"This is eternal life, that they may know You,the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3, NASB)
I have been thinking about discipleship a lot lately. When I was pastoring, it was a topic heavy on my mind most of the time. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..." (NASB) So, disciple making was not our idea, but God's.
I see two distinct roads of discipleship. The first road is the wide, more popular road. The focus on this road is "knowing about God." You might hear slogans like "what would Jesus do." The thought process on this road is to become so acquainted with the life and heart of Jesus you can make more informed decisions for your life. In other words, the goal is to model Jesus in His thinking and His choices. This road is about "doing."
The second less traveled road of discipleship focuses on "knowing God." This road is about relationship. It is about freedom and rest. It is not about attaining knowledge, but growing in understanding. This road may appear to be less organized and structured. The focus is not on methods or formulas for growth, but intimacy with the Giver of Life. This is a winding road that focuses more on the journey and less on the destination. This road is about "being," not doing.
You know the expression, "don't put the cart before the horse." This expression is about getting priorities in the right order. The wide road of discipleship is ultimately about ministry. Ministry is the "cart." The focus of ministry is sharing Christ with others. It is serving others in Christ's name.
The "horse" is knowing God. It is eternal Life in whom we enter. Acts 17:28 says, "for in Him we live and move and exist..." (NASB) When we are engaged in knowing God, we can't keep ourselves from sharing what He is showing us. We don't have to be encouraged to share, because we want to tell everyone who will listen. The natural outflow of knowing God is telling and serving others.
I think the reason for our upside down approach to discipleship is because of our continued struggle with "law living." We tell ourselves we are supposed to share Christ with the lost world, so we focus on ways to accomplish that requirement instead of spending time knowing God. When God's people are engaged in ministry without being engaged in knowing Him, they will be frustrated and discouraged, and eventually burn out!
For a long time now, I have seen that God is calling His people to "be." God knows that the "do" of ministry will always flow out of the "be" of identity in Christ. God wants to put the horse before the cart. Ministry becomes richer and sweeter when it is the natural outflow of one's personal relationship with God.
If you are feeling pressured to serve, or witness, or give, or teach, or plan, etc..., your priorities may be out of order. Jesus said apart from Him you could do nothing (John 15:5). Rest in God's Life and let Him minister through you!
