Evaluating Your Discipleship

I remember when I was in the elementary I had a friend who would stutter. After spending some time with him at his house, believe it or not I would stutter too!

My mom said she could tell who I had been hanging out with on the farm, whether it was my grandfather or great-grandfather. I always wondered why she knew... She said when I would hang out with my great-grandfather I would walk with a limp just like he did.

We all have been there have we not? If you are around people who cuss, you have a higher probably of cussing! If you hang around people that watch basketball, you most likely will begin watching and following basketball. If you have a wife (like my beautiful wife) who enjoys NASCAR, sooner or later you will end up with a driver and follow him. (I now follow Denny Hamlin #11.)

We know the influence others have on our lives....

As I was reading through the letter Paul wrote to Galatia today, Galatians 2:10 jumped out at me. I will share it in context below:

"For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

Check that out again..."All that they (Peter, James, and John) asked was that we should continue to remember the poor..." Once again we see the power of influence in who we hang around. You see Peter, James, and John was the closest to Jesus. They had experiences with Jesus the other disciples heard about only later. So to know the heart of Peter, James, and John is to know the heart of Jesus even greater.

With Peter, James, and John’s focus for Paul being centered upon not forgetting the poor, tells me that Jesus was focused on the poor. Not only was he focused on the poor, but he passed this importance to his followers. The student will resemble the heart of the teacher.

Like it or not, as Youth Pastors/Leader and Volunteers we are passing on some kind of "spiritual idea" to those that follow us. With that said spend the next time with those you disciple/mentor by asking them the following question:

- If you could sum up one "idea" that I have passed on to you about your journey with Christ, what would it be?

Compare their responses with that of others you are walking beside.

Just a hint...
If they stutter around or have contradicting responses, it is time to reevaluate what you are passing on by asking God what he wants you to pass on to your "disciples."

Our Jesus was very specific to what he passed on to his disciples as we see they were very poignant in what they passed on to others as we see in the example of the passage in Galatians.

I close with a quote from King Solomon from the book of Proverbs:

"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." - King Solomon