Discipleship

What Does Discipleship Look Like?

January 30, 2017 by Tim Sherfy

This entire blog is predicated around becoming a disciple of Jesus. But what does discipleship look like? How do we know if we are getting closer to the mark? I would say first, discipleship is a standard to be pursued, not a target to be hit. There will never be a day when you can sit back and exclaim, “Ah! At last I’ve reached discipleship!”

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Being a disciple of Jesus is a process that will consume your entire lifetime. To be a disciple signifies nothing ever will mean more to you than desiring to live a life mirroring the life of Jesus. Discipleship is the total dedication of your life to His calling and purpose. To be a disciple is to be daily engaged in the mission of Christ.

Unsurpassable Worth

January 26, 2017 by Tim Sherfy

As a body, the Western Church tends to look a lot like everyone else. We buy the same things, climb the same ladders of success, and treat others according to some invisible caste system. We have our moments when we behave in a manner more pleasing to Christ, but by and large, my observation is we live our lives and treat people in much the same way our surrounding culture does.

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That isn’t how Jesus lived. He had an entirely different agenda and saw everyone as having unsurpassable worth. He didn’t segregate or differentiate. He simply loved. This is how we are called to look at and treat others. Every soul has the highest value in God’s Kingdom.

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Unconscious Bias

January 19, 2017 by Tim Sherfy

Each of us possess an unconscious bias towards others. Some bias is the result of past experience, some the way we were brought up, and some the result of our culture and environment. Regardless of the source, we all look at the world through a lens colored by our unconscious bias. The problem is, our bias generally does not reflect the way God looks at people.

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He has a very conscious bias with which He looks at every soul on the planet. God’s bias is love. What I want to do as a disciple of Jesus is replace my own unconscious bias with His conscious decision to value people and always seek to serve them. I wish this were as easy as it sounds, but an unconscious bias is difficult to recognize and harder still to tame.

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Giving Away Our Excess

January 12, 2017 by Tim Sherfy

I once read our excess money is given to us to share with others. This is something I’ve tried to incorporate into my own life because I feel there is good Biblical precedence for it. Early Christ followers shared all they had with each other (Acts 4:32-35). This seems to go even beyond simply giving away our excess. In the Old Testament, God gave laws commanding people to not harvest the edges of their fields so the poor could come and get some food for their families (Leviticus 23:22).

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Jesus told us not to hoard our wealth (Luke 12:16-21). The next question I generally get when discussing this is, “How do I determine how much is excess?” To me, this question is always the result of a scarcity mindset.

Move the Needle

January 5, 2017 by Tim Sherfy

One of the key concepts I want to establish through the blog this year is mediocrity is not acceptable in the Kingdom of God. Jesus, the perfect Creator of all the beauty you see in this world didn’t do a mediocre job of anything. None of His creation even hints at mediocrity. Even now He continues to make all things new. He continues to create. How many times have you looked at a sunset you felt certain was more beautiful than any you had seen before?

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Jesus continues to create beauty even in a dark and evil world. He continues to bring His best to every day we live. Do we not owe Him the same effort with our own lives? After all, we belong to Him. Mediocre simply can’t be good enough. We’ve got to strive to be better in ways that will bring Him glory. We can’t sit idling; we’ve got to move the needle in our commitment to God.

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