Discipleship Together
Issue 021
JULY 4, 2018
WRITTEN BY ALEX RAMOS
Alex Ramos has founded microchurches that were intentionally formed around Lake Brantley High School and Seminole State College. He currently is a leader of the Pineapple House, which is a community of college students and young adults striving to engage Christ together. Their hope is to pursue the unincluded in the same way that Christ pursued and included them.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…"
- Matthew 28:19
Being a disciple is a terrifying prospect. Not the self-improvement part. Everyone but the lazy hope to engage in that. Today, self-help is more than a ten billion dollar industry; however, working on oneself in the Christian sense is dangerous.
In this sense, in order to be given everything, everything must be given. This is a beautiful paradox in Christian discipleship. When we completely surrender to Christ, we are given complete freedom. It is an honor to speak on something I (and I believe all people) must work on forever and in two senses. I say “in two senses” because in one sense the Christian is called to make disciples, but in another, he must also be one.
ON BEING A DISCIPLE
"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
- John 13:35
"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
- Philippians 1:6
It is with intentionality that we as disciples must act. Intentionally progressing to be more like Christ. He must become more, and we must become less. Since the moment it was obvious I could not be my own unless I had become God’s, to now realizing that I struggled with certain parts of myself, because I refused to give them up to Christ, are the reasons that I have become more like Him. Augustine noted accurately that “[we] could not be, were [we] not in [Him]; in whom, through whom, from whom are all things”.
We actively make sure that what we do is done in love. We do not love because we ought to. We love because Love works through us. We draw near to Love himself. Spend time with Christ. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you.
In my life, this has been my biggest obstacle. Everything begs for my attention, yet Christ gently asks for it. I have progressed in overcoming this obstacle through this way: thank Him for everything. For the wrench he has thrown in your plans, for the inconvenience in your life, for all of your failures. The only way that I have been able to “pray constantly” is constant thankful prayers.
“The thing we have learned together is that we shouldn’t only focus on helping others by praying throughout the week, or by quoting scripture in front of them. We help each other by getting into the thick of it with each other. ”
ON MAKING DISCIPLES
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."
- 1 Corinthians 11:1
"And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
- 2 Timothy 2:2
Over time, one of the things I have learned personally is that Christ ought to do the discipling. We simply let Him do it through us. In my experience discipleship ought to be reciprocal. The one you pour into pours back into you. Jesus tends to focus on this concept. He tends to put people in your life that He would like you to grow with. Making disciples is long term. That is the importance of community; those you do life with are the ones you disciple.
In the house Church I belong to, the thing we have learned together is that we shouldn’t only focus on helping others by praying throughout the week, or by quoting scripture in front of them. We help each other by getting into the thick of it with each other. Growth in Christ can be messy, it is by wrestling out what one person is going through with them that someone wants, and needs.
Life together is long term. It’s not an efficient way to pass on information. It’s not having the best bible study, or simply texting occasionally. That isn’t sufficient in the way of Christ. Only in genuine community can we face issues issues at the heart of the human experience. Things like heartbreak, failure, being cast out and lonely, lust, and pride. We all face them at some point. What would Jesus do in the face of them? Let’s not do it alone. Let us truly live and love together.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7