Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Discipleship

The Real Test

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For a couple of decades, my passion was playing the drums. Like many kids of my era, I dreamed of playing on the biggest stages and touring the world. During those days, my musical hero was Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist for the band Rush. I modeled everything I did after him, and his writing continues to influence my style to this day. While there are no indications Neil had a relationship with Jesus, he said and wrote many wise things that can apply to our Christian walk.

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I was reminded recently of something he once said: “The real test of a musician is playing live.” In an age where there is no shortage of teaching and preaching, it is important to remember the real test of a disciple comes from how we live. As James, the brother of Jesus said, we must be doers not just hearers of the Word (James 1:22).

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Impact or Excuses

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We can make an impact or excuses, but we cannot make both. If we want our lives to make a difference, we don’t have the time to make excuses. Nowhere in Scripture do we ever see Jesus make an excuse. He was never too tired, too hungry, too busy, too young, or too old. He didn’t worry about His social status or what others thought of Him.

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And He never put off what He knew He had to do. As Jesus hung on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” He completed His mission. The lesson is powerful: when you refuse to make excuses, your impact increases exponentially.

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Think of Jesus

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It’s sad, but it seems far too easy to forget what Jesus did for us. He was a man unlike any other. Yes, we can explain this by the fact Jesus was at once fully God and fully man. How could He help but be extraordinary? It’s important to recognize that in His humanness, Jesus experienced the free will to choose His path. He didn’t have to be obedient, but He chose to on our behalf. Before Christ went to the cross, He asked the Father to provide another option (Matthew 26:36-39).

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He didn’t want to go to the cross, but He went so we might live. Jesus could have saved Himself, but He did not. Imagine the horror among all those who were torturing Him if Jesus would have suddenly called 10,000 angels to assist Him. He could have done that, but He didn’t. He kept His love for God and His love for every human soul at the forefront. Jesus could have saved Himself but opted instead to save you and me.

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Discipleship

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer pulled no punches. In his classic, “The Cost of Discipleship”, he wrote, “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” I write extensively on discipleship for the same reason. If you aren’t pursuing a life of discipleship with Jesus, I believe the Bible is clear: Jesus does not know you (Matthew 7:21-23; John 14:15). That’s a strong statement, I know. But we’ve been dancing around this subject for too long.

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We don’t want to seem judgmental or offensive, so we add caveats and couch our words to make them seem less harsh. The result is that millions of people who believe they are Christians are not. It is perhaps the most sinister and ingenious deception Satan has ever unleashed. He continues to deploy this strategy today. It has so infected our churches that most don’t even realize the deception under which they are living.

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Live Like Jesus

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“This generation of believers is responsible for this generation of souls”. Keith Green said that about 40 years ago, and it still resonates with me today. If we don’t model Jesus for others, how will they ever know who He is? As David Platt recently said, “People can’t be what they don’t see.” The apostle Paul said, “How will people come to know Jesus if we don’t tell them about Him?” (Romans 10:14). It is the responsibility of every believer to tell others about Christ.

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We also must make disciples out of those who respond to God’s call (Matthew 28:19-20). We are the boots on the ground for the Kingdom of God. We have a mission. Now is not the time to get lazy. The battle is raging hotter than ever before and we have a role to play in it. Our job is to live like Jesus so others can see what it looks like to follow Him.

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