Learning to Follow

My bed is seldom made up. I resist getting up early, setting most of my appointments for early afternoon if possible. Exercise and I have a love-hate relationship; I love the results but hate to sweat. Only on rare occasions do I see the bottom of the laundry basket or totally empty sinks. I'm a musician at heart and a bookworm at brain and unless it pertains to music or reading, it tends to go untended. 

In other words, I'm not what you might call "disciplined." At least, not in every area of my life. At least, not until you get down to the real meaning of the word.

The word discipline shares its origins with the word disciple. That root word is about learning. Jesus called his disciples to come learn who he was, to understand his teachings, to follow him. Jesus' disciples learned him.

What happened after Jesus called his disciples? Actually, he originally called the first 12 apostles, the leaders who were with him constantly, but gradually more disciples began to gather around and follow him. So did he set up a school? Did they all start going to class to sit around and discuss the scriptures from Jesus' point of view? That might have been a wonderful use of their time...is that how Jesus chose to discipline them?

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:35-38)

Of course Jesus spent time teaching his disciples (see the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7) and letting them know what his "work" looked like. But he knew the learning took place out among the crowds, working the "harvest." Jesus saw people who were harassed and helpless. He called his disciples out into the field to work with him.


If we are Jesus' disciples, we are learning to follow him daily. Our discipline isn't about following rules or being "better" Christians; it's about making ways in our lives to learn better how to work in the fields. And remember that when God disciplines us, that's not about punishment...that's about his teaching us:

Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,
    the one you teach from your law; 
you grant them relief from days of trouble,
    till a pit is dug for the wicked. 
For the Lord will not reject his people;
    he will never forsake his inheritance. 
Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,    and all the upright in heart will follow it.  
(Psalm 94:12-15, emphasis added)

So how will Jesus disciple you today?

Share the Love

Over the coming weeks I will be posting a series of blogs on one topic: "Share the Love." I believe we are all called to do this by our Maker. It is our highest calling among our fellow humans, and I have discovered a multitude of ways to do this and to be empowered to do so. I want to share these with you.

The best way to understand the meaning and importance of sharing love with each other is to read Jesus' own words to His disciples directing them to love. Jesus' life was an absolute definition of love and His words to His disciples on His last evening with them made His command clear: "Love each other as I have loved you" (John 15:12).

Throughout John's gospel, John refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (for examples, see John 13:23 and 19:26). John was on the scene for some of the most significant events in Jesus' earthly life (Matthew 17:1). When Jesus hung on the cross, He gave John the responsibility of caring for Jesus' own mother, Mary (John 19:25-27). The brotherly relationship between Jesus and John must have been the very model of the bond Jesus was calling all of us to have with each other, and John's purpose in recording this account of Jesus' life and message was to communicate the nature and essence of that love.

Chapters 14 through 16 are the words Jesus spoke to His disciples, His closest friends, allies, and students, just before He was handed over to the officials for His crucifixion. Jesus knew what was coming and that He had only a few hours left to communicate His deepest thoughts, concerns, and desires to these friends. Knowing that His time among them was nearing an end, the one thought that He kept coming back to over and over again was simply, "Love one another." It must have been the most important thing He wanted them to know, the one guiding principle He wanted them to carry with them through their upcoming trials and challenges in the days, weeks, and years to come.

Jesus knew that this love--the very foundation of His connection with God the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 15:9)--would be the bond that would connect His disciples to Him and to each other, the basis upon which His church would be founded, and the truth that would unite the church as one Body. In fact, in one of his later writings, John says that our very identity as followers of Jesus Christ would be revealed in our love: "This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another" (1 John 3:10-11).

But Jesus did not simply give us this command to love one another and then leave it to us to figure out how to love that way. In John 17, Jesus closed His time with the disciples that night with a prayer of protection, sanctification, and empowerment; a prayer that God would grant them the same love that He had shown Jesus; a prayer that the Holy Spirit would be sent to dwell in and among them and fill them with His love. He knew we would not be able to conjure up that kind of love through our own strength or determination.

Jesus knew that the kind of love needed to change our lives and to change the world would only be possible through the grace and divine power of God Himself.