(Originally posted 3/12/2016)
This morning, I read about a shooting that just happened. Five people lost their lives unexpectedly. They woke up one day and didn’t go to sleep that night. The shooter woke up that morning and ended the day having taken the lives of someone they didn’t create or sustain.
This is the world we live in. Lives are taken every day. Not just physically, violently taken either. Lives are stolen through abuse, neglect, injury, hatred, bitterness and betrayal. Something must be done. The police and civil authorities have their job to do; and I’m grateful for those who serve honorably and consistently. But the problem is bigger and deeper than what the police can or should handle.
My thought this morning went quickly from “someone has to do something!” to “keep doing the something you are doing, this is why we make disciples.” No, of course it’s not the only reason I spend myself and lead our church to spend ourselves growing mature followers of Jesus. There’s so much more to it. But this is one very important reason.
Like the story of the child picking up starfish in the surf, saying “at least I can help this one,” there is a bigger and a very small reason for making disciples. The big reason is that it glorifies Jesus to help others know Him, grasp his grace and love and serve Him. The very small (specific) reason for investing in lives is just this: the joy of knowing NOT THIS ONE!
When I meet with someone and help them to grasp the love of God for them and how that love will transform their lives, I can say NOT THIS ONE! This man, this woman, this child will not go into life without having heard the truth. The investment into lives is for the goal that this man, this woman, this child will not walk alone through life. This person will not have to wonder why life is worth it; their own or the lives of others. This person is learning what it means to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. This person is learning to love their neighbor as themselves. This person is gaining tools to navigate life’s struggles victoriously. This person knows that they are loved by God and by me; as I invest in them – not only the teachings of Christ, but my very self as far as I am able.
Discipleship is not some super-spiritual task for the elite leaders and teachers among us. It’s a call from the Lord to everyone of His followers. It’s a call to care, to invest, to love, to listen, to learn.
And if there ever comes a day where someone says: what did you do about violent crime or abuse or some other of the world’s ills, I may not be able to say that I single-handedly stopped a bullet, busted a drug deal or eradicated poverty in ten nations. Those are things that I hope to impact, but here is what I can say; I can say that I chose a long road to change, a road forgotten and abandoned by many, a road covered with thorns and mud, a road with potholes and perils, fears and failures, but a road whose map was given to me by the Creator and Savior. I can say I chose to make disciples of this one, and this one and this one and I taught others to do the same in Jesus’ name.
“Go,” he said, “make disciples.”