Part 2.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] All right, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time here, [0:04] my name’s Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church, and as always, [0:08] I am thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. If you have your Bibles, [0:12] go ahead and open them to Colossians chapter 3. We’re gonna start there. [0:17] We’re gonna be in many texts this morning, kind of as we were last week, [0:22] but that’s gonna kind of be the jumping-off point for everywhere that we’re going to go this morning.

[0:27] About 15 or so years ago, it was in 2003, [0:32] I was working for the campus pastor’s office at the college that I went to. [0:37] You know, I went to a college that had a pastor’s office. Obviously, it was a Christian college. [0:42] And so I had the opportunity, and back then, man, that was the opportunity of a lifetime. [0:48] The campus pastor who organized all the ministries on campus, he asked me to be his assistant, [0:53] and so I said absolutely. I did that for about two years, and during that time,

[0:59] the book, Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, was being released. And so one of the things that [1:05] they did was that Rick Warren actually came to Liberty University, and he did a conference [1:12] for the whole school, and it was kind of confusing. He did a purpose-driven church conference, [1:17] but it was to advertise purpose-driven life, but it was all very purpose-driven, [1:20] so I don’t know what the deal there was. So one of the things was is that they decided that every [1:27] single student at the college was to get a copy of the book. And you might think to yourself,

[1:34] well, that’s simple, just mail them all a copy. And that’s what I would have thought, but clearly [1:38] that was far too complicated for them, because what they chose to do instead was to send [1:45] giant pallets just with boxes and boxes and boxes of books. Now, we’re talking about thousands [1:50] and thousands and thousands of books, and they needed to go to all the students, and nobody had [1:55] a plan. And so at that point, my title was the assistant to the campus pastor, but I was actually [2:03] just the guy that got stuff done. That was what he told me, he wanted me to do. He said,

[2:09] what I need done, I’m going to tell you, and you just do it. And so he looked at me, [2:13] I’ll never forget, he looked at me in his office, and he said, Steve, get one of these books in [2:17] every student’s hand. And I, oh, okay. And so I had no idea how to do it. And what turned out [2:24] to happen was, is that me and another guy that was working with me, his name was Jack, [2:29] we loaded as many books as we could possibly get in the back of my 1989 Nissan hardbody. [2:35] And one night, we just drove all over campus to every dorm, and we got all of the leadership of

[2:44] every dorm, coming down from dorms, and we’re just, I mean, we’re looking at how many students [2:49] are in this dorm, okay, give them that many boxes. And then Jack got scared because I had him [2:54] basically surfing in the back of my truck. And so he was a real baby about it. And so I said, [2:59] okay, you drive my truck, I’ll get in the back. And so all over campus, I’m standing in the back [3:06] of my truck, going from dorm to dorm, just handing box after box after box. And so by the time we [3:12] were done, we had given out thousands and thousands and thousands of books. I have no

[3:19] idea where those books are now. But my hope at that point was that my effort would pay off [3:28] in these people actually getting closer to understanding what it was to follow Jesus. [3:35] And so when Rick Warren came, I got just the amazing opportunity to be able to just spend [3:41] like five minutes with him. And the reason was, is that he liked to take naps in between [3:48] his sessions. And you want to know what real ministry is like for guys that are just getting [3:55] into pastoral ministry. I had to make his bed after every nap, literally. And so he’s leaving

[4:04] the backstage room that they had this little, it was one of our dorm beds, it was so weird. [4:10] And so every time he did that, I had to figure out where he was. And so somebody would call me, [4:16] I’d go back there and I’d restock the juice, I’d make his bed. But one of those times, [4:21] we passed each other and he was like, hey, why are you going in my room? And so I explained it [4:27] to him and I said, I just want to thank you for writing that book. Because a couple of months [4:32] previous, because of the job that I had, we had gotten some advanced copies. I mean, it had just

[4:39] come out. And our boss took us through that book. And I mean, he got really personal. And at that [4:48] age, at that point, I was 23 years old. And that was really one of the first times in my life [4:55] that someone had gotten so personal with me through a specific material. And just the first [5:04] few words of that book began to shape something different in me than had been there before. [5:11] And I experienced discipleship, raised a believer, raised in the church, wonderful upbringing under [5:17] the study of God’s Word. But at that point, it changed my trajectory when he just said these

[5:26] it’s not about you. Because for me, up until that point, it kind of was all about me. [5:36] Is that I wanted to be a pastor, and I figured out very young what I thought I should do with [5:41] my life. And so I just got to doing it. And I wanted to be a pastor. But man, if you’re human, [5:48] you’ve got this one thing that is always true of you, you’re selfish. All right. And some of you [5:53] like, yeah, you know, pastors are selfish. No, no, no, you are selfish. And one of the most [6:00] life changing realities that can happen for each and every one of us is for us to be confronted

[6:07] with just how self centered we are. And so for me, that moment, and when I’m going through this [6:14] book, I have such a high view of God’s Word, I was I was talking to the pastor, I was saying, [6:20] I just don’t know if a book should be having this effect on me. And he took me to the back [6:25] of the book. And he said, Do you want to know why it’s having an effect on you? He says, look at [6:29] the index, there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of scriptures in this book. [6:34] It’s just a God is using that to change your life. And so he walked with me through the few

[6:40] months before. And just in that moment, when I when I met him, I just looked at him, I said, [6:45] I want you I want to thank you for letting God use you to pin what to this day is one of those [6:52] impactful books I’ve ever read. I try to read it at least once a year. And so if you’ve never been [6:57] through it, please get it and go through it. You can buy it for like 10 cents at a used bookstore [7:02] now. And so when I look back at that moment, I look at the opportunities that I had, I look at [7:12] the work that I had to do. But then I look at the effort that was put into it. I mean,

[7:18] just how stupid is it for a 23 year old to be standing in the back of his truck with just boxes [7:24] and boxes of book just dishing them out? It was crazy. But I look back and I’m like, what an [7:31] opportunity that defined my future, because I don’t think I’d be doing what I do now if it wasn’t [7:38] for those moments. And so what I want to talk to you about today is the effort that is going [7:47] to be required of you to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Last week, we talked about Jesus saying [7:58] two pivotal words that everything that he did in his life, death and resurrection is going to be

[8:06] dependent upon for you to apply those things to your life. So Jesus looks to Peter and Andrew and [8:13] he says, follow me. And so for you to understand what the gospel is, you have to understand that [8:19] it’s all predicated on those two words, on that command, follow me. That Jesus is calling for you [8:25] to follow him. And so we scanned out and we said this is what that lifestyle is going to require. [8:31] And so what I want to look at today is a little more of a personal view of what being a disciple [8:37] of Jesus Christ is going to require for you to apply it, not just to your spiritual life,

[8:45] because there is no such thing. The Bible never defines spiritual life. And so I, you know, [8:52] I’ll run into people every once in a while that are, you know, super spiritual. I hate [8:56] super spiritual people. It drives me nuts because I just don’t have those feelers and I think that [9:02] makes me more healthy. But because, you know, I don’t have high highs, so I definitely don’t [9:07] have low lows. I’ve got there. That’s it. And so what I want you to understand is you cannot read [9:14] the Bible and ever find this thing called the spiritual life. You know what you find? You find

[9:21] life and death. Those are the two things that you find in the Bible. And so when I ask how you’re [9:27] doing, I don’t need to then follow it up with, but spiritually, how are you doing? Not because it’s [9:32] all, when I ask you how you’re doing, I’m asking you how you’re doing totally. So if you’re not [9:36] doing well physically, you’re not doing well spiritually either, probably. If you’re not [9:40] doing well emotionally, you’re not doing well spiritually either. And so it’s all the same. [9:45] And so when Jesus looks to Peter and Andrew and he says,

[9:49] follow me, he didn’t mean spiritually. Do you know that? Jesus literally meant get up.

[9:59] I’m going that way. You need to go that way with me. And so what we need to understand with our [10:04] lives is that though Jesus himself in a physical body is not standing before us saying, follow me, [10:12] because I’m going that way, he is looking at us saying, follow me, because I’m going that way. [10:19] And so what he’s saying is, I want you to realign your life emotionally to follow me.

[10:30] So if you have deep seated emotional issues, which is many of you, Jesus wants to transform [10:42] your emotional life with two words, follow me.

[10:49] Physically, you do many, many things. Some of you should do a lot more things. [10:54] Some of you, maybe a few less. Jesus is looking at you and he’s saying physically, follow me.

[11:03] So with your job, follow me. See, for most of us, the problem isn’t that we need to change jobs. [11:08] The problem is we need to change why we go to work.

[11:13] If you can let the hearer understand that, because if you can understand that, [11:15] it’ll change your life. Jesus is saying in a holistic manner for you, follow me. For some of [11:24] you, it’s stop feeling sorry for yourself, follow Jesus. For some of you, it’s stop feeling so good [11:31] about yourself because you’re prideful. Follow Jesus. But for all of us, the command is the same. [11:39] Get up. You cannot follow Jesus and be still. You have to follow Jesus and go somewhere with [11:49] him. You have to move with him. You have to be with him. And if it is one thing Jesus isn’t doing,

[11:55] is sitting with you where you are and pretending that following him is stagnant. [12:05] And so following him will require great effort.

[12:13] Number one this morning, it’s very simple because discipleship is very simple. [12:18] Discipleship requires a desire to live differently. It requires a desire to live differently. [12:25] Some of you are saying, you know, I’m trying to live differently. You know why it’s not working [12:30] out? Because you don’t want to. See, the desire is where it all comes from. Last week we looked at [12:39] Romans 12, one through two briefly. Here’s what it says. The apostle Paul’s writing and he says, [12:45] because the gospel is true, I appeal to you brothers by the mercies of God to present your

[12:50] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. So he’s [12:55] saying it’s going to take sacrifice if you want to worship Jesus. And then he says, don’t be [13:01] conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may [13:07] discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect. And so what he’s saying [13:15] is, is that sacrifice that leads you to worship, it will then become this thing where you look at [13:21] things of this world, you look at what it is like to live without Jesus and you say, I don’t want

[13:27] to be conformed to a reality that is apart from Christ. So I’m going to be transformed by what? [13:35] By the renewal of your mind. By the way you think. The problem that most of us have, [13:47] it isn’t just bad living, it’s stinking thinking.

[13:53] It’s the way that you think. It’s what motivates you. It’s what gets you up out of bed in the [14:00] morning or what leaves you wanting to stay in bed in the morning. And what the apostle Paul is [14:09] saying is if you want to obey Jesus, if you want to follow him, you have to change your mind.

[14:17] It’s hard to change your mind. It’s hard. You ever been really wrong and you knew you were [14:23] wrong but you didn’t want to change your mind so you’d rather just stay wrong?

[14:29] Because changing your mind is the most difficult thing that a person can do. I’m convinced of it. [14:34] Because we can have all the facts laid out in front of us be as wrong as the day is long.

[14:42] Well, I don’t care about any of that.

[14:46] It’s because you don’t want change. You don’t want to change your mind. [14:50] Because the reality is that if you change your mind you might have to change the way that you [14:54] live. And we’re committed to our lifestyle but we show it by our mindset. And if you would [15:03] change your mindset it would be the beginning of an amazing life change because so much of what [15:09] you see as the mysteries of God that you can’t understand would then begin to be fleshed out [15:15] in front of you. You’d begin to understand. How do I know that? Because he says then you will be

[15:20] able to discern or you will be able to see and understand what is the will of God. What is good. [15:29] What is acceptable. What is perfect. Say if you change your mind you’ll understand. [15:37] And if you don’t understand it’s because you haven’t changed your mind.

[15:43] You know God saved you to change you.

[15:48] God doesn’t do this thing where he loves us enough to take us where we are and then he leaves us [15:54] there. Now he loves us so much that he in his grace draws us to himself. But in drawing us to [16:03] himself we do not pull the Lord down into our pointless existence but rather the Father pulls [16:09] us out of a pointless existence to a life that actually matters. If you don’t want change you [16:16] want God because God changes you. To follow Jesus requires a radical change in your mindset. It [16:26] requires a radical change into what your life is all about. But you have to change your mind so

[16:32] that you can change your life. You have to think differently. You receive a new purpose. In [16:40] Colossians chapter 3 the apostle Paul writes this which is counterintuitive to the way most of us [16:47] think. He says if then and that’s a huge if by the way. If you’ve been raised with Christ [16:55] seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds [17:01] on things that are above not on things that are on earth. Set your mind on things that are above [17:08] not on things that are on the earth. Most of the reason that we don’t change is because we are so

[17:15] consumed and absorbed by things that are on the earth. But what the Lord wants to us to understand [17:21] it is only until we are willing to leave behind everything that we have in the here and now that [17:28] we can have what he has for us tomorrow. And you cannot receive what God has for you tomorrow so [17:38] as you were obsessed with what you had yesterday. Because it is yesterday that prevents you from [17:47] grabbing a hold of what the father has for you tomorrow. But many of us are letting our past [17:53] consume our future so that we can’t have the future that God has for us. Some of us claim

[18:00] to follow Jesus but the purpose of our lives isn’t really that much different than what it would be [18:05] without Jesus. Your mindset isn’t on Christ. It’s elsewhere. Must be a constant seeking [18:16] and setting of your mind. During the reformation there came this Latin phrase called semper [18:24] reformanda which just simply means always reforming. Always growing. There were these [18:32] things that the church must be committed to but the outcome of applying those things [18:39] to your life requires that you are always being formed by those things because the

[18:46] reformation of the human soul takes an entire lifetime to accomplish.

[18:53] Colossians chapter 3 the apostle Paul is saying that God is calling us into a deep [19:00] reformation that we must always be reforming in our lives. We must always be repenting. [19:06] We must always be changing. We must always be growing because there is always more of you that [19:11] needs to become more like Jesus because remember we must simplify discipleship to the extent where [19:19] we understand that the call is to become like Jesus to follow him. And if we will commit to [19:28] that it will change everything. You see there are five basic requirements for discipleship.

[19:37] I’ve read volumes on discipleship thus far in my life and if I could just boil what I’ve learned [19:43] in all of them down to five things that can change your life it’s these five things. [19:50] First one is the power of God’s spirit. You cannot change without God. That’s the root of the gospel. [19:57] The second thing is the word. You cannot change without the bible

[20:04] because the bible is the strategy for life change. The bible is the truth of God. [20:10] Thirdly you cannot change without prayer because prayer is the response to the word of God. [20:16] Most of our failure to pray is because we fail at receiving the word. Fourth relationships. [20:24] You cannot change without relationships. The first one the relationship between you and God [20:29] that Jesus reconciles and the second one is relationships with others. Your relationships [20:35] with others will define your life. But fifth modeled obedience. Modeled obedience. You can

[20:46] read every book on discipleship under the sun and they all have that one. All of them. Some [20:52] them leave out the previous four because they don’t love Jesus. But they’re required. But that [21:00] fifth one they all have. But the only way to get to the fifth one is with the first four. [21:05] It’s the only way. But you have to have that fifth one. And it’s not enough to just say [21:11] obedience because then you’ll try to be obedient in a cave. And like I’m obedient just no one sees it. [21:17] Then you’re not obedient. It has to be modeled obedience. Other people need to see it. Why?

[21:29] Because discipleship number two puts you on mission. Discipleship puts you on mission. [21:37] To enter discipleship you need three attributes that will lead to those five attributes. Okay. [21:45] It’s better to take notes to keep up with me. You got to be faithful. You got to be available [21:52] and you got to be teachable. You got to be fat. You got to be faithful. You got to be available. [21:59] You got to be teachable. I didn’t make that up. Somebody else did. You got to be faithful. You [22:03] got to be available and teachable. But the lie that most of you you need to change your mindset

[22:07] because the lie that you’re telling yourself and you’re trying to tell others is I’m faithful. [22:11] I’m just not available and teachable. And you won’t say I’m not available and teachable but [22:15] you’re never available. Well I can’t make group this week or next week. The one after that [22:25] or the fourth one. Next year. I will try next year. And then you show up and you’re confronted. [22:38] Nobody even said anything to you specifically but the word of God confronted you [22:42] with quite honestly that you’re not following Jesus. I’m so offended. How dare they?

[22:49] You’re not teachable. I can’t stand unteachable people.

[22:55] I can’t stand it. I have unteachable people asking to meet with me all the time. I’m not [22:59] meeting with you. You want to know why I’m not meeting with you? Because I told you last year [23:03] to go to a community group and you didn’t do it. If you don’t do that you are unteachable. [23:12] I told you last year you needed a discipleship group but you wouldn’t join one. Why? Because [23:16] you weren’t available. And if you’re not available you’re not teachable. And if you’re not available [23:22] and you’re not teachable guess what? You are not faithful. You need the second two for the first

[23:30] one to be true. But if you are faithful, you’re available, and you are teachable, do you understand [23:38] that those five requirements of discipleship will blossom in your life so much quicker? [23:46] It will be so much less painful.

[23:50] When you assume that your track record of not following Jesus means that you need to be taught [23:56] few things, it will change your life. But too many of you, you’ve spent ten years not following [24:01] Jesus yet you want to get in front of people who are following Jesus and teach them how to follow [24:05] Jesus. That’s the most confusing thing that’s ever happened to me. And it happens frequently.

[24:12] You need to be taught how to follow Jesus. I don’t care how old you are. [24:17] You need to be taught how to follow Jesus. But it’s getting worse because now I have to say I [24:20] don’t care how young you are. Because I have 20 year olds telling me how to pastor now. [24:26] Didn’t you just become a member last week?

[24:33] Discipleship, the reason you have to be faithful, available, and teachable is because to live the [24:36] mission of Jesus you have to build a life worth emulating. That means that to live the mission [24:41] of Jesus people have to be able to look at your life and say if I fashion my mode of living after [24:48] that person I will be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. It’s not just about what you say [24:55] about Jesus. It’s about what you do with what Jesus said. Discipleship is the most personal [25:03] thing that you will ever do. But it is by no means private. Discipleship is a public effort. It

[25:11] builds on the redemption that Jesus gives into our lives. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 the apostle [25:16] Paul again sheds light on this. He says in Christ what God was doing was reconciling the world to [25:24] himself, not counting their trespasses or sins against them, and then entrusting to us the message [25:33] of reconciliation. And because of that we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal [25:40] through us. So we implore you or we beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God. What he’s [25:48] saying is that Jesus worked to restore our relationship with God then gave us a message

[25:54] to help people all around us with doing that thing that we’ve had done to us.

[26:00] He’s saying we are ambassadors for Christ. God is pleading with people to be reconciled to God [26:07] through faith in Jesus through us. You see the gospel that Jesus preached and what’s so funny [26:14] is you can hear so many things about what Jesus preached and so I always tell people [26:17] well look in the gospels they’re there you can see exactly what he preached. Jesus did not [26:23] preach a gospel of I have wonderful plans for your life. I will make you so happy. I’m going [26:30] to fulfill your every longing. Follow me. Jesus never looked at a crowd and said let me call you

[26:37] into the most attractive community that you’ve ever seen. Do you need a friend? Well come to [26:43] church because I have so many relationships that will just fill your friendship bucket so high [26:50] that you’ll have just this amazing community. Jesus did not preach that. He gets to that stuff [26:56] but that’s not where he starts. Jesus preached what’s called the gospel of the kingdom. He said [27:02] come to me. I will relieve your sin off of you and then I will bring you into my kingdom and I will [27:09] give you a vision for what the kingdom of God is and you will tell it to the world.

[27:15] That’s what Jesus spent most of his time saying and so most of us we move past this mission of [27:22] Jesus onto other things because we don’t want to be too public about our faith and Jesus is saying [27:27] there’s no other kind. He literally says you’re an ambassador for Christ. You know what an ambassador is? [27:35] An ambassador represents an outpost for a foreign kingdom. So if you go to Washington DC there’s [27:43] all these embassies all over Washington DC and they’re all gated and some of them are guarded [27:48] and it’s all weird and if you actually step foot on it you’re in the United States but you’re on

[27:55] foreign soil in DC if you go into those embassies because they are outposts for a foreign kingdom. [28:02] This is what the apostle Paul is saying. If you are reconciled to God everywhere your feet [28:08] tread represents an outpost for the kingdom of God. You are an ambassador for that kingdom.

[28:20] When you when people look at the choices that you make in the life that you live [28:27] do they see the picture of what you proclaim the kingdom of God to be?

[28:33] That is what it means to be an outpost for the kingdom.

[28:38] Discipleship is about the future. It’s about what you believe the world is heading towards.

[28:45] It’s about what you believe the future will look like. [28:49] What you believe God is going to ultimately do with this world.

[28:54] Do you believe that Jesus is going to come back and set up his perfect forever kingdom?

[29:00] And what Jesus is saying is if you do live that now

[29:07] because the mission of God forms everything else.

[29:12] Jonathan Dodson puts it this way he says believe in the gospel is not a passive one-time decision. [29:19] He says it is an active continual fight for faith in what God says is noble true and good. [29:27] We must continually keep the mindset of living the mission of Jesus. Discipleship orders our [29:36] lives around following Jesus so that when people look at us and when they hear us [29:41] they see someone living for the kingdom of God before they live for the kingdom of this world.

[29:49] Number three discipleship demands discipline. [29:52] Discipleship demands discipline. Do you know that sometimes we get it wrong because we put [29:55] discipline before mission. You just really don’t think you ever truly value discipline until you [30:03] realize it under the scope of the mission. It’s like you try to read your Bible but you try to [30:08] read it as chicken soup for the soul. You try to pray but you treat God as just a genie to fulfill [30:16] your wills. But if you don’t understand the mission that God calls us to be on you will not

[30:23] understand how to apply the disciplines that God calls you to live in. Many times I see people attempt [30:30] at forming spiritual disciplines at Bible reading prayer even forming community before they seek to [30:37] engage in identity as living the mission of Jesus and it goes nowhere almost every time. [30:44] You know what it typically becomes a hassle because there is no real life application. [30:50] No real life application at all. Discipleship takes effort for the disciplines and discipleship [30:58] to be worth your effort. You have to understand the mission of Jesus. Once you understand what

[31:03] it is to be his ambassador what it is to have his message entrusted to you you have to understand [31:09] that you will be more willing. That’s why the effort is worth it and you need a strategy. [31:18] Do you know you need a strategy for discipleship? In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 the apostle Paul [31:24] urges us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. You see that’s the mission. The calling [31:32] is the mission of Jesus and to walk in a manner worthy of that we need a strategy. We need a guide. [31:41] Friends Jesus is our guide. When you learn Jesus he is our guide and his word provides strategy.

[31:54] I hear all the time Steve I’m trying to read my Bible Steve I’m trying to apply it to my life [32:00] but it does not seem relevant to what I’m going through and my response is exactly.

[32:08] The Bible doesn’t need to become relevant to you. You need to become relevant to the Bible

[32:14] because this is God’s strategy for your discipleship. This is God’s strategy for how [32:22] you can have the life that God designed you to have that he is longing for you to enter [32:29] into. If you would just absorb it and then say no I’m not just going to read it academically [32:34] but I want to apply it to my life. I want to live.

[32:42] For many of us we think that we are living apart from the word and so we’re very hesitant [32:46] to change just because God says it. Paul wrote again in first Corinthians 927. He says I [32:54] discipline my body I keep it under control lest after preaching to others I myself should be [33:00] qualified. See apostle Paul is saying is you claim to be a follower of Jesus you claim to [33:06] want to preach his gospel but you’re not even applying the gospel to your every day. [33:11] What does the apostle Paul say? He says if you want to live the mission you got to be disciplined.

[33:16] If you want to live the mission you got to change your practices you got to change your rhythms.

[33:22] Apostle Paul said he has to discipline his body. [33:24] So you have to form a discipleship rhythm in your life or you will drift away from [33:31] discipleship into credulity. Here’s what I want you to understand. Many of you [33:36] you’re finding that discipleship and the changes that are required for your discipleship [33:42] you’re finding that they’re conflicting with one another.

[33:47] And you’re looking for something that won’t conflict.

[33:52] It’s never going to happen. See what’s got to happen is is one of those two things that are [33:57] running into one another one has to win. And unfortunately for many people the predisposed [34:05] the preformed patterns of life apart from Christ win every time. Your commitments that have nothing [34:12] to do with Jesus win over your commitment to Jesus. And so the rhythm of discipleship that [34:18] needs to envelop everything else gets enveloped and becomes a subcategory of everything you’ve [34:23] already got going on. That cannot be if Jesus is Lord. Because discipleship craves accountability.

[34:33] It’s a tough word accountability. One that many of you don’t like. I see some of you on Sunday [34:39] mornings you show up you know we have serve teams here on Sunday morning by God’s grace all of you [34:43] be a member of one and you’re a little late and you’re hoping that one of us isn’t in the [34:49] foyer and like you know this morning a couple of y’all y’all give me funny looks it was almost [34:54] like how dare you be in the foyer holding me accountable. I was just in the foyer you know I [34:58] didn’t mean anything by it. But what happens so often is is that we will not be living life

[35:04] as a disciple and someone will say you know you’re not rearranging your schedule for [35:10] discipleship why aren’t you doing that. You don’t know what it’s like to be as busy as I am.

[35:17] I’ll remember never to ask you anything ever again.

[35:21] See when accountability comes up that’s when every bad thing that bubbles inside of us [35:28] that is keeping us from the life that God has us designed to live. That is when those real [35:34] demons come out and attack isn’t it. In first Corinthians 15 Paul puts it this way about his [35:45] toil to follow Jesus he says by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me was not in [35:53] vain. On the contrary I worked harder than any of them though it was not I but the grace of God [36:01] is within me. See the term that he uses when he says I worked harder than any of them it’s

[36:05] actually in the original language it is a word that describes a type of work that’s working [36:10] your fingers to the bone. He’s saying I toiled I struggle to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. [36:22] Can I be real with you for a minute some of you aren’t putting any effort in.

[36:27] You aren’t entering the environments consistently or you enter them but you don’t want to and [36:34] because you don’t really want to it’s a hassle so you don’t really work hard at it you aren’t [36:38] forming a personal growth strategy. You got to trust the process. You got to trust the process. [36:47] Eugene Peterson years ago pinned that Christianity is a long obedience in the same direction [36:54] and that is where a lot of our attempts at discipleship fall apart. See because we typically [36:59] want the sensational. We want religious experience in the moment. We want to go deep but it needs to

[37:08] be immediate or it isn’t working. Peterson then went on to write and he said there is a great [37:13] market for religious experience in our world but there is little enthusiasm for the patient [37:19] acquisition of virtue. There’s little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship [37:25] in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness. You know what he’s saying there. [37:33] He’s saying don’t give up. He’s saying don’t go to a group three times and quit. [37:41] Don’t read your Bible one time. Don’t pray for two days and then say it isn’t working.

[37:49] Trust the process. There is a temptation in our world to want microwave spirituality. [37:56] You want instant gratification but here’s what I need to tell you. It takes months and years of [38:02] effort in the right direction to see the change that’s worth it. Years. Years. I love the mindset [38:13] that some of us have about people and we say oh man I’ll give these people an hour.

[38:20] Friends if you think you can truly know someone’s value in one hour. If you think you can truly know [38:26] if the effort is worth it after one hour you do not understand God’s design for the church and my [38:32] prayer is that you will understand God’s design for the church. See in the early church it’s [38:37] interesting. They had one church. They had one. They had one to choose from and those people were the ones they were [38:49] going to be dependent on for the rest of their lives to be disciples of Christ about and we paint [38:53] these pictures that the early church was this utopia where everybody got along. Everybody was

[38:58] perfect. Everybody was holy and everybody loved just the right amount. I mean reading the first few [39:02] books of Acts chapter 8 some of them were so bad God just killed them. That’s the early church

[39:10] but God brings these people together and he says love each other. Struggle well together. Be a [39:16] community of God and endure and endure. Discipleship fosters community number four. [39:28] Discipleship fosters community and I’m gonna go quickly through this one even though most of you [39:32] would want me to spend an hour on it. Some of you are like oh please God no but that would be me. [39:38] But I’m gonna do another sermon on this subject in January and so I’m not shortchanging community. [39:45] I just don’t have a lot of time. Discipleship requires relationship at every level. It does.

[39:53] It requires relationship at every level. Jesus tells us so often that we need to love God and [39:58] others that we almost grow inoculated to it. We even push others away and make personality [40:04] or self-protective reasons for it. We give people an hour. We give them a day. We give them one [40:10] day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them [40:39] a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day. We give them a day.

[41:10] This isn’t a command to someone towards you. [41:14] This is a command towards you, towards someone. [41:18] Brotherly affection, out do with showing honor. [41:21] I mean, that is tough to live up to, but that is why the discipline of community is so vital. [41:27] You have to form a rhythm of practically loving people to be able to deal with people. [41:33] The hardest thing in this world outside of you is dealing with someone else.

[41:40] Some of y’all crazy.

[41:43] But a larger view of your own sin is what it takes. [41:47] In Luke 6 42, Jesus helps us greatly in understanding relationships, [41:52] but we rarely apply this to our relationships. [41:55] We apply it to just being a judgy judger. [41:58] He says, how can you say to your brother, [41:59] let me take the speck that is in your eye when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?

[42:04] You hypocrite. [42:05] First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck that is in your brother’s eye. [42:11] Some of you spend so much time focusing on how sinful other people are that you lose sight of your own sin.

[42:19] Many don’t see anywhere near as much sin in their own lives as they do in the lives of others. [42:24] And if that’s true, and the Holy Spirit is like, that’s you, it should bother you. [42:29] It should worry you that you’re like that. [42:32] The scripture leads us to realize that if we see a log in someone else’s eye, [42:36] and we only see a speck in our own eye, there is a problem with our vision. [42:41] That’s why you don’t want relationships.

[42:44] If you had a Christ-centered understanding of sin, you would realize that the log is in your eye. [42:52] And only when you understand the scope of your own sin can you learn to deal with the sin of others. [43:00] And here’s the reality, friends. [43:02] You are never going to get to a place where you’re not having to deal with other people’s sin. [43:06] It’s never going to go away.

[43:12] Finally, this morning, discipleship changes your schedule. [43:15] Discipleship changes your schedule. [43:18] Usually I get to the fifth point, and I try to just wrap it up with something inspirational, alright? [43:25] Something to make you feel good about all the bad stuff you felt about. [43:28] But that’s not what I’m going to do this week.

[43:31] I’m just not. [43:33] See, I want to be very practical, because I want you to walk away knowing exactly what you need to do. [43:41] Discipleship changes your schedule. [43:43] We provide basically three environments here at Village Church that change what I call the fourth environment, radically. [43:50] It’s Sunday morning worship gathering, it’s community groups, and it’s discipleship groups. [43:54] And I constantly tell people, if you will commit to those three environments,

[43:59] it will radically shape the fourth environment if you do it the right way. [44:02] Because the fourth environment is life. [44:05] It’s one that I’m not responsible for. [44:07] It’s one that when I stand before Jesus, I’ll be held responsible for mine, [44:10] but he’s not going to ask me about yours. [44:12] Because that’s yours.

[44:14] That’s your life. [44:15] If you serve within the local church, [44:18] if you enter the corporate environments to hear the word of God, [44:22] sing praises to Jesus together, [44:24] then you enter community groups to discuss the sermon and talk about the word, [44:28] then you form discipleship groups to build relationships around the word.

[44:33] You will begin to shape your life the way that God intended you to do. [44:39] It is an obedience to God by getting you in relationships, [44:43] getting you in the word, forming prayer rhythms, [44:46] learning to serve other people, [44:48] and proclaiming the gospel that a discipled life is formed.

[44:57] But it’s going to conflict with your schedule. [45:00] I promise it will. [45:04] Because it shapes you another way. [45:07] They all teach intentionality. [45:09] In every one of those areas. [45:12] As the environments go from large to mid-sized to very personal,

[45:16] they take more intentionality and more effort. [45:19] You have to begin to own it yourself. [45:22] You begin to schedule it. [45:24] You begin to steer it. [45:26] And that is where spiritual growth really happens, [45:30] is when someone else doesn’t have to schedule a discipleship for you.

[45:34] You become so passionate about it, [45:36] you’re scheduling it for yourself.

[45:41] You grow from a child to a mature Christian. [45:44] The more you own, [45:45] the more you intentionally form these environments. [45:50] In Philippians chapter 3, [45:52] Paul, looking at his life, [45:54] and looking at the things that he does with his life,

[45:56] looking at what he’s left behind in his life, [45:58] he says, [45:59] Whatever gain I had, [46:00] I had to count it as loss for the sake of Christ. [46:02] Indeed, I count everything as loss, [46:04] because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

[46:07] For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, [46:10] and I count them as sewage or rubbish or garbage [46:14] in order that I may gain Christ. [46:18] So the Apostle Paul is saying, [46:20] When I came to Christ, [46:22] everything in my life conflicted.

[46:26] And he said, [46:27] Jesus had to win. [46:30] Because I had to start thinking about the things [46:32] that I had in my life apart from Jesus differently. [46:34] He said, [46:35] When I started to think about the surpassing worth of Jesus Christ,

[46:38] I began to look at all of those things [46:40] I was clinging to so tightly. [46:42] All of those things that were non-negotiable. [46:45] All of those parts of my schedule [46:47] that I said, [46:47] They have to be exactly this way.

[46:50] I started looking at it, [46:52] and it started to stink.

[46:57] Go to the dump this afternoon, [46:59] and just take a sniff.

[47:02] Paul’s saying, [47:02] That’s what life apart from Christ became like to me. [47:05] And so he said, [47:06] Whatever changes I had to make, I made them. [47:08] Whatever I had to leave behind, I left it behind. [47:10] Whatever scheduling conflict I had,

[47:13] Jesus had to win that scheduling conflict. [47:16] And so if you’re like, [47:18] My kids have to be in bed at 7pm. [47:21] So I need a discipleship group that starts before that. [47:24] Then do it before that. [47:25] But some of you go further.

[47:26] You’re like, [47:26] My kids have to be in bed at 7pm. [47:28] So I need a community group that starts at 2 in the afternoon. [47:30] Well, we don’t have those. [47:31] Why? Because people work. [47:35] Here’s the deal.

[47:36] If you’re a disciple of Christ, [47:37] your kids go to bed late that night.

[47:42] I’ve been doing it for eight years. [47:44] Guess what? [47:45] They’re still alive.

[47:48] And if they’re not done with dinner by 6, [47:51] they go hungry. [47:52] And none of them have been dead the next morning.

[48:01] I can’t serve.

[48:04] Because I have to help my wife get our kids ready on Sunday mornings. [48:07] And we can’t get there until five minutes after the service started. [48:10] Do you know my wife has never ridden to church with me?

[48:16] Never. [48:17] Do without what you will.

[48:21] That’s why grasping the mission of Jesus and discipleship is so vital. [48:25] I just made some of you women so mad.

[48:30] Good.

[48:32] The mission of Jesus makes the discipline, effort, and changes worth it. [48:38] It makes people worth the drama. [48:42] In Ephesians 5, 14-16, Paul says, [48:46] Look carefully then how you walk, [48:47] not as unwise, but as wise, [48:50] making what the best use of your time.

[48:52] Why? Because the days are evil. [48:55] To waste your time is to waste your life.

[49:01] Change your schedule.

[49:05] Change the way you think about your schedule.

[49:09] Change it. [49:10] Get up early. [49:11] Go get coffee with other men. [49:13] Go get coffee with other women. [49:15] Open your home to other people. [49:17] You know, that museum you’re forming?

[49:20] It’s got to stay so perfect so nobody can come over and mess that up. [49:23] Just go home and break a lamp. [49:27] Do it on purpose. [49:29] That way when somebody else does it, it won’t bother you that bad.

[49:34] A house ain’t meant to be a museum, man. [49:37] Time is so important yet we so often throw it away on games, on leisure, on stupidity, [49:42] on just our inklings of notions as to what our lives should look like. [49:47] But the apostle Paul is saying your days are evil. [49:50] He’s saying, I’ll be done after this. [49:52] There are 168 hours in a week.

[49:55] I know, I Googled it.

[50:00] If only one or two of those hours go to discipleship, [50:06] are you truly following Jesus?

[50:10] Friend, do you want the best strategy?

[50:15] Then here’s the deal. [50:16] Buy a watch and count how many hours Jesus gets.

[50:22] Then consider the price he paid for you. [50:25] His call to follow me requires you change your schedule. [50:31] Do it and live. [50:35] As the band comes up, friend, like I said, [50:40] I’m not going to tell any of you to quit your job to be a disciple of Jesus. [50:43] I’m going to call you to go to your job with a different mindset in order to follow Jesus.

[50:49] I’m going to tell you to use your personal time differently in order to follow Jesus. [50:54] Because that’s what it takes. [50:57] There’s no program. [50:59] There’s no word. [51:01] There’s nothing that can replace someone just saying, Jesus is worth it. [51:07] I want to change and follow him.

[51:10] That’s the strategy. [51:12] That’s what it takes. [51:15] Jesus is calling you to himself and he’s saying, live. [51:20] Friends, don’t let your commitments from yesterday [51:24] determine the beauty that God’s calling you towards for tomorrow. [51:28] Don’t do it.

[51:30] Sacrifice whatever’s behind and press forward towards Jesus. [51:35] Because that’s where real life is found. [51:38] It’s not about you. [51:39] It’s about Jesus Christ. [51:42] And it will always be about Jesus Christ for the disciple of Jesus Christ.

[51:49] The bread and the cup represent the body and blood of our Savior. [51:52] He had his body broken and he has blood shed to take the penalty for my sin so that I could have life. [52:00] But he did the same thing for you. [52:02] And this morning I don’t want to let it pass without looking at each of you and saying, [52:06] If you don’t know Jesus, if you’re sitting there right now and the Holy Spirit is saying, [52:12] you don’t know him, you need to know him.

[52:16] But friend, I’m going to ask you to in just a few minutes to go into the foyer and talk to someone about that. [52:21] The most important conversation you can ever have. [52:23] Don’t avoid it. [52:25] They’ll pray with you. [52:26] They’ll answer any questions that you might have about what it means to follow him. [52:31] But if you’re in here and you’re a follower of Jesus, I’m going to call you up front.

[52:34] I’m going to call you to the back. [52:36] I’m going to call you to eat and drink to the death and resurrection of our King. [52:40] And then walk out that door and you change your schedule and you enter the environments to live the mission of Jesus. [52:46] When you’re ready, come.