When my youngest son was about 5 years old, we put him in martial arts. When he first started, it was pretty rough and made him a little nervous. Being so young, it was a little hard for him to remember what to do. I would tell him just show up and do your best. Over time he got really good at this. Sometimes there would be tears. Sometimes there was frustration, but he always showed up and usually tried his best.

After about a year of classes, he decided he wanted to go to a tournament with his older brother. When he entered the tournament, he showed up and didn’t do much of anything else. When it was time to start wrestling, he pretty much just stood there. As I helped him evaluate his performance, I realized that he had conquered his fear but needed to do more than just show up if he wanted to keep growing.

I think as disciples, sometimes we get stuck in the same pattern. We have struggles in our life. We learn to endure them, and then we expect life to never be difficult again once we’ve conquered that trial. However, this isn’t what the Bible teaches us. The Bible clearly states that as disciples there will always be struggles and growth.  In 2 Timothy 4:7 it says, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”   In John 15:20 it says, “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”  This suggest that although we are part of the family of God, He isn’t our grandparent or Santa Clause. It’s not about what he can do for us but it is about why and where he is taking us. We must commit ourselves to him to move forward.

Stages of Discipleship
I’m going to propose three stages of discipleship. Each of these stages is designed to bring us into a closer relationship and partnership with God. Stage 1, I will call Infancy. Stage 2, I will call Servant. Stage 3, I will call A Friend of Christ. In this blog I’m going to talk about what each stage is and how we move from one stage to the next.

Stage 1: Infancy
In the first stage of discipleship, God does most of the work. In the Bible it says that God loved us before we loved Him. In this first stage, the Holy Spirit comes to us, moves on us to understand that God exists, that He is the one and only God, and that He loves us. We enter into this stage by truly believing in our hearts that God exists, that His son came to the Earth and died for our sins, and that He is the Lord of our life. In John 3:16 it says, “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believeth in him should not perish but would have everlasting life.” This scripture specifically points out that it is our belief in Him that saves us. We cannot even move into this phase without a commitment that He exists and is our lord and savior.

In this phase, we are usually overwhelmed by the fact that He would love us and provide a way for us to have a relationship with Him.  But in this phase, He does most of the work, and we do very little except believe. We move out of this phase as the Holy Spirit begins to work on us and help us realize that belief in Christ is not enough. We must commit ourselves completely to who He is and what He teaches us to be.

Some Christians never move out of this first stage. They are content that they are somehow special enough for God to save them, but they owe nothing for that salvation. This is what we call cheap grace – No matter what I do, no matter what I say, Jesus will always be there to pick up the pieces when I come back.  If this alone is your idea of salvation, then you believe in Santa Claus, not Jesus.  Jesus requires a return in His investment for our salvation.

Stage 2: Servant
The Holy Spirit will begin to work on us and help us to understand that the cost of our salvation is absolute discipleship to Christ. This means that we must seek to understand His teachings and follow those in all areas of our lives. So how do we move into this stage? First, we must understand what Christ’s teachings are. How do we do this? We do this by praying that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand what we read in Scripture. Then we must start reading Scripture and studying what Christ tells us. In 2 Timothy 2:15 it says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

This means that Scripture is our guide to how we should live our day-to-day lives. Then we become slaves to these teachings. That means that no longer does it matter what I want, what I think, or what I feel about what I should do. All that matters is what Christ leads me to do and what He teaches me to do through the Bible – no ifs, ands, buts, or wiggle room.

So in this stage there are two commitments that we make.  We commit to understanding who Christ is through prayer and reading our Bibles, and then we commit to following those principles no matter what. I do not believe that this is the final stage of discipleship. I believe that the Holy Spirit again will start to lay on our hearts to not just be servants but to be friends of Christ.

Stage 3: A Friend of Christ
So what does it mean to be a friend of Christ and not just a servant?  When we look at the idea of a servant, a servant is someone who does whatever they’re told with complete commitment. This is the first part of becoming a friend. We must first discipline ourselves that whatever God asks us to do, we will do it. However, as we move through this, God asks us to partake in the Kingdom with Him. Jesus said in John 15:15, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

So what does it mean to be a friend of Christ? To me, this means that the values of the Kingdom and the goals of the Kingdom become completely integrated into who I am. If you are a part of a family, you do what that family does. So in this phase we do not seek to just do what is right, but we seek to do the work of the Kingdom. We seek to be Christ to the people around us. So our commitment in this phase is to not just pray, “Lord help me to do this or that” but is to pray, “Lord show me the work that you want me to do.”

As we do this work, it brings us closer to God, because we work alongside Him. I believe this is what Christ was saying when He said, “I have come to do the will of the father” (John 6:38).  This doesn’t mean that we all become sidewalk preachers. It means that as we become closer to Christ, He will bring others to us that we can minister to. We just have to be willing to do the work.

The Challenge
So if you are in stage one of your discipleship, here is my challenge to you. Continue to be grateful for Christ’s salvation, but understand that that salvation comes with a cost. He doesn’t save us because we are wonderful. He saves us because He loves us, but He requires that we move on from this phase in our life. Start reading your Bible and trying to understand better who Christ is and what He asks of us. I would recommend that you begin reading in John. Begin praying for the Holy Spirit to help you understand what the Bible is telling you. Then start living these principles in your life.

If you are in stage 2 of your discipleship, here’s my challenge to you. Take an inventory of your life. What parts of your life don’t match up with what you are reading in scripture?  If there are parts of your life that don’t match up with scripture and what Christ is telling you, begin changing these parts of your life. Pray that the Holy Spirit helps you to see these things in your life and that He gives you the strength to make the changes that you need to make.

If you are in this third stage of your discipleship, here’s my challenge to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring situations and people to you so that you can show His love and who He is. Then make a commitment that you will do this through His strength. As you move through this stage, your relationship with Christ will become closer as you partner with Him. As we show others Christ’s love, we begin to understand His love and purpose in our life even more.

At Sanctuary Family Farms, if there is anything that we can do to help you in your journey with Christ, please let us know.

– Jeremiah

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