Are You a ‘Believer’ or a ‘Disciple’? Why a Common Distinction is Unbiblical and Dangerous

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Jesus said, I will build my church.
[00:00:05] Not just a building, not just a Sunday routine, but a people, alive, united, and on a mission.
[00:00:16] We worship together, lifting our voices and our hearts to God.
[00:00:23] We share life, celebrating, supporting, and encouraging one another.
[00:00:29] We grow, learning to follow Jesus and letting His Word transform us.
[00:00:34] We serve, using our gifts to make a difference in the lives around us.
[00:00:45] We go, taking the good news of Jesus beyond these walls.
[00:00:50] We pray,
[00:00:52] Because everything begins with God.
[00:00:57] This is more than a place.
[00:01:01] This is more than a Sunday.
[00:01:06] This is my church.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Well, good morning everybody.
[00:01:15] Oh, you guys are pumped, aren't you, Brayden?
[00:01:18] Yeah, come on!
[00:01:21] I love it.
[00:01:21] So good to see you.
[00:01:22] Maybe you're watching online.
[00:01:24] Glad to have you along.
[00:01:25] Maybe you're in the overflow areas.
[00:01:27] Thank you so much for being here.
[00:01:28] Hey, I need to give a shout-out.
[00:01:31] First of all, I just want to say congratulations to all of those families who dedicated children to the Lord on Wednesday night at our Wednesday Night Live service.
[00:01:42] It was amazing.
[00:01:43] Absolutely amazing, wasn't it?
[00:01:45] This whole front of the auditorium was filled with parents and children and grandchildren and grandparents.
[00:01:53] It was just amazing.
[00:01:55] And speaking of Wednesday Night Live, if you don't know anything about it, every Wednesday evening, 630 to 730, it is the most powerful hour of your entire week.
[00:02:05] In fact, it will change your week, might even change your life.
[00:02:08] You need to be here Wednesday Night Live.
[00:02:10] It really is off the
[00:02:11] and the chain as they say.
[00:02:12] Also, I just want to give it up.
[00:02:15] You probably know this, but just in case you don't, that September, October-ish is Hispanic Heritage Month and we're giving a shout out to all of our Hispanic brothers and sisters.
[00:02:28] and Eric and Daisy Vasquez they are our directors of the Hispanic ministry they're doing an amazing job every Sunday at 11 30 at the 11 30 service we have the place packed back there with uh people who speak Spanish and we have it translated the message is translated into Spanish so if you know people who speak Spanish maybe maybe they don't speak any English bring them because we will translate it
[00:02:58] and they will really enjoy being with the community of Hispanics that God is raising up here but Eric asked me to mention that since this is Hispanic Heritage Month today and today only they have a table that will be set out
[00:03:16] We've got it for you after the service.
[00:03:30] So, are you all ready to dive into the Word?
[00:03:41] Okay, come on, let's pray.
[00:03:42] Father, in the next few minutes, we turn our attention to what you have to say, because what you have to say to us is the most important thing in the whole world.
[00:03:51] And so, Lord, for the next few minutes, would you just, by your Spirit, would you cause the Word of God to come alive in our hearts?
[00:03:58] Lord, give us willing hearts and open minds to receive everything that you have for us.
[00:04:04] And Lord, everything you say for us to do, we will be obedient.
[00:04:08] And we pray all of this in the mighty and the powerful name of Jesus.
[00:04:11] And everybody said amen, hallelujah.
[00:04:14] Thank you for the yo's, always love those yo's.
[00:04:17] We're in this series, I call it My Church, because Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 16, 18, I will build My Church.
[00:04:25] Then He goes on to say, not even the power of death will destroy My Church.
[00:04:30] So far, we have seen that my church, which is really his church, is about worship.
[00:04:37] It's about fellowship.
[00:04:38] And today, we want to discuss the fact that my church is about discipleship.
[00:04:45] In Matthew 28, 19, Jesus told His disciples, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I commanded you.
[00:05:03] To put this message into perspective, we need to understand that discipleship is a central theme in the New Testament and it is a foundational aspect of Christian life and practice.
[00:05:16] To put it in simple terms, discipleship involves the process of learning, following, and becoming more like Jesus.
[00:05:27] Almost every day, in my inbox, I receive all of these ads.
[00:05:32] And, you know, having email and all of that stuff can be good, but it can also be a challenge, can't it?
[00:05:39] I get all of these ads in my inbox about the latest and the greatest discipleship programs.
[00:05:46] Things like, 12 Steps to Becoming a Disciple.
[00:05:51] Like, wow, 12 easy steps to becoming a disciple.
[00:05:54] Cool.
[00:05:55] How you can be a powerful disciple.
[00:05:59] Or here's one, studies to unleash your inner disciple and other curious topics or titles.
[00:06:07] And the problem is that discipleship cannot be condensed into a program.
[00:06:12] discipleship cannot be condensed into a teaching not even a course of study because true discipleship is a transformative journey that encompasses your whole life every part of your life for the rest of your life that's discipleship the Greek word for disciple simply means learner
[00:06:35] When Jesus said go and make disciples, he was really saying go and make learners who will obey my commands.
[00:06:42] So biblical discipleship is a process.
[00:06:45] It's a process of transformation that requires a shift in our values.
[00:06:50] It requires a shift in our priorities and a shift in our behaviors to align with the teachings of Jesus.
[00:06:59] Now, please don't get upset.
[00:07:01] You won't get upset with me, will you, if I say something?
[00:07:04] It might get a little close to you.
[00:07:06] Thank you for three of you who said yes.
[00:07:10] But don't get upset with me, but your discipleship process isn't over when you get your completion certificate from the local discipleship program.
[00:07:21] True discipleship is a lifelong learning, growing, and transforming process.
[00:07:28] And by the way, if there is a graduation, it's when God takes you out of this world.
[00:07:35] But until then, keep learning, keep growing, keep
[00:07:39] I can just imagine those early believers with their animal skin scrolls sitting eagerly at the apostles' feet taking notes just as fast as they could.
[00:08:00] They had this insatiable desire to learn and grow.
[00:08:04] After all, they were disciples.
[00:08:09] And I got to tell you, I love it when I see some of you guys with your notepads and your pen and your paper or your iPad or your phone when you're taking notes on it and not emailing or texting somebody else.
[00:08:20] I just love it when I see people taking notes.
[00:08:23] You know why?
[00:08:23] Because that's what disciples do.
[00:08:27] They're learners!
[00:08:29] A few years ago I went to a very large pastor's conference and there were thousands of pastors at this conference and during one of the teaching sessions that was being led by an amazingly gifted and anointed 20-something year old pastor
[00:08:45] During that session, the cameras were panning the crowd, and you could see it on the big screen in the auditorium.
[00:08:52] And on the front row, taking notes feverishly, was one of my former mentors.
[00:08:58] I didn't even know he was at the conference.
[00:09:00] This is a very hugely successful pastor of Omega Church.
[00:09:06] Now he's in his 80s, but he's there just writing notes just as fast as he could.
[00:09:12] He's still a learner.
[00:09:14] He's a true disciple.
[00:09:17] In Acts chapter 11 verse 26 it says, For a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people.
[00:09:26] The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
[00:09:31] Before this time they were simply called disciples or learners of Christ.
[00:09:37] It has been said that it was actually the unbelievers who saw the likeness of Christ in the disciples and they coined this term Christians, meaning little Christ, because they were so much like Christ.
[00:09:51] Wow!
[00:09:52] Here's a provocative question for each one of us.
[00:09:56] Can people see the likeness of Christ in us to the extent that they would call us Christians?
[00:10:02] Little Christs?
[00:10:04] If not, maybe we're not the disciple we think we are.
[00:10:09] So with that in mind, what are some of the characteristics of a disciple?
[00:10:14] Number one, and these are in your notes.
[00:10:16] Write these down, okay, all you disciples.
[00:10:18] Number one, the first character... Are y'all still with me?
[00:10:22] Y'all make a little noise.
[00:10:23] I need a little feedback.
[00:10:25] Okay, oh, I hear you.
[00:10:26] Thank you.
[00:10:27] Okay, good, good, good.
[00:10:28] Thank you.
[00:10:29] Here's the first characteristic of a disciple.
[00:10:34] It's a love for Christ.
[00:10:36] You say, oh, that's so simple.
[00:10:39] Well, let's read it.
[00:10:41] Luke chapter 14, verse number 26.
[00:10:43] Jesus said, You cannot be my disciple unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and your children.
[00:10:53] Whoa!
[00:10:55] and your brothers and your sisters you cannot follow me unless you love me more than your own life again whoa that really raises a high bar for discipleship doesn't it oh yeah what Jesus is saying is that in order to be his disciple you have to love him more than anyone else or anything else you have to love him more than you even love your own life by the way I didn't say this Jesus said this
[00:11:25] You've got to have a deep love for Christ.
[00:11:28] Number two, here's a second characteristic of a disciple.
[00:11:32] It's a love for other people, for others.
[00:11:35] Again in John chapter 13 verse number 35 Jesus is addressing discipleship and he says, By this all men will know you are my disciples if you love one another.
[00:11:47] This is a conditional statement which means that there's a condition that must be met.
[00:11:54] And in this case the condition is loving others.
[00:11:57] So if you love others, you're His disciple.
[00:12:00] If you don't love others, you're not His disciple.
[00:12:03] Now I don't know about you, but I know some professing Christians that I'm not sure they qualify as disciples because they don't love other people.
[00:12:11] Some of them don't even love their own husband or their own wife.
[00:12:14] They don't love someone with a different belief or a different position.
[00:12:17] They don't love their enemies.
[00:12:19] And Jesus says that true disciples love other people.
[00:12:24] Number three, third characteristic of a disciple is a desire to be like Jesus.
[00:12:30] In Matthew 10, 25, Jesus says it's enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant to be like his master.
[00:12:39] I hate to break it to you, but Jesus makes it plain.
[00:12:42] If you don't have a desire to be like Jesus, you are not a disciple of Jesus.
[00:12:50] Number four, the fourth characteristic of a disciple is a life and death commitment to Christ.
[00:12:59] Again, Jesus is addressing discipleship when he says in Luke 14, 27, "'Whoever does not carry his own cross, expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come and follow me, believing in me, conforming to my example, and living and if need be suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in me,'
[00:13:18] It cannot be my disciple.
[00:13:23] Charlie Kirk and billions of Christians have made such a commitment to live for Christ and, if necessary, to die for Him.
[00:13:31] You know why?
[00:13:32] Because that's what true disciples do.
[00:13:36] Here's my question.
[00:13:38] Based on these characteristics, are you a disciple of Jesus?
[00:13:42] Or do you need to grow in some of these areas?
[00:13:46] If so, that's okay.
[00:13:47] Listen, I don't want you to be discouraged.
[00:13:51] You might be sitting there thinking, I don't know.
[00:13:53] Don't be discouraged.
[00:13:54] Listen to this.
[00:13:55] This will encourage you.
[00:13:56] 2 Corinthians 3.18.
[00:13:58] It says, We who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory.
[00:14:03] are being transformed.
[00:14:06] Did you get that?
[00:14:06] Being transformed progressively.
[00:14:09] Being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
[00:14:18] Again, I can almost hear someone thinking, some of you all are thinking really loudly.
[00:14:22] I hear you.
[00:14:22] You're thinking, I'm a long way from looking and acting like Christ.
[00:14:27] But the good news is that the process of discipleship in our lives gradually transforms us into the likeness of Christ.
[00:14:37] Gradually.
[00:14:37] Yes, God is at work in you.
[00:14:40] Be encouraged.
[00:14:42] I hope every one of you walk out of this room today and you're encouraged because you're in the process of becoming more and more like Christ.
[00:14:51] Unfortunately, some Christians have not effectively embraced the process of discipleship because they have accepted certain myths or untruths.
[00:15:05] So, let's talk about some myths about discipleship.
[00:15:10] Myth number one is that spiritual growth is automatic.
[00:15:15] That when you accept Christ as your Savior, you somehow just kind of fall into the river of growth and you just kind of, oh, just kind of, you're on an inner tube just floating down the river and you just automatically grow into the likeness of Christ.
[00:15:31] But the truth is that it takes your participation.
[00:15:35] It takes your pursuit to become like Christ.
[00:15:40] Myth number two is that spiritual growth is attainable only by a chosen few.
[00:15:47] Maybe you've seen someone or heard of someone who was a spiritual giant, and you thought to yourself, I could never be like that.
[00:15:59] Have you ever seen someone like, and you thought honestly to yourself, I could never be like that?
[00:16:05] But the truth is God wants every one of us to grow up spiritually.
[00:16:08] God wants every one of us to mature.
[00:16:10] He wants every one of us to become more and more like Christ, and you can be.
[00:16:15] You can be more like Christ.
[00:16:18] Myth number three is that spiritual maturity can occur instantly if you find the right key.
[00:16:28] For example, some people think, well, if so-and-so laid hands on me, boom, then I'd be instantly spiritual.
[00:16:37] or some people think if I could speak in tongues boom I would be spiritual instantly or if someone would pray deliverance over me boom I would be spiritual instantly no more problems no more temptations and listen I believe in all those things but sorry dude that is a myth there are no hidden keys that will instantly turn you into a disciple of Christ it's a process
[00:17:04] We are progressively changed into His image.
[00:17:08] If there's one thing that I've learned as a Christian over a lot of years, I'm not going to tell you how many years because then it will make me seem old.
[00:17:17] You guys know I'm not old, right?
[00:17:23] Being a Christian for a whole lot of years, the one thing I can tell you
[00:17:28] is that there are no instant pills you can take.
[00:17:32] There are no instant prayers you can pray that would turn you into a spiritual believer, that would turn you into the super saint, just like that.
[00:17:45] It's a process that takes time.
[00:17:47] It's a process that takes experience.
[00:17:51] It's a process where God deals with you every... At the first service, I said every day.
[00:17:58] But I really think it's every minute, every day, every week, every year, year after year, year after year.
[00:18:10] There are no instant, boom, now I'm spirituals.
[00:18:15] Here's myth number four.
[00:18:17] It's that spiritual maturity is measured by how much you know.
[00:18:20] And yes, it's important.
[00:18:23] You need to learn.
[00:18:24] But the truth is, you could be all puffed up with knowledge like a religious blowfish and not be spiritually mature.
[00:18:32] Do you know that?
[00:18:34] You can have all kinds of knowledge.
[00:18:35] You can learn as much as you want.
[00:18:38] And you can still be not like Christ.
[00:18:44] And unfortunately, we have far too many examples of that.
[00:18:48] It's not measured by how much you know.
[00:18:52] Myth number five, the myth is that spiritual growth is strictly personal and a private matter.
[00:18:59] Thank you very much.
[00:19:00] But the truth is that because you are a member of the body of Christ, your maturity or lack of maturity affects all of us, every one of us.
[00:19:12] We have a legitimate responsibility to ask, are you growing in Christ?
[00:19:17] Are you becoming more and more like Him?
[00:19:20] And finally,
[00:19:23] Listen to the summarization of the whole topic of discipleship from the words of Jesus himself.
[00:19:29] And I love this.
[00:19:30] John 15 verse number 4.
[00:19:33] Jesus said, By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.
[00:19:42] The proof, listen to this, this is key, the proof of your discipleship is in the fact that you bear fruit, much fruit.
[00:19:51] You say, well, what kind of fruit?
[00:19:53] Well, the fruit of service in God's kingdom.
[00:19:55] Are you serving?
[00:19:56] Are you doing something that builds up the kingdom and brings other people to the knowledge of Jesus?
[00:20:03] Service in His kingdom.
[00:20:04] The fruit of the Spirit as stated in Galatians 5.22, which is love, which is joy.
[00:20:13] Which is peace?
[00:20:15] Which is patience?
[00:20:16] Which is kindness?
[00:20:18] Which is goodness?
[00:20:20] Have you seen someone who is so filled and overflown with goodness?
[00:20:25] It's a refreshing thing.
[00:20:28] which is faithfulness.
[00:20:30] Faithfulness, that's one.
[00:20:32] That we live in a time where people struggle to be faithful, to just show up, to do what they say that they will do, to complete the job that they started.
[00:20:43] Folks, it's no different in the Christian realm.
[00:20:46] We need Christians who walk in this fruit of faithfulness, don't we?
[00:20:50] That when they start it, they will finish it.
[00:20:53] If they say they will do it, they do it.
[00:20:56] Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control.
[00:21:02] Do you know someone who is exhibiting that kind of spiritual fruit?
[00:21:10] If so, that is a true disciple of Christ.
[00:21:15] The kind that Jesus was talking about when He said, go and make disciples.
[00:21:20] My church, which is really His church, is all about discipleship.
[00:21:26] Let's pray together.
[00:21:27] Father, thank You for Your Word that challenges us.
[00:21:33] And Lord, my prayer today is that You would help us to become more than just believers.
[00:21:39] Help us to become disciples.
[00:21:42] Lord, may we grow into the very image of Christ.
[00:21:45] May we be more and more like you as our prayer today.
[00:21:48] And I thank you for it.
[00:21:51] In Jesus' name.
[00:21:51] Would you go ahead and stand together with me?
[00:21:55] Let's just stand in the presence of the Lord with our head bowed and our eyes closed because I want to pray a couple of quick prayers.
[00:22:03] The first prayer I want to pray...
[00:22:06] God will help you to make a decision today to become a disciple.
[00:22:14] Not just a believer, but a disciple, a learner.
[00:22:18] One who makes a decision that with God's help you're going to become more and more like Jesus Christ.
[00:22:27] Say, I want to be a disciple.
[00:22:29] Maybe you've said this before, prayed this before, but this morning, if you say, I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, would you raise your hand with mine?
[00:22:38] Because I want to pray for all of the would-be disciples.
[00:22:42] Father, you see hands all over this room today, and I just ask that you would, first of all, help us to make a decision that is a firm decision that will last for the rest of our lives.
[00:22:54] God, there's no turning back.
[00:22:56] We want to be disciples, learners of Christ, growing into the very image of Christ.
[00:23:03] Oh God, would you help us.
[00:23:05] Lord, may you help us to make the kind of decisions, to do the kind of things that would help us become more and more like you.
[00:23:12] Lord, I pray not only for us as individuals, but I pray for us as a church that we could become a church of disciples that are
[00:23:21] Completely sold out to you, that we pursue you with all of our heart, our mind, with all of our soul.
[00:23:28] God, would you be glorified through us, I pray.
[00:23:31] And I thank you for doing it in Jesus' name.
[00:23:34] You can go ahead and take your hand down.
[00:23:37] While we still have our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I want to pray one more prayer for those who may be here this morning.
[00:23:44] Maybe you're not really sure about your relationship with God.
[00:23:48] Maybe you prayed a prayer as a young person and kind of strayed away from it.
[00:23:53] Maybe you've never prayed a prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and your Lord.
[00:23:59] In just a second, I would love to pray for you along with others.
[00:24:03] One of the questions I ask every
[00:24:05] Every week just about is this.
[00:24:08] If you were to die today, right now, do you know beyond any shadow of a doubt, do you know that you're ready to stand before God?
[00:24:15] If you're not sure in just a second, I'd love to pray for you along with others.
[00:24:20] So while our heads are bowed, Christians, you're praying really hard right now.
[00:24:23] If you say, I'm not sure, but I want to be sure of my relationship with God.
[00:24:27] Would you just raise your hand right now?
[00:24:29] Just raise it up so I can pray for you.
[00:24:31] Just raise it up right now.
[00:24:33] Yeah.
[00:24:34] Others just lift it up saying, please pray for me.
[00:24:37] I want to be absolutely certain that Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Lord.
[00:24:41] Others just lift it up saying, I want to be included in that prayer.
[00:24:46] I don't want you to leave here today without knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is your Savior and your Lord.
[00:24:53] Anybody else?
[00:24:57] Anybody else?
[00:24:59] Father, thank you for...
[00:25:01] This one that has said, yes, I want to know beyond any shadow of a doubt.
[00:25:05] And Lord, I pray that you would help them and all of us know for certain that you are our Savior.
[00:25:12] Give us that assurance today.
[00:25:15] Lord, I just thank you for doing that.
[00:25:17] In just a second, I'm going to pray a simple prayer.
[00:25:20] I'm going to ask everyone in the room to repeat this prayer after me.
[00:25:25] And if you...
[00:25:27] I want to ask you to pray this prayer from your heart because God will hear you.
[00:25:37] God will respond to you.
[00:25:39] So let's pray this prayer together.
[00:25:41] Say this.
[00:25:42] Say, God, I know that you love me.
[00:25:46] Because you sent your son Jesus.
[00:25:50] And he died on the cross for my sins.
[00:25:54] Today I ask you to forgive me of my sins.
[00:25:58] I ask you to be my Savior and my Lord and from today on
[00:26:05] I'm going to live for you.
[00:26:06] In Jesus' name.
[00:26:09] Amen.
[00:26:10] Amen.
[00:26:11] Come on, y'all.
[00:26:11] Let's give God praise.
[00:26:13] Lord, we give you all glory.
[00:26:14] We give you honor, Lord.
[00:26:16] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:26:17] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:26:20] Hey, if you prayed that prayer, I want to ask you to do one more thing, and that is, after the service, out in the lobby, we not only have the Latin country's
[00:26:31] We also have a sign that says, I said yes to Jesus.
[00:26:35] If you prayed that prayer, I want you to go back there to that sign because some of our leaders will be back there.
[00:26:41] And I've got some literature and I've got a Bible, a special Bible that I want to give to you.
[00:26:45] So make sure you go back there and receive that literature.
[00:26:49] It will really help you in your journey of faith.
[00:26:53] Maybe you're here today for the first time.
[00:26:56] And one of the things that we do every Sunday morning here at Lake City Church is we share together in the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion.
[00:27:03] When you came in, you may have received the Communion packet.
[00:27:06] If not, we have some up front here.
[00:27:08] I think this is gluten-free.
[00:27:10] We have it along the walls.
[00:27:11] We have it in the back.
[00:27:12] But during this time of communion, we're really celebrating the fact that God the Father loved us so much that he sent his one and only son, Jesus.
[00:27:22] And Jesus loved us so much, he gave himself, his body and his blood for us.
[00:27:28] And the Bible says, as oft as you do this, remember this.
[00:27:32] Do this in remembrance of me.
[00:27:35] So, Father,
[00:27:36] In these next few moments, we just prepare our hearts to receive these emblems, the little cracker that reminds us of your body that was bruised and broken for us, and the cup that reminds us of the blood of Jesus that was shed on Calvary's cross.
[00:27:54] Lord, in these moments,
[00:27:55] I pray that you would make your love and your forgiveness so real to us more real than ever before and Lord anyone who's been struggling with forgiveness anyone who's been struggling in their walk Lord may they find great strength great strength in your love and in your forgiveness help every one of us to receive your love and your forgiveness Lord we pray all this in your name amen