unbelievers. Jesus started discipling the unregenerate. He discipled men and women to faith, so they could be discipled for evangelism.) So, we take our cues from Him and when we do, He promises to do something in us. When disciples are discipled in following Jesus, they will inevitably disciple.
Context
How does this fit into our church culture?
We aim, by God’s grace, to be a church-planting church. But the foundation of ‘churches who plant’ are being made of ‘disciples who make.’ If we take it back further, then the foundation of ‘disciples who make’, are ‘disciples who follow’. This is core and central to what it means to be a member of Table Rock and a member of the universal Christian church. I cannot get away from that. We cannot get away from that. Did you count the cost? Are you counting the cost right now? Jesus said,
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 ESV)
He must, not maybe, deny himself, take up his own cross, and go after Jesus. You see implicit in this is leaving. If anyone would come after me, he must leave. What have you left? Anything? What is God calling you to not look back to?
I remember sitting in an auditorium under a man named Mark teaching about discipleship. I remember him walking through a diagram of generations and telling a story of men upon men coming to faith in Jesus through other ordinary regular Christian men. And as each of these men came to faith, they in turn, learned and loved Jesus and led other men to learn and love Jesus. They made their life about following, and they took on a responsibility of fishing.
Mark, in college, had gotten to know me for a period of 9 months by this point. He had been patient with me in sin of pride and impurity in a present relationship. He carefully challenged some of my theological presuppositions; he opened God’s word with me and prayed for me—in front of me and with me. He brought me along and included me in gospel conversations, took me out to eat, and even dropped by my home to hang out.
I will never forget that day as Mark was drawing out a family-tree-of-faith that extended back beyond my birth. (It included his spiritual grandfather, his spiritual father, and many others who had made Christ their treasure and Lord. As Mark drew out this family tree, he drew a circle around my initials that extended off his branch and drew three more branches off of it with question marks. And he said simply, “what faces will fill these question marks?”
My heart almost leapt out of my chest as the reality of what Mark was living for hit me and took my breath away. I had always thought that Mark had liked me and wanted to be around me. In that one moment I realized this was much bigger than me! And that Mark loved and liked someone much more than me. He loved his Jesus. That is why He was involved in this great, kingdom building movement. He simply wanted to follow and fish. And I’m so glad He did! It’s so fun to testify to being a product of many men of which Mark is a major one.
You see, here at Table Rock, we want to provide you with an opportunity to live, love, and learn with branches all around you. We want to have full disciple trees, not spotty ones with missing leaves and branches. Consider,
Branches above you that you can learn from,
Branches beside you that you are growing along with, and
Branches below that you can love and lead into greater faithfulness and fruitfulness in Jesus.
Most of us have “beside” branches, but will we intentionally place ourselves under others and look to grow branches below us? Will we submit, and will we serve? (I’m not talking about hierarchy but rather about who God has placed around you in this season.) We have varying degrees of specificity and intensity of submitting and serving: Sunday service, Life Group, Open Life groups, and Life-on-Life groups. So, who are the branches above you that you pray for and learn from, and who are the branches below you that you pray for and lead?
The Passage
1) Jesus sought a disciple with time.
Here we are in Luke 5. Jesus saw two boats on the coast, and he chose Peter to be his escort out into the sea. It may seem odd for Jesus to have chosen a total stranger but this was not his first time around Peter. Jesus had logged some hours in with Peter by this time. This wasn’t just some rote call to follow without first being a friend. No, Jesus was a loyal friend to Peter by this time.
We must remember that in the chapter just before (Luke 4:38-39), Jesus was in Peter’s wife’s home, and he had healed Peter’s mother in law. Jesus has shown Peter firsthand that Peter’s family (his in-laws) matter. In fact, it looks like a lot mattered to Jesus because he healed everyone in the vicinity. And though it looks like there is not much more in Luke we can appeal to make this point, we must realize that in terms of linear time John chapters 1–4 have already happened by the time Luke 5 rolls around. In John 1, Peter met Jesus face to face via his brother. In John 2, Peter has seen Jesus perform his first miracle at Cana in changing water to wine. The disciples then went on vacation with Jesus’ family in Capernaum for a long weekend. Next, Jesus invited the disciples to a religious holiday festival called Passover all the way down in Jerusalem where they must have shared a week’s walk together. On their way home, Jesus shares his faith with a woman from Samaria and blows his disciples’ minds. They then accept a two day speaking conference together at the town’s request. All this Jesus did before he asked Peter to escort him to the water. So, though it appears Jesus motioned to a complete stranger, this is quite the opposite. Jesus logged in countless hours in front of Peter in walks, relaxing, vacations, miracles, a speaking tour…
If you want to win a disciple it will take your time to win his trust and friendship. Put simply, win a friend. Go win an intentional friend and know that shared experiences are key in creating real, lasting bonds! In Peter, Jesus sought a disciple.
Up until this point Jesus had not caught a disciple though.
2) Jesus caught a disciple and won his trust.
You see, Jesus did not get in that boat only to teach the multitude. He got in that boat to reach a man. A single man that morning was on Jesus’ mind. And don’t you see what won that man that morning? The very thing that was on his mind and ran his entire world was on the mind of Jesus. Peter’s family, his purpose, his identity, his worth, and manhood were questioned that night. He was a fisherman with no fish. There is hardly a tougher reality for a man of respect to face than to come up empty-handed in the very trade he is making a living off of. Don’t you see…when Jesus jumped into that boat, he jumped into Peter’s world and made Peter’s concerns, his concerns. Jesus would fill those empty hands’ of Peters. Jesus would fill that empty boat! And in turn, he would overwhelm Peter’s very heart and trust.
This is our God! The God in our world, carrying our burdens as His own, in our world, healing our mother-in-law, caring about our provision, and making our work matter!! Jesus does not ignore it and say, “on to higher work” but rather, “let me enter in and bless the work of your hands!!” He took on Peter’s cares and burdens. He is the great burden carrying God. He looks on our problems with pity and pain. He does! That is precisely what won Peter that morning—a God who loved him!! Peter mattered to Jesus. The multitude were taught, but that morning a man was caught. He was won over by a wonderful savior.
So, Jesus sought His disciple with time, and caught His disciple with won trust.
3) Jesus brought a disciple along with Him to train him.
Jesus said to Simon,
“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:10b–11 ESV)
This is such a key point of discipleship. Are we leaving and losing to follow our Joy and Rescuer? We must be discipled by King Jesus—that will never stop. Disciples are discipled, and disciples DISCIPLE!!
So, are we following faithfully and regularly? Are we characterized by a relentless pursuit of the God-Man’s purpose and practice? I would say that we must look at the text and see what precedes the bringing—it was a big and thorough breaking! Are you broken that you may really be brought along? Are you broken by your personal disobedience and distrust? Broken by Jesus yes, meaning you probably see a need to follow and be discipled by Jesus, but are you broken enough to be brought along by another believer? How about a younger or less mature believer even? What does God have in store for you in this?
Let me say this—to be a discipler, you must be brought low because your life is not about you. It’s about those you are leading to Jesus. And if you are a disciple, then you cannot be anything other than humble to learn from another. Remember, disciples are discipled and disciples disciple—yet few do because they aren’t broken or humble enough.
But let’s touch on some practicals.
The Practice
1) Make a friend. Be a friend. Spend shared experiences together. Are you in any relationships that are totally for the sake of another? I would say there is a lot for you in those types of relationships. (Unbelieving or believing) Remember, ministry is not complex; it’s simple and straightforward, but it is tough because it involves selflessness. We must remember that our lives are not about us anymore. We have been saved from self and our hall of mirrors, navel-gazing self-absorption (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). There are many selfish believers who are not selfless disciple makers.
2) Make a Follower. Open your heart, your life (get them in your home), and your Bible. Start by practicing obedience together. Obey what you read and be a doer of the Word. Remember, a disciple is discipled. He follows faithfully. It’s not all that novel, but just normal. Be normal, not abnormal. We are looking at depth here at this stage. Let’s talk deeply. Let’s live deeply. Let’s read deeply.
3) Make a Fisher. We must try together—try things which are doomed to fail unless God intervenes. What do we try, and how do we make? Answer: By taking them fishing! We cannot just tell them about fishing to teach them; we must do it with them. We have to. We cannot fish unless we drop our nets. Unless you do, you are guaranteed not to catch a thing. And in discipling relationships, we fish with nets, not poles because nets take two, when poles only take one. So, try to start relationships together, and try to start conversations together.
Above All Else
We must remember that we don’t follow or help others follow as we should. Often, we are not disciples who are discipled, nor disciples who disciple all that often or all that well. And so what hope is there for us? When we look at Jesus, we see the God-man, who sought, caught, and brought along is disciples.
As we approach communion together, we remember above all else that He bought us!! His body and blood acted as an atoning sacrifice for all our disciple failures. Sure, he sought, caught, brought, but He also bought you!! First and foremost this is foundational to a followers’ life—”He has forgiven me from following filth and freed me to follow Him. I am bought! Which means I am owned!! I am not my own.”
A disciple is discipled in following Jesus and disciples others to follow Jesus as well. This is my life; it’s your life. In communion, we realize that the success of our following and fishing is not in our obedience…or our ability to say at Jesus’ command, “okay, Lord, at your word I will drop the nets and submit to your Word…” But we realize and remember Jesus’ obedience in dropping His wills, wants, and pride and submitting His life to the will of the Father! He left communion with the Trinity that we might be brought into communion with the Trinity. Therefore, we can say like Peter, “God, I am a sinner”, but unlike Peter saying ‘stay away’, we can say, “Thank you God, you have made a way!” Thanks be to God that He invites forgiven failures to be His fishers!