Matt Chandler - A Healthy Disciple

Well, good morning! I want to take a couple of moments right at the start of our service to spend some time praying for Houston and what’s happening there. I’ve already received three text messages from friends of mine in Houston, two of whom are pastors, describing the situation as catastrophic. In fact, Bruce Wesley, who planted Clear Creek Community Church and has been in that area for 30 years, says that it is apocalyptic down there. In the last 24 hours, Clear Creek has received 26 inches of rain, and it has not stopped. Therefore, I want us to spend some time asking God—who allowed the people of Israel to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground and who was able to calm a storm—to be merciful on behalf of our brothers and sisters down there. It seems that what we’re witnessing right now is of historic and epic proportions in regards to the amount of rain and damage being done. Even the director of FEMA has come out and said they’re going to be in Houston for years. If you’re looking at the news and maybe I’m just on the wrong feeds, it seems like everyone else is concerned about the fight last night or things of that nature, while one of the largest cities in the world is underwater. There are already stories of people who have gotten into their attics and have been unable to get out, trapped and unable to return through the house. There are truly horrific things going on right now in Houston, and I just want us to pray that the Lord would be merciful. This storm has just hit and continues to hover over them, dumping water with no end in sight. So, we want to pray that God would intervene, that this storm would dissipate and cease to be. I’m going to pray for us, and I invite you to join me in prayer, after which we will dive into Matthew chapter 13.

Father, we ask for Your mercy. We praise You as the God who has all authority, power, and might; nothing can stay Your hand. We ask for an intervention in this storm that seems to linger right over a city filled with people we know and love—brothers and sisters of ours who worship You. We ask for the storm to break apart, and even in this moment, in an unprecedented and mind-boggling act, would You let this storm dissipate and vanish from the atmosphere? We are asking You to do this for the glory and fame of Your name, Jesus, so that men and women might know that You are the one true God, the King of Glory. It’s in Your beautiful name I pray, amen.

If you have your Bibles, I want to ask you to go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter 13. At the outset, I want you to know that this message has been a bit weighty; I intended it to be because I think we’ve grown in some confusion. I want to confront and clarify that confusion for the good of our souls and the glory of Jesus Christ. We are walking through our mission vision statement this fall, and I will put it back up on the screen just to show you where we are. So far, we have covered that we exist to bring glory to God, which leads us to this week: by making disciples. What I want to discuss today is discipleship and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, as I believe there is some confusion.

Let me define what it means to be a disciple and then explain what I see as the confusion before we dive into Matthew 13. I want to share this on the screen: Discipleship is the process of devoting oneself to a teacher to learn from, and become more like, them. For Christians, this occurs in community, as discipleship can only take place in community; there is no discipleship when you’re alone by yourself. This review refers to the process of learning the teachings of Jesus in the Scriptures and following His example in obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit. Discipleship not only involves becoming a disciple but also making other disciples through teaching and evangelism.

Now here’s my push today: There seems to be a misunderstanding that has created a new category in which you can believe in Jesus but not follow Him. What we see in 2017 evangelicalism is that many people are able to say, «I believe in Jesus.» What they often mean is that they believe in some historical facts; they view Jesus like they would view Abraham Lincoln: «I know he was a man; it seems like he did some good things, and I kind of like what he stood for.» However, to believe in Jesus is not the same as believing in Abraham Lincoln. Believing in Jesus requires that we follow Him; otherwise, we do not truly believe. To say that you believe in Jesus but do not follow Him empties belief of its meaning. You cannot say that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who has come to take away the sins of the world and reconcile us to the Father, redeeming all that is broken, while having no intention of surrendering or following Him.