This past weekend, I visited Journey Fellowship in Llano, Texas, where I heard a sermon about Radical Discipleship that I thought would be perfect to share in part on The Worthy Girl's Guide.
What do you think of when you hear the term radical disciple? When I heard the term for the first time this past weekend, I though of someone who takes following and serving God to a completely unmeasurable and unattainable level, something that I could never do. Throughout many times in my life, I have struggled with not feeling good enough in one area or another. When it came to serving the Lord, though I knew God loved me, I never felt that I was good enough or qualified to do something completely insane for Him. After all, I'm just a normal girl who loves Jesus but also struggles daily to stay on the straight and narrow.
Time and time again, I would hear sermon after sermon on how important it is to step up to the plate and give back to the Lord and His church by serving. When I would hear these sermons, my mind would wander to the extreme ends of the spectrum on how I could do something amazing for God. I would ponder becoming a missionary overseas, starting my own charity for abandoned animals, joining the praise and worship team at church; you name the stereotypical extreme way and I considered it. But as ideas would pour into my mind on how I could serve the Lord more radically, the passion and qualifications to make it happen were lacking.
I came to realize that I was looking at things from a selfish, worldly perspective. Though I was looking for how I could ultimately serve God, I was looking at how I could serve so that I could be more confident in the way that God sees me. I wanted God to see me as an extremist for Him; to see that I'm good enough to do whatever it is that He wants me to do for Him. I wanted His approval to be a radical disciple for Him in the most extreme of ways. I wanted Him to see that I was qualified and to give me the spiritual desire to live out these services so that I could prove it to Him.
In Mark, chapter 5, we meet a man who Jesus cast a demon out of. The man, completely changed by Christ, begged Jesus to let him come with Him and His disciples. "But Jesus said, 'No, go home to your family and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.' So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them". (Mark 5:18-20 NLT).
Was the man any less radical of a disciple for Jesus simply because he was not called to physically follow Christ in the ways that Matthew or Paul had been? Absolutely not! He simply was called to be a radical disciple on another level that Jesus saw fit for him individually. Though the man's call to serve had been different, it was not any less important than that of the Apostles' services for The Lord. The man wasn't invited to join the Apostles but he was called and qualified by Christ to serve, and he did it with just as much passion and ferocity.
In order to be a radical disciple for Christ, we have to stop looking at the self satisfying, extreme ways in which we can serve, and rather look at how God wants us to serve Him. It may seem as simple as praying for your friend, giving your personal testimony for Christ, or just by showing lovingkindness to a stranger, but these acts are not simple to God- they are awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, radical acts of service to Him. You have already gone to an unattainable, unmeasurable level by choosing to follow Christ. Now it's time to allow God to show you what extreme, radical service He has called and qualified you uniquely for.
It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 2 Corinthians 3:5 NLT
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10 NIV
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up heir cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life, will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it". Matthew 16:-24-25 NIV
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