Tag: Discipleship

To Be A Witness

I do not know anything that would wake up Chicago better than for every man and woman here who loves Him to begin to talk about Him to their friends, and just to tell them what He has done for you.- Dwight L.

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them?”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:13-14‬ ‭NET‬‬

There is a lie that exists among people who claim to be Christians…

“I will let my actions demonstrate that I am a Christian, that will be my witness.”

That is not only a lie, but it is arrogant and cowardly. Was not Jesus perfect in all His ways? Did he not preach, share and testify?

“Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭NET‬‬

Are any of us more perfect than Jesus? No, none of us are. Jesus is God. He is without sin. Since we are all sinners, then shouldn’t we all bear witness of what Jesus has done to free us from sin?

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel – and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:17-18‬ ‭NET‬‬

Silence is the cowardly act of allowing evil to prevail. Silence allows the lies of misinformation to pervert the truth and change the narrative. Silence is the act of good people doing nothing, it grieves the Holy Spirit and prevents the changing of lives. Silence disengages you from relationships and enslaves you to a life of unfulfilling uselessness.

But to those who are witnesses, their lives are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Boldness embodies them. With boldness comes hope, the hope of God’s promises.

“because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel”
‭Colossians‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Happy are those who share the good news. The Gospel is only about Jesus Christ. It is the story of God’s redemption of mankind from sin and the freedom Jesus provides from guilt, shame and condemnation. (Destroying the Message of Guilt and Shame) It is God’s love story for humanity.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭NASB‬‬

So if you love Jesus, share the good news of Jesus. If you really love your neighbor, share Jesus, because love is the proof of your faith.

Why are we failing Millennial’s?

We need to disciple. Millenials want authentic mentoring that pours out your life into theirs. It denies selfish agendas, gives love & anchors their life to a living Christ.

It continues to baffle me when I hear that churches do not understand why they can’t reach young millennial’s. They continue to disregard them by listing their flaws but fail to see their real potential. This is not love. Love is viewing people as God does. God see’s the potential in us all. Young people today are wanting to be apart of a real movement of change. They want to do something that will change the world. God wants to change the world. Millennial’s desire transparency and truthfulness. God calls us to live a life of righteousness that reveals Christ and His truth. This generation wants to have deep, meaningful relationships. God is relational. So what seems to be the problem? These ideals are great! The problem is not millennial’s, the problem lies with the abandonment of Biblical principles.

Churches have abandoned discipleship. Discipleship is the process of reproducing the life of Christ that is in you, into the life of someone else. It teaches self denial and the reproduction of the fathers love to others.

Luke 9:23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

One reason the world laughs at us is because of our hypocrisy. We love to quote scriptures but we fail to follow them. Many Christians condone behavior that God is against. We claim to love God, but relish in disobedience to His commandments. The biggest argument against the Church is that we love to sin to much. The world looks at our hypocrisy and laughs. We must deny the lusts of the world. This is not just sexual lusts, but any area that leads to selfishness. Our selfishness leads to our own deception; in which we cling to worldly things instead of Christ. We must deny ourselves, follow Jesus and prepare to die. When we truly live in Christ it leads to selfless love for others. This love changes the world.

John 13:34-35 New King James Version (NKJV)

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The second way we fail millennial’s is that we do not reproduce the love of Christ in others. The best way to influence and inspire is to genuinely love and care for the person that you are trying to reach. Find the common ground, demonstrate your love for them and shine Christ brightly. True love puts aside an agenda and invests time and energy necessary to cultivate an authentic relationship. To demonstrate Christ’s love, it requires a soft and gentle approach that meets the person where they are in life. This requires the Christian to remove all judgmental attitudes. Jesus always had compassion and reached people specifically to their needs and understanding. To truly love someone; you must be patient with them. After all, hasn’t God been patient with you? Discipleship is a #proofofyourfaith.

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