We’ve been talking in our last two previous Little Lessons about the subject of making disciples, and so the question that I posed at the beginning of this Little Lesson is certainly related to that.
What should be the mission statement of every church in the world?
Church Mission Statements I’ve Seen Throughout My Years of Ministry
I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve been a Christian since my teenage years. I’m 59 years old as I’m talking to you right now, so I’ve been a Christian for about four decades. And I’ve been in the ministry almost as long as that.
I’ve traveled in 80 some different countries of the world, spoke in churches and so forth. I’ve spoken to ministers. So I have a little bit of experience interacting with the body of Christ.
I’ve read a lot of books, listened to a lot of sermons, been to a lot of churches, and I’m always a little bit surprised (not always, but often, very often surprised) when I read the mission statement of various ministries and churches.
Because what I’m expecting to find is that their mission statement is going to be the mission statement that Jesus gave to the church (see Matthew 28:19-20), right? You would think that.
But here’s a church that says, “Our mission is to help believers live the abundant life in Jesus Christ, fulfilling their destiny and walking in all the blessings that God has provided for them.”
That’s okay… but it’s actually not okay. Let me just be perfectly honest with you. If that’s the mission of your church, you need to either shut down your church or change the mission.
What the Mission Statement of Every Church Should Be
Because the mission statement of every church and every ministry ought to be to make disciples. And what are disciples?
Well, we’ve already seen initially that a disciple is somebody, according to Jesus in John 8, who continues in the words of Christ as being progressively set free from sin, becoming more holy. And, secondly, that person is a person who is learning to obey all of Christ’s commandments. Because that’s what he said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
I’ll add to that. Honestly, it’s only the disciples who truly believe in Jesus. If you’re not a disciple of Christ, you don’t believe in “Bible Jesus”. You might believe in “American Jesus”, or some other Jesus, but you don’t believe in “Bible Jesus” unless you’re a disciple.
Jesus’ Definition of Ministry Success
So, Jesus was preaching one time. And we read in Luke 14:25, “Now large crowds were going along with Him.” There you have it.
In some people’s estimation, and many ministers’ and pastors’ estimation, Jesus was successful. The goal had been reached: big crowds. Because that’s how we define success. Look how many people are coming on Sunday morning! Big crowds.
Well, was Jesus happy with those big crowds? Had he reached His goal? Did He lift his hands up to the Father and say, “Father, take a look! Aren’t You proud? I’m a mega-church pastor now, because look at all these people that come to Me once a week for an hour?” That’s not what He did.
… and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. – vv. 25-27
“If anyone comes to Me…” Now that sounds like He means, you come to Me like you’re interested in Me, and you’re professing that we have some kind of a relationship going on.
But look at this: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple”
Making Disciples As the Mission Statement of Every Church
So there you have it. Who is going to argue with Jesus about what is the proper definition of a disciple, right? I mean, that’s Jesus. He ought to know. And He said, “Go into all the world and make disciples. Baptize them. Teach them.”
Here’s a characteristic of a disciple. You can’t be my disciple unless you hate the people that you naturally would love the most, your closest relatives. Father, mother, wife, children, brother, sisters, even yourself, yes, even your own life.
Jesus Didn’t Literally Mean We Should Hate Our Family
Now, of course, looking at the rest of Scripture, looking at that statement in context of the rest of the Bible, very few people are coming to the conclusion that Jesus meant literally that we have to hate our loved ones.
Because if you hate your loved ones, then you wouldn’t love them at all anymore, and we know Scripture teaches, for example, husbands love your wives (Ephesians 5:25). We’re supposed to love our children (Ephesians 6:4). We’re supposed to honor our parents (Exodus 20:12). That’s in the Ten Commandments.
So we don’t take Jesus in the strictest literal sense in this requirement to be a disciple.
Jesus Must Come First
But taking this requirement at its bare bones minimum regarding what He must mean by this, at bare bones minimum, He must mean that your love for your loved ones has got to be lesser to a significant degree than your love for Him.
“I become the supreme person whom you love, and if, in fact, your loved ones demand that you give them greater love than love for Me, you tell them ‘no’.”
If God’s telling you to do something, and your mom or your wife says, “Don’t do it,” and you say, “Okay, I won’t do it because I love you…” No, no, no, big mistake! You’re not a disciple.
Jesus becomes the one you love the most, more than anyone, more than anything. And if you don’t have that, you’re not a disciple.
Only God Deserves Such Devotion
You think about how outrageous that would be for anyone to expect such devotion, except God. Because the Lord said way back in the Old Testament, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength” (see Deuteronomy 6:5).
And so from the beginning, God’s saying, “I deserve your deepest devotion, your highest love more than anybody else.” And when Jesus says this in Luke 14:26, “You can’t be My disciple unless you hate your loved ones,” that’s tantamount to claiming to be God.
The only alternative is that He’s a lunatic. And Jesus did not have the credentials of a lunatic. He had the credentials of God.
All right. Well, we’re out of time for today. I think I’ll talk about this a little bit more in our next Little Lesson as we continue in Luke 14. Thanks for joining me! God bless.
