We continue to examine Jesus' method of making disciples.

Heaven is not our goal - it is our destination. As disciples, our goal is that "Christ be formed in you," (Gal. 4:19). Paul declares that: "Those whom [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son" (Romans 8:29). Paul then says to the church at Corinth, "All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image" (2 Corinthians 3:18; bold/italics mine). The goal of discipleship is our being formed, conformed, and transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

Before we came to Christ, we enjoyed things and used people. After receiving Christ and as we grow in Christ-likeness, we learn to enjoy people and use things. Discipleship is a life-long process and it is all about relationships. For discipleship to be real, we must be intentional about building relationships as Jesus did.

Jesus genuinely loves people. It is sometimes difficult to fathom why God would want to spend time with me, listen to me, visit with me and want to lead me into a deeper relationship with His Father, but He sincerely does. Likewise, to have His heart, I, too, must be formed, conformed, and transformed into the image of Christ.

Jesus’ love flowed from His love of and from His Father. God loves Jesus. Jesus loves me. I should love others. Simple, but complex because if I am not rightly related to Jesus - loving Him more than I love ministering for Him - my love becomes plastic, professional and religious. We have to understand that Jesus did not simply teach doctrine - He lived it. And His teaching espoused much more than mere hermeneutics. Jesus fellowshipped with His Father and He Himself was passionate to be about His Father’s will.

Just as Jesus’ ministry flowed from His relationship with His Father, our ministry, service, work – anything done in Christ’s name - must be motivated by love or it will produce nothing of lasting value.

So many in ministry today are so self-absorbed with their ministries that they forget that God’s business is all about people – everything He does is good, redemptive and restorative. We hear of ministers who are in ministry, but who are inconvenienced by people. These are those who know the mechanics of their ministry, but the lamp of God’s love has grown dim. There are lots of managers, but few true shepherds – men and women who do what they do because they have seen God and know His heart - people of passion, compassion, and grace. People whom when you visit with them you sense God’s love, grace and mercy. These are the kinds of people committed to love. People who cry when you cry, laugh when you laugh, rejoice when you are blessed, think the best even when you are at your worst, and whose love just never seems to end. People who see the lost not as a quota to be reached, but real people with real problems, real names, who have a history, a family, and a story. And even without having heard their story they know that those they minister to are people just like themselves - people struggling to make ends meet, overwhelmed at times with life’s responsibilities like feeding their children, making the car payment, and learning to walk in faith.

Discipleship is loving one another. Recall that the Apostle Paul had once commended the church at Ephesus for their love for God and others (Ephesians 1:15), but later, after many of the church founders had died, many of the next-generation believers lost their zeal for God. Yes, they were a busy church - their church had many good programs, city-wide community events, and educational opportunities - but they were acting out of the wrong motives. Jesus said to them: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love” (Rev. 2:4).

In comparison, Jesus is so loving, so caring, and so beautiful. Listen carefully to His heartbeat: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34).

Sit at His feet for a moment and you hear His passion: “And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).

Embrace His compassion: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:13-15).

The Apostle Paul was filled with the same spirit – he was considerate, met the needs of others, allowed time for others to talk and visit, and was willing to learn: “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).

Paul had a deep concern, an incredibly intense care for those he ministered: “I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you” (2 Corinthians 7:3). He said the same thing to the Church at Philippi: “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:8) and again at Thessalonica: “but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:7,8).

The focus of Paul’s ministry was not the business of ministry, but ministering to people: “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

Paul’s passion was not in building monuments, but in the pure pleasure of seeing others transformed: “For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?” (1 Thessalonians 3:8,9).

The result of his ministry was defined by sincerity: “Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy” (2 Timothy 1:4).

After having spent over three years with the people of Ephesus (Acts 20:17-38) and just before Paul was about to depart they, “all wept as they embraced him and kissed him” (Acts 20:37).

Discipleship is not something that needs to be accomplished and developed; discipleship is first established when a person sees Jesus high and lifted up and as a result, they are formed, conformed and transformed into the image of Christ and the love of Christ demonstrated through a living vessel of His design.

Are you cooperating with "the means of grace" that God has ordained for the forming, conforming, and transforming of your life by studying His Holy Word, fellowship, communion, prayer, through daily circumstances, trials, being Holy Spirit-led, confession, celebration, overcoming a prideful disposition, fasting, meditation, simplicity, solitude, submission, guidance and humility?

You see, genuine heart devotion always produces character transformation. The degree we embrace these means, the more Christ-like we become, the more Christ's character and manner of life become evident (Galatians 5:22,23).

Grow in grace and truth,

Doug Morrell

CORE Notes From Doug