Let's Not Forget

These days it seems like I forget a whole lot more than I remember. Somebody tells me something, and just a short time later I try to recall the details and can’t quite remember. Oh, but we are all a little challenged when it comes to remembering things. Forgetting just seems to be par for the course in life.

Sometimes this includes remembering what God tells us. For example, Jesus clearly tells us in the Bible that the primary role of his followers is to “Go and make disciples.” Do you remember that? It’s easy to forget. After all, we have so much to do. It’s hard to live a life really focused and not forget.

This is true even in the organized church. There’s just so much to do. In our American culture, a lot of pressure has been put on pastors to put on stellar church services. Churches are compared to each other based mostly on who puts on the better service.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that services on the weekend aren’t important. As a matter of fact, we put a lot of effort to bring incredible church services at New Life week after week. What I am saying is “let’s not forget” what we are actually told to do: “Go and make disciples.”

At New Life, we describe a disciple as a Christ-follower who "gets it, believes it and lives it." A person “gets it” when they begin to understand who Jesus is and begins to align their thinking with his thinking. When a person “believes it,” they feel about things the way that Jesus did. It becomes more than just acknowledging with their mind the things of God; they actually begin to feel passionate about the same things. It’s from here that a person begins to “live it.” After all, you can’t live counter to what your mind thinks and your heart feels.

I’m talking about our head, heart and hands working together for the cause of following Christ - we think the way Jesus thinks, we feel the way Jesus feels, and we do the things Jesus would do. That is to be a disciple of Christ. At New Life, we call it becoming a 5:16 disciple.

In Matthew 5:16 of the Bible, Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.” To be a 5:16 disciple is to live out this verse. It’s about letting the light of Christ shine through us in a way that people see the goodness of God in us and they praise our Father in heaven.

Let’s not forget that this is the main thing - “Go and make disciples.” As individual Christ-followers and organized churches, we must not forget what Jesus told us to do. Let’s shine the light of Christ and make disciples. If we remember that, we’ll be okay.

Learn more at www.newlifeonline.com or follow Steve Lingenfelter on Twitter, @stevOLL.