Walk With Me

Learning Jesus Discipleship Style

G. Alan Coler

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781098017750
• eBook ISBN: 9781098017767
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Ministro del culto cristiano

The title Walk with Me really tells the story of how discipleship has worked best from the time Jesus first chose his disciples and how it still works best today. Jesus started with a small group of people he called to be his disciples, then he taught them the purpose of the work of the Father and the steps to making the kingdom of God known to those around them. Jesus's method of teaching his disciples was to walk with them through this process. He did this through everyday settings that all of us still experience today.Jesus did preach and teach, but he was also invited into people's homes, went to weddings, and sometimes spent quiet times alone with his disciples. This is where the teaching of discipleship happened. Jesus ate with people, he touched people, Jesus told stories, and even let people get close enough to see the places where he had been hurt the worst. All of this was to help his disciples grasp ways to teach others the closeness of the kingdom.This is how discipleship works today. We walk with people as they develop from observers of Christ to Christ followers, then take the next step to becoming a disciple of Jesus. The disciple today needs to walk with people through each of these steps. Only by walking together can we intentionally teach new disciples the importance of serving Jesus where they are right now and how to use the same situations Jesus used to help people understand the love and closeness of God.Alan

Walk With Me

Learning Jesus Discipleship Style

Dr. G. Alan Coler

Copyright © 2020 by Dr. G. Alan Coler

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Jesus, Vocation, and the Father

Jesus Embrace of Vocation

The Work of the Father

Jesus Inclusion of all Disciples in the Work of the Father

Vocation is a Choice

Vocation or Vocation

Luther’s Understanding of Vocation

When Does Discipleship Begin?

Discipleship Begins with Prayer

Meat to Bones

Twelve Men from Different Backgrounds

Following Jesus’ Call

Observing Jesus Teaching Style

Disciples and Leadership

The Deep Roots of Discipleship

Discipleship and Evangelism

Blending Our Lives Together

Transformed

The Follow Me Challenge

Discipleship is Personal

Discipleship is Practical

Observing Jesus

Then and Now

Doing Discipleship

Player, Coach, and Small Groups

Pulling It All Together

Practical Instead of Idealistic

Practical Discipleship

Divine Space

Jesus and the Father

Jesus and the Kingdom of God

Jesus and Stories

Jesus and Touch

Jesus and Breaking Bread

Jesus and His Scars

It All Works Together

This book is dedicated to every Christ Follower on the path to Discipleship and to every Disciple willing to walk with them on their journey.

Introduction

When I began this project, I did some basic research on Christian discipleship and found literally thousands of books offered on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Borders’ websites and millions of hits on Google. I questioned myself on whether anything more needed to be added or could be added to the subject of Christian discipleship. I found my inspiration to continue the project in the introduction of Dr. Gordon Fee’s commentary on 1 Corinthians. Dr. Fee concluded, “That there might be a place for yet another commentary [on Corinthians]—of a slightly different kind and from a slightly different point of view from others.”1 This statement reflects my desire as well. I do not want to discourage anyone from their pursuit of discipleship however it is happening. I want to encourage disciples to continue to help in the discipleship development of new believers in Jesus. But what I also want to offer is something of a slightly different kind and add to the conversation a slightly different point of view on Christian discipleship development.

I have made more than a dozen attempts in writing this introduction to capture what I want the Christ follower to know about discipleship. Mostly I wanted to write something worth reading. My daughter earned her master’s degree and my wife and I were flying to her graduation in Boise, Idaho. It was on that trip I discovered the explanation missing in this introduction. On the plane, I was reading a book from an author I admire a great deal but will not name him or the book. That is because I came to realize in his writing a significant flaw, not in his research or writing style but in what he was not writing. He had admonished me, the reader, to live a more focused Christian life. Reminding me that all Christians are set apart to do the things God has individually called us to do. He was stressing that if we don’t do these things, we are less than God created us to be. No Christ follower would want that. It is his goal in the book to make us dissatisfied with anything less than our best in our service to God. I agreed with him on all of these points. He describes the responsibility all Christ followers should have about poverty, injustice, the marginalized, and overall moral decay in our country and in the world. Over my years in ministry, I have preached these same concepts to congregations. All the time believing I was offering the church my best through prayer, preparation, and sermon delivery, thereby believing their lives would be changed. But their lives really weren’t changed. People were stirred, challenged, and inspired but not really changed. What was I doing wrong?

The more I read from this book, and even as I finished the book, it became obvious to me what was missing in his writing and my own preaching. This guy, just like me, never told anyone how we could live closer to God, only that we should and we should change the world but never how we could affect change. In his book, he laid out what are the basics for every Christ follower: pray and read the Bible. I cannot stress enough that every disciple must start here. Disciples must know the book and be in a walking, talking relationship with God all the time. But what I was left with and had unfortunately left others with was a challenge but no hands-on resources to meet the challenge.

My reason for writing this book is to offer solid foot and toeholds for the disciple to use in living closer to God and in changing the world. I describe this as pragmatic discipleship, all of us doing what Jesus did when he was living on this earth. I have no great aspirations of setting the Christin world on its ear through this book. I want this book to change only one thing. I want it to change you. I want to offer you real ways to observe Jesus and do the same work Jesus did. That God guarantees will change you and everyone you come in contact with.

After we left Boise, we flew to New Orleans to a conference my wife needed to attend. The cab ride from the airport to the hotel again renewed my hope in this project. In three sentences, the cab driver said hello and welcomed us to his city, let us know we were blessed, and God was in control of everything. The words Christian or church were never used. He had a faith in God and he lived out that faith through his job. That is the practical practice of discipleship I am trying to reach in this book. I wanted to spend more time with my new Ethiopian mentor, but that will most likely never happen. But he did what he does—that is shared his faith and confidence in God and encouraged my wife and me, all the while just doing his job of driving a cab. What he did in a seamless way is exactly what I want disciples to understand that they can do also. God has convinced me that disciples can be taught to do the very same thing as Jesus and my cab driver. That is connect, encourage, inspire, and share the Gospel with anyone they meet. There is no need for a pulpit, microphone, or a congregation. It’s just you and me, talking with the people we meet during the day.

The Great Commission of Matthew 28 is arguably the most universally accepted challenge of all New Testament churches from the time of the apostles to date. This command of Jesus has lasted throughout the development of the New Testament church, the Reformation, schisms inside the church, and the establishment of near countless denominations. Much of the church has stabilized over the past several hundred years, but there are still times that churches or traditions seem to spin off into a new direction. Yet this single command from Matthew 28 remains intact. Each church, large or small, regardless of their traditional roots believes this one command must be carried out, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” 2

The single command of Jesus to make disciples most often breaks down into two key elements. The first is the “go” element. Go, in the commission of Jesus, is evangelism and a fundamental component of the church throughout history. The church has accepted the responsibility to reach both the communities they serve and the world with the Gospel message. This challenge of evangelism is met in a number of different ways. The first, and perhaps the most basic way, is through preaching on Sunday mornings, sermons encouraging people to share the Gospel with neighbors and friends. Also many churches and most denominations establish local and worldwide missions organizations as a broader method of evangelism. Seemingly the go is the easier part of Jesus command to make disciples. The second half of the commission, and the only command of the commission, the “making disciples” is a much more complex challenge.

The reason for this complexity may come, in part, from the commission itself. Jesus gives the instruction to make disciples, “Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” What is missing from Jesus instruction is the list of “everything”. The absence of this list anywhere in the New Testament of what Jesus commanded is part of the difficulty in fulfilling the discipleship challenge of Jesus commission. Raymond Brown writes, “[The statement] probably refers to the contents of Matthew’s five great discourses or even all that Matthew narrated.” 3 It is this vagueness of “probably” and “or” that begins to shed light on the problem. There is no i...

Table of contents

• Jesus, Vocation, and the Father
• Jesus Embrace of Vocation
• The Work of the Father
• Jesus Inclusion of all Disciples in the Work of the Father
• Vocation is a Choice
• Vocation or Vocation
• Luther’s Understanding of Vocation
• When Does Discipleship Begin?
• Discipleship Begins with Prayer
• Meat to Bones
• Twelve Men from Different Backgrounds
• Following Jesus’ Call
• Observing Jesus Teaching Style
• Disciples and Leadership
• The Deep Roots of Discipleship
• Discipleship and Evangelism
• Blending Our Lives Together
• Transformed
• The Follow Me Challenge
• Discipleship is Personal
• Discipleship is Practical
• Observing Jesus
• Then and Now
• Doing Discipleship
• Player, Coach, and Small Groups
• Pulling It All Together
• Practical Instead of Idealistic
• Practical Discipleship
• Divine Space
• Jesus and the Father
• Jesus and the Kingdom of God
• Jesus and Stories
• Jesus and Touch
• Jesus and Breaking Bread
• Jesus and His Scars
• It All Works Together