COSTLY DISCIPLESHIP

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.’”  (Matthew 28:18-20a)

In high school I was taught that all you have to do to be a Christian is to confess your sin and ask Jesus into your life.  I've discovered since then that it's a lie.

At least it's a lie if we stop there.  Certainly confession and invitation are acts of the will as we enter into new life in Christ.  But we're not born again to live as infants.  A spiritual birth without discipleship is a stillbirth.

The primary Christian activity of many is to come together to talk and sing about Jesus.  But talk is cheap and easy.  Discipleship is costly and difficult.  We must choose:  either we are absolutely and radically submitted to the reign of Jesus in our lives, or we're just consumers shopping the religion market.

-- Chuck Shelton in “Voiceless People: InterVarsity Global Issues Bible Studies” 

#4579