finances, friendships, church, rest, health — we’re trying to keep a lot of balls in the air. And if we’re honest, we drop them… sometimes or often.
Many of us would say, “I’m a Christian”, but always feel like we are not meeting this “standard”. We love Jesus, but our lives feel full. Busy. Overloaded. And sometimes following Jesus feels like another thing to fit into an already crowded schedule. And when it comes to thinking about making time to read the bible with someone, or to disciple someone, our first response might often be, “I don’t have time.” When I realised that this was my first response it really rattled me. What type of spirituality, life and faith do I have if following Jesus and making disciples is not my priority. I love Jesus, it just often works out that spending time with him is not a priority.
Tim, a discipleship coach says it best, “Often the issue isn’t that we don’t want to follow Jesus — it’s that we’re simply too busy to do so intentionally.” Many of us are living this way. But Jesus calls us to live differently, to move from:
· juggling competing priorities and dropping the ball most of the time, to
· managing competing priorities, to ultimately
· living a life where we can prioritise what Jesus is saying.
This is a challenge — but it’s also an invitation. An invitation to grow, to change, and to live for something greater than ourselves and our own little world. So how do we make this shift, to start thinking and living more like a disciple of Jesus? For if we are to disciple anyone else, it will do us well if we commit to becoming disciples ourselves. When we look at the way Jesus formed His disciples, we can notice that time mattered. Discipleship wasn’t rushed. It happened through:
· extended time with Jesus
· time in the Word
· time with other disciples
· time with people outside the faith
That time allowed teaching to sink in. Jesus created space for his disciples to grapple, untangle, unlearn, and relearn how to follow his way of life. His disciples experienced deep growth and change when they reordered their life around Jesus. This in turn began to shape their character and skills. One helpful way to think about discipleship is through three simple elements:
· Teaching — learning the way of Jesus
· Time — creating space for formation and practice
· Tactics — practical ways to live this out
For now, as a church lets focus on teaching and time. Practical tactics will come later in our sermon series. But as you reflect, is there a way you can be more intentional about learning the ways of Jesus and creating space for Jesus to form you into his disciple. How can we make what Jesus is saying a priority in our lives? Ultimately, teaching, time and tactics together develop capacity. Capacity is both:
· readiness — having the skills to live as a disciple and,
· availability — having the space to use those skills in this season of life
So, if we want to have the capacity to read the bible with someone for example, we must start with evaluating our priorities and maybe reordering them. If we are to see lasting change in our life and church, following Jesus and making disciples must be number 1; everything else must be ordered around that. Be encouraged, this is a journey, but a worthwhile one.
Our hope is that this series helps all of us — no matter where we’re starting — to reflect honestly, release unnecessary guilt, and re-centre our lives around Jesus. Not perfectly. Not all at once. But faithfully. Because following Jesus was never meant to be another ball to juggle — it’s meant to be the centre that holds everything else together.
Ash
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