Purpose & Calling as Disciple Makers

It wasn’t long after God got me back into His word and back into His local church that I gained clarity on what was next.  Go and make disciples.  If you’ve stepped into just one church after my challenge in May, I bet you heard this phrase.  If not, jump over to Matthew 28 and read verses 16-20.  

Go and make disciples.  It’s the commission of Christ to His followers.  It’s His parting words to dear friends.  It’s God’s Plan A for bringing people of all nations back to Him for eternity.  

With all the talk of making disciples in the local church, what I’ve experienced is little clarity on how we actually accomplish this.  Selah Disciples exists to walk through that how alongside you with these articles and our offerings.  We’ll unpack some thoughts today, but know our heart is for this mission.  To that end, we are preparing tools, planning meet-ups, and a retreat that will equip you in your purpose and callings. 

Clarity in Purpose

Culture talks a lot of finding our purpose and for good reason.  If we can’t stand firm in our purpose, we’ll waver being double-minded rather than single-minded.  How important then that we, believers in Jesus, be unshakeable in our purpose. 

Not coincidentally, God makes clear each believer’s shared purpose: to glorify Him (Is. 43:7; Mat. 5:16) by loving Him with our whole heart, soul, and mind and by loving our neighbor as ourselves (Mat. 22:37-40).  

This is how we’re going to glorify God with our lives.  We’re going to live countercultural.  We’re going to stand firm that we are here to glorify God alone.  I can recall when this clicked for me.  Christ’s sacrifice on my behalf; the shame that was suddenly lifted. And yet, I couldn’t fully comprehend this freedom, but I knew Christ was worthy of my life surrendered in faith.  

Take a moment to recall with me when it first clicked for you.

The zeal of the Lord is palpable in the new believer.  We’ve been given a new heart, another chance, eyes to see and mind to understand what we couldn’t before.  So, we ask: what now?  In turn, Jesus responds: go and make disciples. 

Calling of Good Works

We’ve been made alive with Christ, put here with purpose, and called to fulfill good works.  We aren’t saved by works but that doesn’t mean there’s not work to be done.  That’s the tension of what Paul proclaims in Ephesians 2 when he says in one sentence, 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

And then in the next breath proclaims, 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

Not only is there work to be done in making disciples, but much of the New Testament details how that will be accomplished by each of us accepting fully our unique roles and gifts.  We’ve been gifted by God’s varied grace, meant to be parts of a body that work together as a whole.  We’ve received a divine invitation, a set apart (holy) calling.  Our shared purpose of glorifying God and making disciples is accomplished in the good works prepared in advance for us to do.

This aspect of making disciples get me all kinds of fired up.  When we stand firm in our purpose then we take hold of the freedom secured in Christ to accomplish good works that we could’ve never desired or done on our own.

Our passions and gifts should serve our purpose to glorify God.  The way I do that will be different from the way you do that and yet the result is the same.  God gets the glory and that’s how disciples multiply; not by our works but by His grace.

In speaking at IF:Gathering in 2017, Jill Briscoe said these words (find time for this full teaching) that I hope will cling to me all my days:

You go where you’re sent, you stay where you’re put, you give what you’ve got until you’re done.

Walking Worthy

I couldn’t get past this phrase “walking worthy” after a year of studying Pauline Epistles (a fancy word for books of the Bible written by Paul).  In the pursuit of purpose and calling, the world talks a lot about worthiness.  And, so does Paul.  The difference is that Paul frames worthiness as the way we walk worthy of the callings to which we’ve been called in Christ.  Christ is the focus of our walking worthy; He gets the glory, not us. 

Importantly, we can’t walk worthy on our own. We must be filled by and yielded to the Holy Spirit. Paul says this about walking worthy:

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:2-3

I, for one, could never do those things in my own strength.  The power of the Spirit is how God makes these things – the work of sanctification – possible in us.  Paul prays over the church in Colossi that they would “be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding; bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power.” (Colossians 1:9-11)  

This is how we’re enabled to bear fruit for the sake of God’s Kingdom rather than our own little kingdoms.  Knowing what Jesus does for us should activate us to fulfill the purpose and plan of God for our life.  It should put confidence and strength on the inside is us through the Spirit.  Our purpose in this age is to point people to Christ.  This is actually the goal of why we’re here.  

To remain steadfast in purpose and calling, you need running buddies.  We, the Selah Disciples team, hope to be your running buddies as you go and make disciples. Connect with us further on social media (facebook & instagram), join a Selah Table, or email us. It’s our joy to run on mission with you.

To this end, we always pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of His calling, and that He will powerfully fulfill your every good desire and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Make a Move

• How are you cultivating the gifts you’ve been given? How are you calling out the gifts of those running next to you? 
• How are you yielding to or quenching the counsel of the Holy Spirit? 
• What can we do to persevere in our callings? Do a word search on double-minded, single minded, or whole heart to get you started.
• Write a personal mission statement to your calling. Make it personal, keep it somewhat general, use it as a filter for your life.