TESTS OF DISCIPLESHIP

By

Nicole Steinmetz

^{October 1st}, 2006

What is the cost of being a disciple? Jesus tells us, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 NIV) The cost is high. There are many sacrifices, and hardships to endure when you put away the things of this world and choose to follow the teachings of Jesus. That is what disciple means, a follower of a teacher. We are followers of the greatest teacher. There are many tests of discipleship. John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples teaches us a lot on this matter, through his own experiences, and through the life of Jesus. John wrote five books in the new testament, and lived the longest of the twelve Apostles. He and other writers of the New Testament show us that to be a disciple there will be many tests, and the cost is high, but the rewards surpass all.

John spends so much time letting the world know or preparing the world for what he and the other disciples faced. Jesus spends a large portion of his time teaching his disciples. He knew that once he was gone the world would reject them and treat them harshly. Like these twelve disciples, if each one of us believe that Jesus is the son of God, we should love him and obey his commands. Then we are also his disciples. So one of the first tests of discipleship is obedience. You must live by the word every day, and pursue the kingdom of heaven in all things. Being obedient isn’t just going to church every Sunday and Wednesday. Its about studying the word of God and applying it to your life daily. Its about listening to God when you here him speaking to you, and doing as he says. It’s about loving people when the world says you shouldn’t, and giving sometimes when it’s all you have. The hardest for me personally is sometimes saying nothing at all. Holding your tongue at the right moment takes discipline and obedience.

So what about when things get hard? This goes hand and hand with being obedient. I tell you this is one of our greatest tests. When the storms of life are beating down on us and it seems like there’s no way out we must not give up! Perseverance is so important when you are a follower of Christ. If things get to hard, remember how much Jesus was beaten, spit on, called horrible things, and then nailed to a cross. Jesus begins these words in John 8:31-32 he says, “If you hold onto my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” These words reveal so much and are so powerful. When you begin to break this scripture down you will see when Jesus says, “hold on” He’s telling us we must persevere. We can’t give up, or forget what he has taught us. Matthew 10:22 says, “We must stand firm to the end.” Sometimes it gets so hard, but Jesus already knows that. That is why He goes on to say, “we will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So many people want to know what the truth is. Jesus tell us many times He’s sending a counselor or the “Spirit of Truth who goes out from the Father.”(John 15:26) Receiving the Holy Spirit is what He’s talking about. This is what sets us free. This is one of our greatest rewards. When the Holy Spirit lives inside of you he will begin to minister to you. There is a supernatural power you cannot explain until it happens to you. There is a fire in your soul that burns for Jesus. This “truth” will give you everlasting peace most of the world won’t ever know. Jesus sent us this counselor to always remind us of the awesome power of Gods love for us.

That is why we now come to love. As followers of the Son of God we must love unconditionally and forgive just as God always forgives us. The Apostles displayed a perfect love to me. This is the kind of love we should all display to one another. In the book of Acts, at the end of chapter four Luke describes this type of love that is so hard to find. Not one person was selfish among these Holy Spirit filled believers. There were no needy people. The greed that was in there hearts, was replaced with an abundance of love. People would sell there house or there land and give the money to the Apostles. These men could have kept it for themselves but, they didn’t. They gave it away to who ever needed it. Luke the author of Acts tells us “They shared everything they had.” That is incredible. This story completely overwhelmed me the first time I read it. Could you imagine selling your house and just giving away the money so that others wouldn’t go without? Doing something to this extreme would be unheard of today. I believe that these people of faith displayed what God really had in mind when He created us. God wants to see us walking in love with one another, not being greedy, or selfish, or envious of each other.

Another great test we experience is humility. As a disciple we are taught that we must humble ourselves and remain humble. Matthew records Jesus telling us “Therefore whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt.18:4 NIV) There is a parable told in the Luke about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. In this story the Tax Collector shows humility before the lord. The same kind of humbleness we should have before God. The Pharisee on the other hand stood up and boasted and bragged about himself and how proud he was not to be like this thief beside him. The Tax Collectors prayer was a bit different. He hung his head in shame and asked for God to have mercy on him. This is how we should be when we have made a mistake, and be merciful to others who also make mistakes. The Pharisee was arrogant and prideful. It is very easy for us to become this way. That why Jesus told us this story. No one wants to see themselves as the Pharisee, but so many of us have acted just the same. We as Christians and followers of Christ should be so careful. It is not hard to become arrogant in our faith and look down on people that don’t serve God or that don’t serve God the way we think they should. The truth is, is that it is never our place to judge. We have been forgiven for our sins, but we can never forget where Jesus brought us from. Everyone of us makes mistakes. Jesus says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14) I pray that we can all remain humble in our hearts.

When we have wronged someone or said things we regret, it is hard for us to humble ourselves and tell people were wrong. Sometimes we experience great humility for the things we have done. We have embarrassed ourselves or someone else. Whatever your situation may be you must be humble and try to make things right. The enemy would love nothing more than to drive a huge wedge in between our friendships, our marriages, our kids, and especially our relationship with God. That is why we must remain humble in our hearts and sometimes suffer humility to keep our relationships strong! We should always look inside our hearts and remember how forgiving God was to us. We al live under God’s grace. I looked up the word grace. It simply means “unmerited favor”, something we really do not deserve but we get anyways. It is better to live under God’s gracethan to live in disgrace. Disgrace means “shame produced by evil conduct.” ( Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible)

Some people think that the teachings of Jesus are harsh or to hard to live by. I would rather pay the price now and bear the cross, then spend eternity without him. Sure, the cost is high, but when you think about forever, right now really doesn’t seem so long. Jesus must come before anyone or anything, even yourself. There are many tests such as obedience, perseverance, unconditional love and humility that we will go through every day of this life. For most this is so hard, but look what Jesus does for us. He loves us no matter what we do. He remains obedient to his word, and he never gives up on us. When he hung on that cross for our sins he went through all of these tests, especially humility! Now look at his great reward, he sits at the throne with his father; and through him we can now be forgiven of all our sins washed in the blood of the lamb. Now we to can have eternal life. Being Jesus’ disciple means you never have to walk alone, and the joy of the Holy Spirit is indescribable. It is worth it! We are the Shepherds sheep, and we should always follow His lead.

Bibliography:

Exploring The New Testament - Walter M. Dunnett

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible - James Strong, L.L.D., S.T.D.

NIV Study Bible