“What If Jesus Didn’t Invite Disciples to Follow Him?”
Randy Hageman
Part of What if Jesus...
March 26, 2020

March 29, 2020
WHAT IF JESUS…? – Part 3

“What If Jesus Didn’t Invite Disciples to Follow Him?”

What, or who, has had the biggest influence on your spiritual journey?

Faith is often

more than its !

And [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. —Matthew 4:23-24 (ESV)

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. —Matthew 4:18-20 (ESV)

Jesus simply invited Peter and Andrew to

him.

And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. —Matthew 4:21-22 (ESV)

Most of Jesus’ three years of ministry time was spent with his

.

WHAT IF JESUS DIDN’T INVITE HIS DISCIPLES TO FOLLOW HIM?

From Christian history, John Wesley, the founder of the

movement, began as a priest in the Church of England, also called the Anglican Church.

Wesley soon determined that if new followers weren’t meeting

with other Christians, especially in settings where there was accountability, they were likely to fall away or never really come to faith.

George Whitefield: “My brother Wesley acted wisely; the souls that were awakened under his ministry he joined in class, and thus preserved the fruits of his labor. This I neglected, and MY PEOPLE ARE A ROPE OF SAND.”

Jesus intentionally invited a small group of men to join him as his disciples, and they spent

together before Jesus was crucified.

These disciples, who had lived life with Jesus, changed the

!

By intentionally

in his followers, Jesus created a movement that would grow from a few dozen followers to tens of millions within three centuries, and today makes up the largest religion on our planet.

Jesus’ method of disciplemaking was through

.

As Paul and others explained, the calling of every person God has ever created is to

Jesus, to become more and more like him.

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. —2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

We aren’t really following Jesus until we love God and love others enough to seek to

others follow Jesus, to them become like him.

Discipleship is not just passing on information but molding and creating character by intentionally spending

with other disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

WHY IS JESUS’ RELATIONAL DISCIPLESHIP METHOD SO EFFECTIVE?

1. It’s in relationships that we develop

.

2. Relationships enable us to experience vivid

in the lives of others.

3. Relationships give us time to count the

, so that we recognize the value of following Jesus.

Jesus: For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? —Luke 14:28 (ESV)

Jesus: And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. —Matthew 10:38 (ESV)
Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. —Matthew 16:24 (ESV)

4. Relationships give us the opportunity to have

.

5. Relationships are generally better at creating

disciples.

See Gateway’s Find It page gateway-community.org/find-it for daily resources to help you stay connected with God and with others.

These are challenging times, and the very nature of what’s going around us can lead to isolation, but that’s not what Jesus desires for us – he wants us to stay

because we’re better together.

Next Week: What If Jesus Wasn’t Recognized as King on Palm Sunday?