Daily Devotional For Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Good morning Southside. If you have been reading these devotionals, you are aware that we are looking at what it means to follow Jesus based on the New Testament. As you have been made aware, following Jesus is more than just attending a church service or being in a Bible study class. Following Jesus requires not just attending church, but a willingness to go wherever He takes you. One of the truths you have to accept about discipleship is that it is not a program but it can be done through a program. Discipleship is not a class but it can be done in a class. Discipleship is a relationship. Jesus discipled His disciples not through a class or a program, but through a personal relationship to each one.
Discipleship is sharing Jesus to another person on a level where they begin to emulate Him. It is not about being in church, because in Jesus’ day there was the church. We are to worship, but not as ritualistic and denomination attendees. We worship through our discipleship, our relationship to Jesus. Discipleship does involve disciplines, but these disciplines are not the essence of discipleship. Your growing relationship to Jesus Christ is.
To disciple anyone, you have to teach them these disciplines so they can grow in their personal relationship to Christ. For example, you need to teach them how to study the Bible, but first, you have to know how to study the Bible. If you will take the risk to obey Jesus’ commands to make disciples, there is a great benefit for you. It takes your relationship to Christ to a whole new level. You have to decide what kind of disciple of Jesus Christ you are: are you a consumer or a supplier? Are you a receiver or a giver? Are you a receiver or a producer?
By nature we want to receive rather than give. Just look around the average church service and most people simply sit there receiving. They are not even taking notes from the sermon and if they are, many of them are doing it for selfish reasons – “What’s in it for me?” Just look at all the different translations of Jesus’ words in Acts 20:35. The point of Jesus’ words is: you are more blessed in giving than in getting. The goal of sitting in worship each week or a Bible study is as you listen to God’s word, your #1 goal should be NOT what you can get from it. BUT what you can apply from it to give to others.
There is a misconception in some churches today. They teach that we can mass produce disciples from large groups. You can’t. Jesus called 12, focused on 3 (Peter, James & John) and centered on 1 (Peter). Billy Graham held mass crusades for 60 years, but he knew that was not enough. This is why wherever he held a crusade, his organization networked with local churches to follow-up with the decisions people made in order to disciple them. We see this modeled by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. He would preach to large crowds, start a church and then mentor someone to be either the pastor or to disciple others in each church. People such as Timothy, Silas, Luke, John Mark and Barnabas. Even though Jesus preached and taught to large crowds, He kept His main focus on His 12 disciples.
Yet today, many churches do not do this. They resist discipleship and instead offer programs and ministries. People today gauge a church by its performance and numbers than by how Jesus did – how it makes disciples. We extend our American dream to our church dream — bigger is better. Bigger means successful. This is just the opposite of what Jesus taught. Discipleship takes the narrow gate, not the broad gate. See Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:13-14. The problem with most churches programs and ministries is that leads them to look inward, not outward. In doing this, we isolate the church, its believers from the world by convincing them that compared to the world, they are good and the world is bad. But again, this goes against the teachings of Scripture. Read what God says to us in His word in these passages Romans 3:10-12 , Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3.
Discipleship is not about how many are cramming into our buildings, but about how many are leaving them to go into the world, which should be their focus rather than themselves, to take the Gospel. Discipleship does not take place in a one hour service on Sunday. It takes place in multiple hours through the week at many locations where the Army of the Lord takes the Gospel to the lost and then disciples them to do the same. Discipleship is not about how many times we attend church but about how many times we take the church and Christ into this lost world.
As the body of Christ, we love being in our buildings. But what the world needs is not just another church building on another corner, but a church actually being the body of Christ taking the Gospel to the world. This means that one word in Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19-20 “nations” is our focus, not nurturing our own nominations. Think about it this way. When someone asks you, “What church do you attend?”, you will either give them an address or location. So, let me ask you this. According to Jesus and the New Testament, is the church something we attend or are? Is the church a location or locale? Is the church a building or a body? Is the church supposed to be focusing on itself or the world?
Assignment: Take a moment and ask God who is it you could build a bridge to disciple. No special skills are required. Just love, time and a willingness to obey Christ. I remind you of the books I suggested yesterday you can use. If they are willing, you can start your own “D-Group” (discipleship group) with them. I would recommend the following resources that will help you and them. They are all by the same Christian pastor, Robby Gallanty, former heroin addict, now disciple maker: Growing Up (start here), Firmly Planted (2nd book) and then Bearing Fruit (3rd book). His church models this in every area of the church he pastors. If you cannot afford these books, Pastor Hunter may still have some or we could order them for you. Make your life count for something bigger than attending church. Thank you.
Scripture To Meditate On: John 17:18, Jesus said, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, help me to take You and Your church into the world. Help me to build that bridge to someone to disciple/ Please give me a name and please be conditioning their heart to do this. Lord, I am scared to do this, but in spite of my fear, I will do this because You command it and I love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly