Discipleship starts here.
Disciples and Disciple-making (1)
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15.13
We seldom hear much about the role of friendship in disciple-making. Most of our disciple-making is programmatic, focusing on spiritual disciplines and service. But Jesus called His disciples “friends” (Jn. 15.14), and we can be sure that what Jesus meant by that term is much more than what we understand by it in our day.
For Jesus, discipleship involved friendship, the kind of friendship that grew from His Word and revolved around Him.
Aelred of Riveaux (1109-1167) understood this, as he explained to his disciple, Ivo, in Spiritual Friendship: “For what can one say about friendship that is more sublime, more truthful, more useful, than that friendship will be shown to be formed in Christ, advanced according to Christ, and perfected by Christ?”
Friendship is a source of joy, a means of support, a buttress in times of trial and uncertainty, and a resting place of peace and renewal. Friendship in Jesus Christ is true friendship, because those who enter such a relationship in the Lord have a focus, fount, and future which goes beyond their own peculiar interests and needs.
Jesus is the focus of friendship. He is also the focus, the model and map of all true discipleship.
He is the fount of friendship and discipleship, by His indwelling and overflowing Spirit of grace (Jn. 7.37-39).
And He is the future of discipleship and friendship because, at the end of our, journey each of His friends will see Him as He (1 Jn. 3.1-3)
Jesus Christ is the Touchstone and Goal of all true friendships, as well as of every disciple and the work of making disciples. True discipleship is friendship in Christ, and every believer—not just the shepherds of the Lord’s flock—needs such true and spiritual friends.
But this means that every believer is called to work at making true friends of others in the Lord. Our job as shepherds is to make sure we’re equipping them for this calling.
Resources for Shepherds: Growth in the Lord and our calling
If you haven’t visited our Resources for Shepherds page lately, I encourage you to do so. A. D. Labuschagne and others of our Fellowship are providing Insights to enhance your vision and refresh your soul. I’ve begun a new series of weekly Reviews, primarily painting and poetry, as well as books. And we’re renewing our commitment to bring you helpful Articles. This page, and additional resources in the sidebar, are devoted to help you grow in the Lord and His calling. We hope you’ll visit often.
We’ve posted three new books in our bookstore that should interest you. All are available in PDF, so you can order them and share your copies freely with others. Winds of Doctrine considers the various false “winds” that are seeking to capture the sails of churches and blow us off course in our journey. To Judge the World examines our role in bringing justice to our world through exercising sound judgment. And The Hope of Beauty in an Age of Ugliness and Death points to Jesus as that hope and examines ways we can bring more of Him into our lives. These are all free and you are free to share them with others.
Our Winter/Spring reading and discussion schedule is complete. We have some challenging subjects to explore, and you can preview them all by clicking here. There is no fee for participating. For additional information, or to enroll in any of our groups, send me an email at tmmoore@ailbe.org.
From the Celtic Revival
In our Crosfigell from last Thursday, we picked up on Columbanus’ remark about those believers who are stingy with the good gifts God has given them freely and abundantly:
What to bestow for Christ
they will not, all misers
lose out of season;
after them others gather.
Living but little themselves,
they scarce venture to give to God;
to death they leave their all,
they keep nothing of themselves.
– Columbanus, “Poem on the World’s Impermanence,” Irish, 7th century[1]
We can all be a little “miserly” at times, but the more we count the blessings God gives us, the more likely we will be to share liberally and freely with others.
We have much to learn from the saints of the Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800 AD), and we consider and comment on excerpts from their writings twice a week in our teaching letter, Crosfigell. You can subscribe to Crosfigell and all our other teaching letters by clicking here.
Being and Making Disciples
We’re happy to add a new feature to our weekly Pastor to Pastor missive. Dr. Mike McQueen has been a missionary to the Chinese community at the University of Illinois and throughout central Illinois for forty years. During that time he and his wife, Gwynne, have taught, mentored, trained hundreds of friends and disciples of Jesus. Each week I’ll be talking with Mike about this foundational aspect of the Great Commission, and you can listen in on our brief conversations by clicking the audio bar. We begin with an overview from Mike about the reasons for discipleship and making disciples. Why do we care about this?
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Our book, Fan into Flame, provides the Lord’s shepherd an opportunity to review, reset, and renew their work. Learn more about this book, and order your copy here in book form or here as a free PDF.
Support for Pastor to Pastor comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] Walker, p. 183.
