Before His ascension, Jesus told His followers to make disciples all over the world (Matthew 28:19–20). A disciple-maker is one who leads a life worth emulating. Jesus had and has so many followers because He lived a life that everyone who fears God wants to live. He proved Himself worthy to be followed (1 Peter 2:21). Can we say the same? Do others see our life as one worth copying?
Perhaps a better question is, if you weren’t you, would you follow you? Jesus left us with the responsibility to look so much like Him that everyone else would want to know Him. That’s our mission every day. When we wake, we should focus on looking like Jesus. When we lie down at night, we should reflect on whether we accomplished that goal, and if not, why not?
Would you follow you? On your best day, your most honest answer would have to be, at best, a maybe. None of us are as consistent in our walk with Christ as we should be or even as we want to be. That shouldn’t make you feel better. It should make you more diligent in prayer and in the study of His Word.
How can we make disciples when we are such miserable failures at being good disciples ourselves? I don’t write this to make you feel guilty or discouraged because I’m right there with you. I write this as a wake-up call to remind us all that we’ve got work to do, and the time we have to do that work is slipping away with every breath (James 4:14).
Jesus encourages us to live in such a way that, when we die, He will look at us and say, “Well done, good and faithful slave” (Matthew 25:21). Don’t let the language be off-putting. Every follower of Christ should desire to be His slave (Romans 6:22). Jesus bought each of us for an unimaginable price (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). It is therefore our obligation to do everything He commands us to do (John 14:15). Our entire lives depend on our Master and Lord providing our every need (Matthew 6:33). Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Make no mistake; even if you don’t like the word and its modern connotations, every true follower of Christ is a slave of Jesus, and thrilled to be counted as such.
As divine slaves, our primary mission is to do what our Master does, say what our Master says, and compel those who don’t know Christ to come to Him (2 Corinthians 5:20). Remember, unless we tell them about Jesus, people are going to Hell. We are responsible for telling as many as we can the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13–15).
There is no excuse for any of us not to walk just as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6). The only reason we don’t is that we prefer to walk in the ways of this world (Romans 12:2). This should never be for those who profess Jesus as Lord (Colossians 2:6). There is no circumstance in life that makes it okay for us not to live for Jesus in every moment. It’s the only way we can ever make thriving disciples who can then go make more disciples. Everybody is following somebody. If you could only follow one person on this earth, would you follow you? The only way you would is if you looked just like Jesus. Do you?