The Duty of a Disciple

The pressure on Christian people in responsible positions, such as doctors, nurses, teachers and officers in the forces, not to talk about their faith is increasing. Promotion and acceptance does depend on what people think of us and this can affect how we live and our priorities in life. Yet there is only one way to ‘Guard the good deposit’ and that is to pass it on.

A little while ago I was invited to join a men’s Bible Study in Cape Town. There were about twenty men present who all appeared to be very capable, accomplished men. Most were the directors or leaders within their companies. After the study I explained that I was writing a book about the need for Christians to find ways to get people thinking about Jesus. We discussed how many find it difficult to start such conversations so I asked for their help.

“How have you struck up conversations with people about Jesus during the last week?”

“I haven’t, I haven’t, I haven’t . . .,” and so on!

“Let’s change the parameter, how have you got into talking about Jesus in the last month?

“I still haven’t. I haven’t either, nor me . . .!”

This problem is all too common. A survey undertaken by the Lifeway Research Institute studied this question over a six month period. They found that 80% of Christians had never shared their faith with anyone in the six months. To be in the 20% they only had to talk about what Jesus means to them with just one person. No wonder the churches are in trouble.

Professor David Short was the Queen’s Physician who practiced in Aberdeen. He was a very eminent and highly respected physician. One day he overheard a group of junior doctors talking about him, without them knowing of his presence. They talked about how pleasant he was, his patience, his superb teaching skills and his excellent diagnostic acumen. However he noted, with shame, that they had not mentioned his Christian faith at all. He then realised how much of what he had done is his life had resulted in praise and glory for himself but not for his Lord.

This is a massive temptation for many of us in responsible positions. Our concern about what others might think of us can prevent us from being effective and productive for Christ. The fear of man can immobilise us spiritually. The Bible reminds us about this danger:

“The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” Proverbs 29:25

The Hebrew word used here for ‘snare’ refers to the traps that hunters use to catch animals or birds. Snares are dangerous. ‘The fear of man’ is certainly a trap that can paralyse us spiritually

The Holy Spirit always centres on the Lord Jesus. Churches can be very active in meeting social concerns but leave Jesus on the sidelines. This is not the work of the Spirit. It is good to meet social needs but the prime purpose of the church is to give glory to the Lord Jesus. Social activity without promoting Christ always results in a dying church. In contrast a church on fire for Christ, like a fire, will spread.

Jesus and the apostles saw themselves as fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies about God’s name being proclaimed in all the earth, the light to the nations. Is the church today meant to do the same and are all Christians meant to be involved?

The Bible emphasises two major aspects of the Christian life:

1. Christians must remain Christ-centred

2. Christians must be mission-orientated

1. Christians must remain Christ-centred

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians he explains that his life’s desire is to to honour the Lord Jesus and he recognises that this will need courage:

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Philippians 1:20

What a tragedy it is that so many contemporary church leaders emphasise social problems and political problems but very rarely that the Lord Jesus is our greatest need. The early church was very different.

Paul obviously knew that this would be the problem of many churches. Look through Philippians chapter 1 and notice how Jesus is the obvious central focus. Jesus is mentioned in most verses, seventeen times in this one chapter:

1:1(x2), 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27, 29.

The Bible is clear, every Christian must determine to live for Jesus Christ. Paul makes this clear:

“For to me, to live is Christ.” Philippians 1:21

We organised an inter-church youth service and a lady from a local liberal church came with three of their youngsters. She went and sat alone so I went up to welcome her and sat down next to her. I was taken aback when almost the first thing she said was,

“Do you know the trouble with your church, you talk too much about Jesus.”

How would you answer that? I could have shown her Philippians chapter 1 but instead we looked at I Corinthians 1:1-10. the Corinthian church was losing its way – they were no longer focusing on glorifying the Lord Jesus in their area, so Paul again stresses the centrality of Jesus who he mentioned in every sentence!

We have such a shallow view today about what ‘belief’ means. We all know John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Christian belief is much more than accepting a doctrine. When Tyndale first used this word, when translating the New Testament from the Greek into English, the word ‘believe’ had a different meaning to today. Look it up on Google and you can see that it used to mean ‘to hold dear’ or ‘to love". It is related to ‘leiben’ a Germanic word meaning ‘to love’. In German today ‘beleibt’ is your loved one or fiancee. The ‘belief’ that saves us is nothing less than a deep commitment to follow Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. If he is not Lord he is not Saviour.

I had a patient come to a clinic wearing a necklace with a cross. After sorting out her medical problem I asked her:

“Does that cross mean you are a Christian or aren’t you sure about these things?”

“Yes I am,” she replied, but then added after thinking for a second or two, “It depends what you mean by a Christian.”

I didn’t have much time in a busy clinic so simply said,

“Surely it is someone who is sold out to living for the Lord Jesus.”

“Oh, then I’m not,” came the sad but honest response.

We must be clear that a person can only sure that they are saved if they are committed to Jesus to live with and for him.

To be ‘sold out to the Lord Jesus’ means our priority in life is living for him. We will be people of God’sbook, reading our Bible’s and praying every day. Yet did you know that a recent study in America showed that only 10 per cent of those claiming to be Christians read God’s word every day! The Bible also teaches that we will be committed to sharing the gospel with others.

2. Christians must be mission-orientated

My patient was the church warden of a local village church. After the medical part of her consultation was over I enquired about how her church was progressing.

“It isn’t easy nowadays. We are getting smaller and older, you know.”

“I am sorry,” I replied, “but, tell me, do people in the church talk about the Lord Jesus with others in the village?”

“Good gracious me, no. We don’t even talk about him amongst ourselves.”

It is obvious that, humanly speaking, such churches must die if the Lord and his gospel means so little to the church members. Even in King Solomon’s time the importance of sharing the gospel of forgiveness was seen as important.

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30

What did Jesus say about his people being mission-orientated?

As Jesus was planning to return to his Father he repeatedly told his people why they had been commissioned. At the end of Matthew we have the Great Commission:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations . . .” Matthew 28:19

Who was this commission given to? Verse 16 says it was said to the eleven so why is it relevant to us today? Read on:

“. . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:20

John 13-17 is the final briefing Jesus gave to his disciples prior to his execution. He is preparing them for their future ministry in mission. He certainly doesn’t want followers in name only. In John 15 Jesus describes himself as being the true vine and therefore:

“He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:2

What does Jesus mean by fruit. Some have suggested that this is ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ that we read about in Galatians 5:22 – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. However these characteristics are all about interpersonal relationships, there is much more to being a Christian than these. These warm relationships with people are vital if we are to bear fruit and win people for Christ.

John makes it clear that he is talking about evangelism as later in the chapter Jesus says:

“I chose and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” John 15:16

No fruit would be harvested by just sitting at home! How will people be won for Christ? Jesus then gives us the answer:

“The Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me. And you also must testify.” John 15:26-27

Jesus clearly knew that the temptation would be for Christians to keep quiet about their commitment to him, so he warned us:

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33

We must all acknowledge our allegiance to Jesus openly. For many this will necessitate a change of direction. What prevents Christians being more open about their commitment to Christ? Isn’t it essentially a fear of man? Jesus warns us not to succumb to this:

“Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:26

Yet so many calling themselves Christians are ashamed. What we put into our service of Christ will be reflected in the next life. Isn’t that what the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11-27) are teaching us. We must all use the gifts God has given us to promote the glory of the Lord Jesus.

What did the apostles say about being mission-orientated

Peter and John were released by the Sanhedrin after refusing their order to cease speaking about Jesus. They courageously replied:

“For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20

They then returned to the group of Christians and in their prayer said,

“Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” Acts 4:29

And what was the result?

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:31

After the stoning of Stephen, “a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1) It was the ordinary Christians who recognised that the last command of Jesus to be witnesses to him referred to them and not just the apostles.

“Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Acts 8:4

No wonder the gospel spread so fast. There are many inferences that this was the thinking of all early Christians. Thus when Paul writes to the Philippians he can say,

“Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. . . . The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached.” Philippians 1:14-18

This section of the letter finishes with a wonderful paragraph summarising the Christian life. How we speak with others and how we behave amongst them must both demonstrate that we are now a godly people living in a fallen world who have the answer. Lifestyle matters,

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation . . .” Philippians 2:14-15

Christians may always be in a minority but they will stand out in the dark world. This distinctiveness will not just be in our characters – it will also be seen by our eagerness to share the message of salvation with others.

“. . . in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” Philippians 2:15-16

The suffering that will result because Christians speak and behave differently from others in society bears no comparison to the benefits of belonging to God. Eternity is coming so it is worth investing our lives for that promised future – that’s the bible’s message.

Compare the state of affairs in churches to day with that of the early church where ‘most of the brothers have been encouraged to speak out more courageously and fearlessly.

I remember when I was studying for the final FRCS, I attended course in orthopaedics. Mr. Graham Appley, a famous orthopaedic teacher who ran the course, demonstrated patients to the whole group. One patient was a retired soldier, General Sir Arthur Smith, who had a stable pseudoarthrosis of his left tibia which intermittently discharged. When Mr. Appley had finished discussing his case, the General, then aged 92, asked if he could say something to the large group of doctors there. This is what he said in his military, public school voice,

“I sustained this injury when I was hit by a piece of shrapnel at Ypres, during the Battle of the Somme. My foot was just dangling about. I was taken to a field hospital, a Nissan hut, and was put in the last bed at the end. Everyone was very worried about my foot, they thought I would have to lose it, but I asked them to patch it up as best they could. I didn’t know what would happen. The next morning I read my ‘Daily Light’, which for those of you who don’t know consists of portions of the Bible, God’s Word to us, by which I live my life. I read for that day the words,

“The Lord is thy confidence, He shall stop thy foot from being moved.”

The whole group of us burst out laughing at this point, we were gripped by this story.

“At the base hospital,” the General continued, “a doctor said that it would have to come off. ‘Not so,’ I exclaimed, and to this day I have my foot to remind me of God’s faithfulness. I do hope that all of you young men here will come to find that God is faithful, and that you can trust him.”

The group of us spontaneously erupted into a combination of applause and enthusiastic laughter. On the way back in the train we all talked about the testimony of that courageous old soldier. I shall never forget seeing an elderly Christian on fire in the service of the Lord Jesus.

When Paul writes his first letter to the Corinthian Church he reminds them that all Christians should have this ambition that others should be saved. Chapters 9-11 are about evangelism and possible hindrances to others responding to the gospel. He says:

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” 1 Corinthians 9:19

“For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1Corinthians 10:33-11:1

My book ‘The Duty of a Disciple’ has much more on what the Bible teaches about the need for all Christians to be active in sharing their faith but time doesn’t allow us to go into this.

It is not only those we speak to who are helped, sharing our faith also helps us understand the Lord Jesus better. When Paul wrote his short letter to Philemon, who ran a house church in his home in Colosse, he said,

“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Philemon 6

The question is often asked today,

“Should people in responsible positions, such as doctors, nurses, teachers and leaders in the armed or police forces talk about Jesus when at work?”

Penn and Teller are a famous comic-illusionist act. Penn Jilette is an outspoken atheist. One day a quiet spoken Christian spoke to him about Jesus and salvation. Penn found the man to be impressively intriguing and discussed the question as to whether people should talk about such matters.

“I’ve always said, you know, that I don’t respect people who do not proselytise. I don’t respect them at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that, well, it’s not really worth telling them because it would make it socially awkward . . . How much do you have to hate someone to not proselytise? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them? I mean, if I believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, and the truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that . . .”

Such clarity from an atheist! Paul similarly understood this far better than most of us today who say we are believers. Paul’s longing was that the Philippian Christians should determine to live with the two emphases of godliness and evangelism. He repeats them as if to make the point clearer.

“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. . . . Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.” Philippians 1:27-28

What a wonderful picture. A united church standing together as a well knitted team, boldly proclaiming to those around them that Jesus is relevant and that they need the salvation he brings. In a team sport such as rugby, success depends on every player working hard together with the others in the team – a coherent pack of forwards is hard to oppose. Should such cohesion not be the mark of each local church? This chapter continues to say that such a coherent evangelistic drive is a ‘sign’ to outsiders that the Christian faith is genuine, that judgement is approaching and that they are still not saved.

How should we share the Gospel today?

1. Pray

I know this is the right thing to say but there is no area in which our Lord answers prayer like this. Pray for opportunities in the morning and they will come. Those who don’t want opportunities don’t pray for them.

2. Set-piece evangelism

When I was playing sports we often had set piece moves to gain an advantage. I have found this in invaluable in sharing my faith. Soon after I committed my life to Christ in my first year at university I found it difficult to get into conversations about the Lord Jesus. Consequently I developed some techniques. After a squash or tennis match I would invite my opponent back to my room for a drink and biscuits. I noticed how everyone seemed to look at the books I had on the bookshelf and especially on the table. So I put a book such as Josh McDowell’s ‘More than a Carpenter’ on the table. Now I use ‘Cure for Life’. When their eyes glanced at this book, like a good fisherman, I learned when to strike.

“Do you know that book?”

Invariably they would reply,

“No, what’s it about?”

This gave the opening needed and I could explain how I’d been thinking about Christian things and that all I wanted was to follow what is true as there is so much falsehood in religions. However the conversation went, I would then invite them to at the weekly evangelistic address the Christian Union held.

If anyone looks embarrassed it is very useful to have a 20 to 30 second long testimony, about what Jesus means to you or how he claimed you, ready to hand but please no longer as the dialogue needs to continue.

I am now very much helped by having an evangelistic dog – a lovely black Labrador. On our walks she loves to go up and introduce herself to everyone and this opens up conversations.

“I hope you don’t mind dogs, she is lovely. She has to be as we have many visitors in our home from our church and if she wasn’t so sociable life would be difficult.”

Whether or not they ask which church I go to, it is still natural to ask if they are involved in a church anywhere or aren’t sure about these things.

Another lesson I have learned is the immense value of always having a Christian article to give to people that has an interesting beginning but gets onto what Jesus taught. At the bottom is my e-mail address and the address of my website that they can go to if interested. Just this week I had an email from a man who said he wasn’t a Christian but he asked if he could come round to talk further. It is just another way of sewing the seed.

The unfinished work

The end of the book of Acts is left in the air - it seems unfinished. Wouldn’t we like to know what happens next? What happened to Paul and Peter? How did the Church prosper later on? Just as Franz Schubert Symphony No. 8 in B minor is called the ‘Unfinished Symphony’, so the book of Acts is the ‘Unfinished Book’. This is because Jesus is continuing to work through his Church. We are still writing Acts 29 now.

Some years ago there was a Bible Reading in the Union of Cambridge University. It was a missionary weekend and there were two speakers booked, each having half an hour to speak. Unfortunately the first speaker went on and on, so that the second speaker, Jim Broomhall had only three minutes left. He stood and read his text.

“There are some who are ignorant of God, and I say this to your shame. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 34.”

He looked at the clock and then said,

“I have just got time to read this to you again, “There are some who are ignorant of God, and I say this to your shame. I Corinthians 15 verse 34.”

He then sat down. One young man listening was so struck by the words of that verse that he committed his life to telling others about Jesus. His name was David Wheatley-Price. He eventually went to Kenya as a medical missionary. Some ten years later David was back in that same Union and he recounted this story, reading out the same verse.

“There are some who are ignorant of God, and I say this to your shame. I Corinthians 15 verse 34.”

Another student, Peter Pattison who had been converted in his first year was very much impressed by the same verse. He likewise committed his life to sharing the Christian gospel with others.

It is certainly to our shame if people around us remain ignorant of the gospel.

BVP

February 2024