His love made us lovely. He came not to find and reward the worthy. He came for the unlikely and the disqualified and the unworthy to make them trophies of redemption and grace. A disciple of Jesus. But somebody who receives that love and abides in it.
If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, you probably refer to yourself as a Christian. But how often do you call yourself a disciple? Today we're going to look at the difference between these two words and it might be more significant than you think. A quick reminder, up until now this podcast has been a rebroadcast of our daily radio program five days a week. But starting this week, things are changing.
Just for you, our podcast listeners. From now on, you'll hear full sermons uninterrupted with no commercial breaks in the middle. And instead of new episodes every weekday, you can look forward to two brand new episodes each week releasing every Monday and Wednesday. Keep in mind, if you'd like the full transcript of today's message or related resources, visit jdgreer.com. Our website is full of free resources.
So if you have questions about Jesus or simply want to grow in your faith, Spend some time looking around and share it with a friend. But right now, we're going to turn to John chapter 15 and lean in for this important teaching titled Disciples versus Christians. Vince Lombardi was the legendary NFL. Uh winning coach whose secret of success, they say, lay and the fact that he never ever took the basics for granted. And so He started out every season, every season, by holding out a pigskin like this one before his pro athletes and saying, gentlemen, This is A football.
We are spending a few weeks doing a Vince Lombardi style return to the basics. of what it means to become a follower Of Jesus. I was not a football player for a reason. And this week, We are going to, at least not a holder, placeholder. We were going to talk about becoming a disciple.
And next week, we're going to talk about growing as a disciple. And for both of those, we are going to be in John chapter 15.
So turn there to John 15. If you have your Bibles right now, that is where we will be. John 15, if I were to ask 10 different people in the triangle the question: what is A Christian. What is a Christian, I would likely get 10 different answers. If I asked them, Are you a Christian?
I would get all kinds of responses.
Some would say unqualifiedly, without hesitation, they would say yes. Others would say, what do you mean?
Some would say yes, but. Others would say no. But Some would say, well, yes, I am a Christian, but I'm not like... Or, yes, I'm a Christian, but I don't think that, or I don't agree with, or I don't vote for. If somebody says they're a Christian and you ask them when they became a Christian, Some would point you to a particular moment.
A moment where they walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, got baptized, took a confirmation class. had a moment in a worship service, joined a church or whatever. Others would say that they've been a Christian all of their lives. They would say, I mean, I was born to Christian parents. I'm not a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, or an atheist, so what else could I be?
And there are some in the triangle, maybe some of you who... Might hear that question: What is a Christian? Are you a Christian? And your answer would be: I'm definitely not a Christian. And if you were asked to define Christian, it would go something like this: this is an actual.
definition that I heard somebody on YouTube give. Christians, this guy said, are Judgmental, homophobic moralists who think that they are the only ones going to heaven and secretly relish the fact. that everybody else is going to hell.
So if you're a Christian, be encouraged. This is what the world thinks about you.
So again, I would just ask you: what is a Christian? And I know that you expect me at this point to rediverse to you and say, here's what. The Bible says a Christian is, but here is a rather strange Fact. Was not a term that the early followers of Jesus called themselves. It certainly was.
was not the name that Jesus gave to his followers. Christian. Was actually a derogatory term that was given to the followers of Jesus by their critics, by their enemies. We learn about this in Acts chapter 11, Acts 11, verse 26. In Antioch, it says the disciples were first called Christians.
Were called is passive, which means that this wasn't a name that they gave to themselves. Others gave that name to them, and it was a bit of a tease, a slam. They mean something like little Jesus-y people. But that raises the question: if the first followers of Jesus didn't call themselves Christians, what did they call themselves? And you see the answer given right there in Acts 11:26, disciples.
I want you to consider this. The word Christian. appears in the New Testament only three times. Disciple, however, is used 281 times. You say, well, Pastor, that is mildly interesting, but so what?
Here's what. Perhaps, in changing the word that we use to describe ourselves. We've lost the clarity. that the word disciple conveyed about what a follower of Jesus actually is. I want to suggest to you that Christian and disciple actually convey two different things.
You see, Christian functions more like a sociological label. Whereas disciple describes a lifestyle choice. And I want to further suggest to you that by moving away from disciple as our primary descriptor. of followers of Jesus, we have obscured the fact That a lot of people who call themselves Christians aren't actually Jesus' followers.
So the real question to consider. What was And what is A disciple. And are you one? You might say that you are a Christian. But are you a disciple?
of Jesus. John 15 was Jesus' last extended teaching to his disciples. And in this teaching, he conveys to them the essence. of what it means to be a disciple. In it, he says things like verse 8: By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit.
And so proved to be my disciples. Verse 9: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.
Now go and abide in my love. Verse 12, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Verse 16, you do not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. Before we pull out the specifics of that passage. I think it would help to take just one step back.
and consider what discipleship meant in the first century. You see, discipleship was not a concept invented by Jesus. It was quite common, in fact, in the ancient world.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all had disciples.
Furthermore, lots of other Jewish rabbis during Jesus' time had disciples also. Rabbi just meant professor or mentor. Rabbi Hillel, for example, was a very famous rabbi who lived just a few years before Jesus did, and he had 70 disciples who followed him around everywhere. Many of them got in quite a number of arguments with Jesus, where there was Rabbi Akiva, who was a very famous rabbi who lived right after Jesus. Rabbi Akiva had only five disciples, though thousands of people followed him around Israel listening to his teaching.
In Israel, there was a whole established process for becoming a disciple. It was pretty competitive. At age five, every Hebrew boy started Torah school. Torah, of course, refers to the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. By age 10, All Hebrew boys were fairly well instructed in Torah.
In fact, most of them would have had it memorized. And that is when you had the first weeding out process at age 10. with only the best students being invited to go on to secondary school. Where they would receive further instruction in the Torah as well as the rest of the Old Testament. They would learn how to read and write and so forth.
only the really rich or or the academically gifted got to continue on into secondary school. The rest of the boys at age 10 who didn't make the cut were sent home to work with their fathers in the family business. If you were lucky enough to make the cut, You would go to school, you school for seven more years. And then at age 17, you'd be done with secondary school. And if you wanted to make a career out of religious studies, your job was to find a rabbi.
That you admired, and you would apply to become his Talmud, which in Hebrew just means disciple. Is Talmeat. And when you found a rabbi that you wanted to learn from, you would go and sit at their feet. That was like your application for admission. And the rabbis would ply you with questions and put you through a series of tests to see if you were really worthy to be their disciple.
These rabbis only chose a small handful of these many applicants to really follow them. They were able to be really selective with their students because, in those days, becoming a religious ruler was considered to be the best of all jobs. Almost every young Hebrew boy dreamed of being a rabbi one day. Young Hebrew boys did not dream of being basketball players or rock stars. They dreamed of becoming rabbis.
They didn't have posters on their walls of LeBron dunking basketballs or Bad Bunny doing hip-hop. They had pictures of rabbis holding out scrolls. And so rabbis had the luxury of choosing only the smartest, most talented young men to be their disciples in Hebrew, their Talmudim. These rabbis wanted to be picky regarding who became their disciples because these young men would become their representatives and they would continue on their work after they were gone.
So they chose only young men whom they thought had the capacity to become just like them. You see, this wasn't just about learning information that the rabbi knew, it was also about becoming just like them. A little version of them. A disciple, first century scholar Ray von der Laan says, did not merely want to know what his master knew, he also wanted to do what his master did. Yeah.
In fact, I've told you this before. The highest compliment that you could give a Talmud, a disciple in those days, the highest compliment you could give them was: the dust of your rabbi is all over you. That did not mean, bro, you need a shower. What that meant was that you followed your rabbi so closely that whatever he had stepped in splashed up on you. After I've washed my car.
If I'm driving through a dirt parking lot or I'm driving down a dirt road, I will slow way down. and put a good 200 yards between me and the previous car ahead of me. It drives my kids crazy. I don't want the dust of that car on my car. For a true disciple, you wanted to be so close to your rabbi that whatever he stepped in dusted up on you.
If he stepped in dog poop, you wanted to smell like it. Which brings us back to John 15. Jesus has chosen for his Talmudim. the 11 guys who are now sitting with him in this room. He'd chosen 12, of course, but one of them was a traitor, Judas, and Judas had just left before Jesus started his teaching.
He's chosen these 11 to know what he knows. and to do what he did. and thereby to be his representatives on the earth after he's gone.
So now with that context.
Now let's read John 15, 8 through 17 in its entirety. Because some of what Jesus says here now may make a little more sense. Verse 18, by this is my Father glorified. that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the father has loved me, so have I loved you.
Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Just as I've kept my Father's commandments and I abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this: that someone laid down his life for his friends. You are my friends. If you do whatever it is I command you. No longer do I call you servants because a servant doesn't know what his master's doing. But I've called you friends.
For all that I've heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you so that you will love one another.
Okay. What is a disciple of Jesus? I'm going to give you four things. Based on those verses. Number one.
A disciple of Jesus is somebody. Who has received his love? Verse 9. As the Father loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
This was, by the way, distinctive in Jesus' call to discipleship. Other rabbis, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Hillel, they did not talk this way. Their instructions were all about obey and do and follow. But Jesus' discipleship was first about receiving his love. And that is because the whole nature of his program was different.
Other rabbis looked for the righteous and the accomplished and the capable because these would be the ones that they figured, the ones able to carry on their programs in the world.
So they chose only the best of the best. They chose the brightest. They chose the top of the class. They chose the who's who. But who did Jesus choose?
Not the best of the best. We know, for example, that he chose a bunch of fishermen. The fact that they were fishermen shows us what. That they hadn't made it through the cuts. Remember, there was a weeding-out process among the boys in Israel: the first at age 10, the second at age 17.
And only the best were invited to continue on in their studies. The rest went back into the family business. The fact that these guys were fishermen means they had not made the cuts. I want you to let that sink in for a moment. When Jesus selected a squad to build his movement.
He chose The B team. He started with the people that had been cut. From the 80. And he said, this is how I'm going to build my movement. Perhaps even more intriguing than that is that he chose moral failures and moral outcasts.
He chose, for example, Matthew, a despised tax collector, considered a traitor to his people. He chose a coward. with a fiery temper. Peter. He chose a zealot, Simon, who was essentially a first century terrorist.
And unlike other rabbis, he let women sit at his feet. Not even women of distinguished character. He chose former prostitutes and women like Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. These were the people that he invited into his love. Martin Luther said that the love of God is different from all other loves in the universe.
Because every other love in the universe Find something lovely. And then loves it. Because of the loveliness of that thing. I mean, that's what we do, right? That's why.
That's what we do. I find something lovely and I fall in love with it. Veronica, she was lovely. I fell in love with her because of her loveliness. But the love of God is different, Martin Luther said.
The love of God does not find, but rather creates. That which is pleasing to it. The love of God does not find, but rather creates that which is pleasing to it. I love that statement. Jesus didn't love these disciples.
He didn't love me because we were lovely. His love made us lovely. He came not to find and reward the worthy. He came for the unlikely and the disqualified and the unworthy to make them trophies of redemption and grace. A disciple of Jesus.
Is somebody who receives that love and abides in it? It's the gift of salvation that we talked about last weekend. grace, propitiation, justification, redemption.
So first and foremost, a disciple is somebody. Who has received The love. The love of Jesus. Connected to that, number two. A disciple of Jesus to somebody chosen by him for amazing fruitfulness.
Which is all the more amazing when you consider what I just said, number one. Let's just sit in verse 16 for a minute. I chose you. And I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you. And by this will my Father be glorified.
That you insert your name there You. You bear much fruit. That's how he's going to be glorified. Jesus said that to a group of people who'd been part of the B team. Fishermen and high school dropouts and moral failures, and he's telling them that it is God's desire to give them abundant, eternity-altering fruit.
That's what Jesus intends for you too. It's right there in your Bible. Jesus said there's things for you. Honestly, this is the place that many of us are going to be most tempted to doubt Jesus. We don't doubt Jesus per se.
We doubt his promises in and through us. The Apostle Matthew tells the story of Jesus walking out. His disciples in the middle of the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a terrible storm. And at first it freaked everybody out because they thought Jesus was a ghost. And Peter recognized Jesus and said, Lord, if it's really you.
Beckon me to come to you. And Jesus said, it is I. Come.
So Peter gets out of the boat and he starts walking on the water to Jesus. You may know the story about about halfway to Jesus. Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and started looking at the size of the waves around him and listening to the wind, and then he started to sink. And we always say about that story, when I was taught that story in Sunday school, we always say, Peter lost faith in Jesus. But technically, is that true?
I mean, Peter hadn't lost faith that Jesus could walk on water. Peter didn't start shouting, hey, Jesus, watch out. A grown man can't walk on water, you're going to sink. No, Peter had not lost his faith in Jesus' ability to walk on water. He'd lost faith in Jesus' ability to hold him up out of the water.
You see the difference? The place that many of you are going to be tempted to doubt is not. Jesus's power per se, but his ability to use you. to do great things in his kingdom. That's where your crisis of faith is going to come.
Jesus said the weakest saint The weakest saints still had incredible power. Ministry because he was a vessel of the Almighty God. For example, one of my favorites in Matthew 11. Jesus said to a group of listeners, He said, of all those ever born among women, which is everybody. There has never risen anyone greater.
In the entire history of the human race, then Who is it? Who was Jesus' favorite? Preacher of all time. Who was it? Name starts with J, rounds with on the Baptist.
John the Baptist. Excellent guest. Jesus loved John the Baptist. He was a big. JTB van, okay?
You know, he podcasted John the Baptist. He had a little brace at WW, JTBD, or whatever. You know, however, he loved John the Baptist. Greatest preacher ever. Then Jesus said, Surely I tell you.
The one who is least in my kingdom. Is greater than John the Baptist.
Now, first of all, what does least in my kingdom mean? It means you're the least significant. Right, you're the least impressive, you have the least spiritual gifts, you know the least about the Bible, you have the worst personality. The most inconsistent walk with God.
Somebody in this room right now.
Somebody listening at one of our campuses, you are the least. in the kingdom of heaven in here. I'm not saying that to be mean. I'm just saying mathematically, it has to be true. Right?
I mean, right now you're sitting there thinking. I think that might be me. And God in heaven is like Yep. It's you. You're at the bottom of the aisle.
What Jesus is saying is, even if that's true in your self-assessment, You have more. ministry potential than John the Baptist did. Why? Because you have something John the Baptist never had, and that is you have the Holy Spirit permanently indwelling you. And see, from that means from that point on, it's not really about your ability, it's about your availability.
That's what's behind John 15, 16. When Jesus said, you didn't choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit. When Jesus said, You didn't choose me, I chose you. He wasn't trying to say, Hey, by the way, guys, I'm just trying to make it clear, I'm a Calvinist. You didn't choose me, I chose you.
That that may be true. But that's not what he was trying to say here. Rather, what he was saying here was: just like other rabbis, I was in charge of assembling a body of disciples. And I chose you all. And I put my reputation on the line.
And if you're fruitless failures, I look bad. And I'm not gonna look bad. I chose you. I chose you, and it's going to bring God glory when you have abundant fruit. And I am fully capable of keeping my promises through you.
And even if you are so weak that you can't even channel the power yourself, if you're laid up right now in a hospital bed, for example, he says you can do it through prayer. See the last phrase of verse 16: I chose you so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you. You got the ability, whoever you are, however weak you feel, to change the world. Not because you're talented, but because Christ's power is accessible to you. And that's because, see, he is inviting you into his work.
He wasn't calling a group of people to go and change the world for him. He was calling out a group to join him in the great things he is doing. Tuda says in verse 15, no longer do I call you servants. For the servant didn't know what his master's doing. I called you friends.
For everything I heard from my father. In other words, all that the father is doing, that's what I made known to you. I'm making known to you. He makes known to his disciples what he wants to do in the world. He didn't need us to do great things in the world summit.
He didn't need our money, he didn't need our talent, he didn't need our energy. He is doing great things in the world. He's just looking for a willing vessel. When it comes to disciples, Jesus is not looking for ability. He's looking for availability.
Third. A disciple of Jesus is somebody committed to becoming like him. Committed to becoming like him. Look at verse 12. This is my commandment, he says, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Jesus. is putting himself out there as an example and saying, Live like I lived. When I was in college, it was a little bracelet that became really popular. Had four letters on it, W W J D. And it stands for Women want JD.
That's right. And no, I'm kidding. What would Jesus do? What would Jesus do? It's a very important discipleship question.
What would Jesus do at the summit church? We've simplified the answer to that question into five identities. Five identities that characterize Jesus' identity that should characterize yours if you are his follower.
Okay, this is what would Jesus do? Here's the answer. Number one. Worshippers, your first identity. We say that because Jesus said the great commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your hearts, souls, and minds, and that this was the heart of everything else.
The center of the Christian's life, plain and simple, is worship. The center of our discipleship. It's not community, it's not mission, it's not evangelism or justice work. It's not Bible study. The center of our Christian experience is worship.
And that is because we were created from God. One of my favorite devotional writers, a guy named Chris Tegreen, said, Worship is not part of the Christian life, it is the Christian life. At the Summit Church, we attach two important disciplines to the identity of worshiper. The first, We say that this means weekly corporate worship, as in coming to church each weekend, just like Jesus commanded. Hebrews, he said, forsake not the symboling of yourselves together.
The second discipline we attach to this one is daily personal worship, a daily time where you meet with God. Like we see exemplified in the life of Jesus. I hope you practice both. We're committed to making it easy for you. Here's your second identity that you are to adopt if you're trying to live like Jesus.
A disciple is not just a worshiper, he or she is a family member. We say that because the second greatest commandment Jesus said was to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus intensifies that here in John 15, in this last teaching to his disciples, he said, My commandment is that you love one another as I've loved you. Greater love is nobody than this, that somebody laid down his life for his friends. You're not only to love each other, he said.
You're to be so committed to each other that you laid down your lives for each other.
So let me just say this plainly, okay? A commitment to Jesus. is also a commitment to his church. I hear a lot of people in the triangle. A lot of people say, well, I love Jesus.
And I got a strong relationship with God. I'm just not that committed to the church. How do I say this? That's not true. I know that you think it's true.
But it's just not. You might have great respect for Jesus. But Jesus very clearly said that if you loved him, you would be committed to his church. He says it right there in John 15. You were to love each other so much that you would lay down your life for each other.
You can't do that for somebody you're not connected to or not in a relationship with. Jesus told Peter in John 21: if you love me, you'll show that. Not by how you listen to sermons and raise your hands in worship when you're alone by yourself walking around. You know, Ulmstead Park. You're going to show that by how well you take care of my sheep.
You cannot say you're obedient to Jesus if you neglect those he commanded you to love. The church is the bride of Christ. You can't love somebody and hate their bride. How do you think I would react if you said to me, Pastor JD, we love you? Could you come over to our house for dinner?
Here's the keys to our mountain house. Please enjoy it. But. These invitations are not for Veronica. We like you, but we just don't care for her.
That conversation is not going to go well. I'm not coming over for dinner. If you love me and you want to be friends with me, then you got to love and be friends with my wife. The church, we say, is not just an event you should attend, it's a community, it's a family that you should belong to. A family, Jesus says, were your connections with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
or even stronger. Than the ones you have with your biological families. Don't believe me? Read what Jesus says in Matthew 12.
So you're a believer in Jesus? Great. Are you a belonger to his church? Have you joined this church? Or are you still a spectator?
Some of you have been here for years and you've ever joined the church. I don't know what that means. Are you just not committed? Is this like a common law membership thing where you basically join our family without commitment? It's time for you to join.
It's time to make an honest Christian out of you, okay? You need to join a small group. You need to volunteer. Believers should be belongers. Listen, this is a dramatic statement, but I say this with absolute.
earnestness. I've thought about it. This is not just some cheap throwaway line. The measure of your commitment to the church is the measure of your commitment to Jesus. And you should come in person.
I get it. I get it. Sometimes health considerations keep you at home. If you are sick, please skip a week. But see, I think of it like this.
Sometimes when I'm sick, this is true. I will quarantine myself in my room so that I don't get the rest of my family sick. And I have even FaceTimed into family dinner.
So that I could just be a part. It's like Super Dad, right? But y'all if every night even when I'm healthy I go up to my room And FaceTime into dinner for a few minutes, then you would be right to suspect my commitment to our family. You cannot follow Jesus. and not be connected with his family.
Here's your third identity: a disciple is a servant. A disservant. Jesus said that he came not to be served, but to serve. We didn't read this part, but right before this teaching in John 15, Jesus took a water basin and a towel and he washed his disciples' feet. He said, This is how I want you to live too, just like I did for you.
I want you to do for others. An imitator of Jesus uses whatever power, position, or privilege that you have. to serve. We apply that in primarily two ways here. The first Is that we ask you to consider how you're using your gifts and your talents.
Because you can use your gifts and your talents to do one of two things. You could use those things to build a dynasty for yourself. or to leave a legacy of the kingdom for others.
So which is it for you? You look at your career as a way to build a dynasty for yourself or to serve by leaving a kingdom legacy for others. Whose kingdom are you building with your talents? That's the question. Yours or his?
The second way we apply servant here is in how you serve at the church. Everybody we say should have a ministry job in the church. You've heard the old joke about churches like ours. Right, they say the churches like ours are like an NC State football game. At an NC State football game, you got 22 guys in desperate need of rest.
surrounded by 22,000 people in desperate need of exercise.
Now, thankfully, I will say that is not really true at our church. As you know, every single weekend, around 1600 volunteers serve in this church. Every weekend. That is amazing. But it should be all of you that consider this church your home.
Every member should be a minister. How are you serving? Here's your fourth identity. For that it is steward. Steward, a disciple realizes that anything he or she has ultimately belongs to God.
And is given to us by him for his purpose, not ours. A steward, you see, is different from an owner. An owner owns what they have. A steward takes care of something that somebody else owns on their behalf. Jesus taught that God owns all that we have, and one day you and I are going to give an account for how we used what he gave us.
Jesus taught that there are two key moments in heaven. Two moments you need to be ready for.
Okay? In the final judgment, all of us are going to be asked basically two questions. Number one, what did you do with my son? Do you receive him? Did you accept the gift of salvation?
That's question number one. Question number two: what did you do with my stuff? You might think you're ready for the first. You're going to be ready for the second. When it comes to your stuff.
Are you tithing? Are you giving God back the first and the best? That's the first sign of faithful stewardship. It doesn't stop there.
Well, we say that's just the beginning. I mean, at the judgment, I'm not going to give an account for 10% of what he gave me. I'm going to give an account for all of it. And it's going to, the question is going to be: did I leverage what he gave me stewardship of for his purposes? Did I use his money?
to build a dynasty for myself. Or did I use his money to leave a legacy for his kingdom for others? I would challenge many of you: if you've been gifted with means, I want you to think about that in your charity. You're going to be asked this question. Are you using it for his purposes?
Listen. I'm not trying to pick a fight here. But giving a chunk of money to have your name on a new building at UNC is fine. But is that going to matter in eternity? When you invest, you want to have a good, what they say, ROI, return on investment.
Here's what you need to ask as a follower of Jesus: Are you invested in things that have a good EROI, eternal return on investment? Given to the United Way or a hospital is good because they help people. But why not give to A program that helps people from a kingdom agenda, not just focused on caring for their bodies, but also saving their souls. Those are the kinds of ministries that we support here through this church. Leverage your money for kingdom purposes.
By the way, maybe your name on my building at UNC. I don't have enough money. to get Starbucks after this service is over. You can still be a faithful steward of what God gave you. Open up your home to people.
Host a foreign exchange student, befriend a refugee, visit the elderly. Or the shot him. Everybody's supposed to be a steward. Here's the last one, the last identity. Witness.
Worshipper, family member, servant, steward, witness. When Jesus talks in verse 8, verse 16 about very much fruit, fruit that abides, he's referring to two main things: one is our own sanctification. Our own spiritual growth, the fruit of the spirit in our lives, but also just as importantly, he's talking about being. used by God to see people come to know Jesus. When you think about the phrase fruit that abides, fruit that lasts forever, what better example of that?
Could there be then somebody who gets saved through your personal witness and then lives on forever with God? Jesus said his main mission on earth was to seek and save the lost. If his dust is on you, that will be the main descriptor of your life, too. What's your job? Doctor, lawyer, architect, teacher, financial advisor, professional athlete, Starbucks barista, great.
That's great. What is your primary responsibility?
Well, if you're a disciple of Jesus, your primary responsibility is to seek and save the lost.
Some of it, what is our primary mission in the triangle? To seek and save the lost. That's what the dust of the rabbi looks like when it's on us. Not just here, by the way, but around the world. This generation of Christians, we say, is responsible for this generation of souls all over the world.
Our main identity is to seek and save the lost wherever they are because we are his witnesses. We've tried to make this really practical for you at this church by just asking all of you to have what we call it a one. Who's your one? At least one person you're praying for, seeking to build a relationship with, and trying to point to Jesus. Do you know who your one is?
If not, why not ask God to reveal that to you, who he wants that to be? A disciple is not somebody who simply wants to know what his master knows. A disciple is somebody who wants to do with his master. Did. These five things are what Jesus did.
These five things are how the dust of the rabbi will be all over you, which leads me to the last point. About a disciple. A disciple of Jesus is somebody. Who's ready to follow him all the way? Verse 10, Jesus said, if you keep my commandments, you will.
Abiding my love. If you keep my commandments, he repeats that phrase several times throughout these verses: his commandments. To be Jesus' disciple, you had to be ready to obey him. You had to be ready to follow him with no limitations and no restrictions. He told the rich young ruler who had spent his whole life cultivating obedience to the law.
By the way, rich, young religious ruler, he had been the best of the best. He'd made it through the cuts. He told that guy that to follow him. He was going to have to give up control of everything in his life, including those great riches and that power, and the rich young ruler, amazing as he was. Top of his class, as he was, with all those books of the Bible memorized, would not do it.
I want you to note that the word follow in our language now means something different than it did to them. We follow celebrities and coaches and health experts on social media, for example. I follow Andrew Huberman on social media. If you don't know, he's an American neuroscientist. Brilliant.
Who makes all these out-of-the-box health suggestions?
Some of them are good, and I follow them. But he also recommends that you eat lion's mane mushrooms every day. That you delay drinking any coffee until you've been up for at least two hours. and that you sit in ice water for at least 11 minutes a week, summer or winter. I do not follow those things.
Maybe I should. Maybe I should. Don't send me an email. Maybe I should, okay? But the point is, I feel the freedom.
To take whatever suggestions I want from him and leave behind those, I don't. I feel the freedom to say sometimes his research seems to me to be a little bit spotty.
Sometimes he seems kind of trendy, sort of a health shock jock. And I'm pretty sure, for example, he recommends Lion's Mane Mushrooms just because the name sounds cool.
Sometimes I just don't want to do what he recommends. I want my coffee ready when I open my eyes in the morning. But the bottom line is, I feel perfectly fine saying that I follow him and yet choose not to follow certain ones of his recommendations. But see, it's different with Jesus. To follow him, that had to mean total submission of your will to his.
Jesus said, unless you're willing to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. See when you get nailed to a cross, you're not scrolling social media. You stop making decisions when you get nailed to a cross. You become totally under the control of another. That's what it means to follow Jesus.
Let's be honest, many of you follow Jesus like I do, Andrew Huberman. You're like, hey, yeah, he's a really smart guy with a lot of great suggestions. I'll do these and these. Ooh, I feel better already. But what he says over here about relationships or money.
Or active engagement in the church. I'm not ready for those yet. You cannot be a disciple of Jesus and live that way. Discipleship means plain and simple. Full Submission.
to Jesus. It means that you forsake all that he has forbidden. And you pursue all that he has prescribed. Listen, y'all, we talk. We talk about coming to Jesus as bringing peace in our lives, bringing fulfillment.
And that's all true. He is wonderful. He brings peace to your life, but I am telling you at some point, if you are really serious about following Jesus, obedience to him is going to take you 180 degrees opposite of the direction that you think you want to go. Question is, are you going to follow him there? If he tells you to break up with a certain person.
You gonna do it? If he leads you to deny some of your sexual urges and follow his commands on sexuality, you're going to do that? If he commands you to turn your back on your career and move overseas to take his gospel to the nations, are you going to do that? A disciple of Jesus will, a disciple of Jesus is ready to follow him all the way. Is that Yeah.
One of the greatest sports movies of all time. Has to be the 2004 Kurt Russell movie Miracle. Depicting the true story of the 1980 U.S. hockey team and their unlikely journey toward Olympic gold. Kurt Russell plays Coach Herb Brooks, an older hockey coach who had agreed to take on a very struggling U.S.
hockey program. Program was a mess. It was inflicted with all kinds of division and territorial stuff and showmanship. There's this scene where Coach Brooks presents his initial roster. Of the guys he wants to take to the Olympics that year, he presents it to one of his assistant coaches, a guy named Craig Patrick.
And of course, They're all unpaid amateurs. Basically college hockey players going up against the best professionals in the world, the Soviet Union, Finland, Canada, Sweden. Coach Brooks says The roster. He says, take a look at this, Craig. Grandpatrick says, what's that?
Coach Brooks responds: These are the people that I'm taking to represent America in the 1980 Olympics. Coach Patrick says, you're kidding me, right? This is the final roster. You're missing some of the best players. Coach Brooks says This is the line.
I'm not looking for the best players, Craig. I'm looking for the right ones. You're some of my ones that were teachable and humble and team-oriented. And with those right players, he beat the Soviets. in the semifinals and then won the 1980 Olympic gold medal over Finland.
Now, Jesus did not use those exact same words in John 15, but he expressed a similar sentiment. He's not looking for the best players. He's looking for the right one. you Those who are ready to follow him, those ready to become like him, those that are ready to say yes to him, is that you? In fact, if I could make this all really simple, becoming a disciple.
Just mean saying yes to Jesus and never say no again. Yes to his love for you. Yes, to his offer to save you. Yes, to his promise to bring great fruit from you. Yes, to his mission in the world.
Yes, to becoming like him. Yes, to his rule, whatever he asks. Are you willing to say? Yes. At Summit Life, our mission is to take people deeper into their understanding of the gospel.
And then help them advance the gospel wider into their world. Just remember: deep and wide, this vital mission is made possible by friends like you. Will you join us? Your prayers and financial gifts help us bring hope-filled teaching to homes, cars, and workplaces. Visit jdgreer.com to learn more about how you can support this ministry and start your monthly gift today.
Thank you for joining us today for Summit Life with JD Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Greer Ministries. Yeah.
