Your Reputation Precedes You

Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee. (Mark 1:28)

“I know who you are, your reputation precedes you.” These introductions can be a little awkward. You are at a distinct disadvantage knowing little about a person who knows much about you. And as your mind kicks into high gear, you wonder, “What do they know?! Is it good or bad?”

The Lord Jesus’ reputation spread throughout the land. There was much talk about Him and they were trying to decide whether they liked Him or not. But what really mattered to Jesus was not what the people thought, but His reputation in the Father's eyes. He strove to please the One Who’s opinion really mattered (Jn 14.31). And the Father was pleased (Mat 3.17). Is our reputation managed by those around us or by aligning our thoughts and actions with what the Father desires? Be like Jesus, surrender your reputation to God.

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© 2008, 2009 Following Jesus by Chuck Wood All Rights Reserved

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A DISCIPLE LOVES JESUS BY OBEYING

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
(John 14:21)

I really connected with the conference speaker and made a beeline to him after the message. I invited him to coffee so I could pick his brain about his relationship with Jesus. He had some great things to say about abiding in Christ and then he asked me about my relationship with Jesus. I excitedly agreed with his story because it sounded very similar to mine. And that’s where the similarities ended. He blew my mind when he said, “I’m so glad you never mentioned the word obedience.” What?! The conversation took an abrupt turn south. How in the world could a person divorce obedience from their relationship with Jesus? He is our King and our Lord. He commands us to obey Him. He says if we love Him, we will obey. Jesus’ disciples are not only commanded to obey Him, they want to obey Him. 

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A DISCIPLE HAS FAITH IN JESUS

Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
(John 6:29)

I was dangling underneath a helicopter on a rope 100 feet off the ground. Needless to say, I was a little nervous and the thought had crossed my mind more than once was, “is all this equipment strong enough to hold me?” It took a lot of mental discipline to trust my equipment and training and by the time I hit the ground, I had worked up a pretty good sweat. Trusting Jesus can be a lot like my experience. Sometimes, when people talk about faith in Christ, they make it sound so easy. Well, for those of us who have been down the trail a little bit and have had to wade through some of the tougher things in life, we know that faith takes a little work. It’s resolve in the fact that Jesus has our best interest at heart. It’s enduring and pressing on because we know He holds the victory. And ultimately it’s believing He will use our lives to advance His kingdom.

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A DISCIPLE LOVES LIKE JESUS DID

Naked Mole Rat

 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:34–35)
Have you ever tried to love the unlovable? Sure you have. And if you’re like me, you found it very difficult. We're confronted every day with people who are rude, insensitive, and downright mean. But we know better than to write them off, because when we take a close look in the mirror, we can see some of the same characteristics in our own lives. The Scripture says that “…while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God” (Rom 5.10). We really didn’t have the image of a cute little puppy. It was probably more like trying to hug a buzzard. In fact, our actions proved us to be hostile to Him (maybe more like a ticked-off Naked Mole Rat). And yet, He loved us…to death. That is how Christ loved us and how He commands us to love others. We have the ultimate example to follow.  Keep loving the unlovable. 

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A DISCIPLE SUBMITS TO JESUS AS LORD

“You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.”
(John 13:13)

So you’re smokin’ down the interstate and suddenly you see a Trooper’s car in the median. What is your automatic response? Apply the breaks to slow down, Right? Even if you’re doing the speed limit, it’s an automatic response. Why? Because you know the Trooper in the car has the authority to give you a ticket. There is a healthy sense of fear attached to violating the law. But in today’s prevalent preaching of grace without the balancing principle of responsibility, there is almost no such reaction when we sin. I believe we have lost the sense of Jesus’ lordship in place of not grace, but licentiousness. So in many cases in American Christianity the State Trooper is treated with more respect than the Creator of the universe. We need to regain the reality of the “Kingship” of Jesus and rightfully have Him rule and reign over our lives. Those who do not may be in for a very unpleasant surprise (Mat 7.21-23).

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A DISCIPLE IS A SERVANT

“If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”
(John 13:14–15)

It was going to be a long night -- especially since there would be no sleep involved. On top of that I had missed dinner. I was looking at the double whammy of sleeplessness and hunger pains for the next 12 hours. But just as I had resolved to be miserable for the duration, my friend Randy and his wife Carol brought me a huge home cooked fried chicken dinner. Randy had taken me under his wing and was discipling me. One of the things he was good at was seeing a need and meeting it. He showed me how to be a servant and love people into the kingdom. I ate that meal more than 30 years ago and I've never forgotten that act of kindness. Jesus calls His disciples to serve those around them in powerful ways. Let’s serve others the way He served us.

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A DISCIPLE GLORIFIES THE FATHER

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
(John 15:8)

When I ask people “What is the Christian’s ultimate purpose in life?”, the number one answer I get is “To glorify God”. I would whole heartedly agree with that answer (Isaiah 43.7, 1 Corinthians 10.31). Amazingly, when I ask “How does one do that?” the answers are usually pretty vague. Jesus gives us both a clear answer and example of how to glorify God. Jesus said, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” (John 17:4) But Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. What was the work He accomplished? In the context, it was raising up obedient disciples (John 17:6–7). Just two chapters earlier, He tells them (and us) how we can glorify the Father: bear much fruit. (John 15.8). In other words, if we want to do what almost every Christian says we ought to be doing, “glorifying God”, a clear and surefire way to do that is by being and making disciples of Jesus!

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A DISCIPLE BEARS MUCH FRUIT

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
(John 15:2)

I recently heard a speaker from India ask the question, “When a mango drops to the ground and the seed is planted, what does it produce?” To which the crowd immediately responded “Mangos!” The speaker quickly replied, “Wrong! Mango trees!” His point is well taken. Jesus is not looking for His disciples to simply make one disciple, dust off their hands, and check that block. No, they are to bear much fruit. When Jesus recruited His men to Himself, He intended to make them fishers of men, to preach the gospel to the world (Matthew 4.19; 28.18-20 John 15.16). Jesus wants to make us super fruitful. That happens when we abide in Him and He prunes us (John 15.1-8). So as we pray let’s ask the Father to make us into “disciple trees” that reproduces more “disciple trees.”

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A DISCIPLE OPENLY IDENTIFIES WITH CHRIST

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
(Matthew 10:32)

I walked up behind my wife and wrapped my arms around her and whispered in her ear, “Give me a quarter”. I needed some money for an ice cream cone and what better way to get a little change than giving your honey a big hug? But there were two problems: she didn’t have a quarter and she wasn’t my wife! It was a case of mistaken identity and one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. There should be no mistaking a real disciple of Jesus. Our lives are to be so wrapped up in following Him that you can spot us from a mile away. We readily talk about Him; but more importantly, we act like Him. As His disciples, we are quick to recruit others to Him because of the amazing difference He has made in our lives. We are Christ-ones, Jesus-people, men and women of the Messiah and the world knows it.

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A DISCIPLE IS FREED BY THE TRUTH

And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
(John 8:32)

I was elbow deep in cleaning the sixth commode of the morning. As a Private, cleaning toilets was now a major part of my life-style. This was not exactly what I was aiming for when I dropped out of High School and joined the Army. I wanted to get away from home and be free. Free!? Somehow cleaning toilets didn’t seem very liberating. But, as I obeyed my leaders and grew as a soldier, it became a perfect fit for me (and I got to do a lot more than clean the latrine). Being a soldier is not for everyone but the truth is. Jesus tells us if we start practicing what He says, we will know the truth and it will set us free. On the outset it may not look like freedom but more like a bunch of rules. As we grow in the truth by obeying His word, we are liberated from things that enslave us. Following Him brings us into a perfect fit with our Creator and this truly sets us free!

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A DISCIPLE OBEYS HIS WORD

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine
(John 8:31)

Have you ever tried to take a grilled cheese sandwich apart? I dare you. Just try and separate the bread from the cheese after they have been grilled together. You end up with a grilled cheese messwich. That’s exactly what happens when you try and separate being a disciple of Jesus and obeying His word. According to Jesus Himself, there's no such thing as a disciple who doesn't study, know, and practice His word. To illustrate this, I ask guys to hold up their hand in front of them, as I do the same. Then I ask them to follow the motions of my hand with theirs. It's really pretty easy. Then I ask them to close their eyes and follow my hand. Impossible! You must be able to see Jesus in order to follow Him. To see Him today, we must get into the Word. Then we can adequately follow Him. Make it a daily habit to read the Scriptures.

Photo by Dave Frahm

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A DISCIPLE PROCLAIMS THE KINGDOM

But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 9:59–60)

It has finally happened to me! The uncontrollable urge to tell everyone I meet about my grandchildren. I used to think this was an annoying quirk I had to endure when I was around old people. But now I’m finding that even as a young guy, I’m having a blast! I’ll even show pictures to perfect strangers! I don’t have to work hard at bringing the grandkids into the conversation. I’ll just naturally cram it into what ever we’re talking about. Jesus says His disciples are a lot like zealous grandparents – they want to make sure everyone around them knows about the Kingdom of God. They will go across the street or across the ocean. They will talk to a friend or a foreigner. They will tell you about the King and His rule morning, noon, and night. Grandparents and disciples of Jesus have one thing in common – they will tell you about their passion!

Did I mention this picture is of our grandson for whom I'm praying - that he will know the King and advance His Kingdom? And did I mention we have two more grandbabies on the way? Just thought you needed to know :)

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A DISCIPLE FORFEITS PERSONAL COMFORT

As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Luke 9:57–58)

I was watching the news during the invasion of Iraq and I saw some soldiers sleeping on the ground in the middle of a sandstorm. I have always marveled at the commitment of soldiers and the level of discomfort they endure as part of their profession. But you know, the disciple of Jesus is called to the same forfeiture of comfort for the sake of the mission. Jesus was constantly on the move and sleeping heaven knows where. He gives ample warning to the would-be follower, “I don’t even have a place to lay My head”. He calls His disciples out of their “comfort zones” and into the battle for the souls of men and women. He calls us to a life of blood, sweat, and tears for the sake of His kingdom. Just like the soldier, a disciple can expect discomfort to be a part of the job description.

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A DISCIPLE KNOWS THE ART OF SAYING NO

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
(Luke 9:23)

Another piece of chocolate cake, a second glance at that pretty girl, buying that new car I can’t afford, harboring anger toward a friend, skipping that workout, or super gluing my friends shoes to the floor – all things I ought to say "no" to. Winning those little battles in our heads is essential to following Christ. But a life of "no’s" would be a miserable existence at best. Jesus gives us ample opportunity to say "yes" – yes to following His ways, yes to loving others, yes to serving the less fortunate, yes to helping another follow Him, yes to accepting the love He has for us, yes to forgiveness and mercy. That is the abundant life. Jesus has far better plans for our lives than we do. But we need to practice the art of saying "no" to the flesh, world, and our spiritual enemy – and "yes" to Him.

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A DISCIPLE HAS RELATIONSHIP PRIORITIES

“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.”
(Luke 14:26)

My wife, Deb, and I had just scheduled a date to see downtown Denver when the phone rang. It was a friend of mine who needed my help in Colorado Springs. I promptly canceled the date with Deb and headed down the road. WHAT?! You canceled a date with your wife?! It seems outrageous until you know the circumstances. All of us experience tensions with relationships. Who gets priority – family, friends, co-workers, the boss, a stranger? As you already know, it’s not as easy as “focusing on the family”. That’s why I let one relationship govern the rest. When I put Jesus first, His principles instruct and guide me in all my relationships. And in case you’re wondering, we date often (even as a married couple) and Deb has the same relationship priorities that I do.

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A DISCIPLE IS NOT OWNED BY POSSESSIONS

“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”
(Luke 14:33)

The luxury car commercial boldly stated “This is the first car that will own you.” Although people have been owned by their cars since they were invented, the announcer was expressing a startling truth: possessions can possess us. How many times have we come to realize that our car, house, clothing, or other stuff was dictating where we spent our time, money, and affection? It’s startling, isn’t it? Jesus warns us against such dangers. He knows that we could actually go as far as making our possessions an idol – an object of worship. Here are some simple test questions to see where we stand with our possessions. What things am I unwilling to share with others? What things get in the way of spending time in prayer or the Word? When is the last time I gave something of great value to someone in need? How much time do I spend maintaining my things? Do those things take priority over people?

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A DISCIPLE IS SALTY

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
(Matthew 5:13)

“Your blood pressure is too low. When you feel dizzy, just eat a bag of chips.” Not exactly the advice you would expect from your cardiologist, but hey – it was the silver lining in my dark little diet. His recommendation had nothing to do with eating potatoes. It had everything to do with the salt. The sodium raises your blood pressure back to a normal range. Can you imagine what potato chips without salt would taste like? I’m not sure I’d be so excited about following my Doc’s instructions. Jesus wants us to be salty – not too much, but to have the kind of flavor that causes people to want more. We are to be seasoned in such a way that we make people thirsty for the Living Water in us. But if we have no spiritual salt in us, then it’s like eating a bag of saltless potato chips – nasty. Be salty!

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A DISCIPLE IS DYING TO LIVE

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

(Luke 14:27)

An old Green Beret was explaining their attitude toward the possibility of death during the Vietnam War. He told me the way they were able to operate so efficiently in some very dangerous situations was to count themselves dead already. They saw themselves as dead to their futures, families, and fame. They had only one driving value – complete the mission. In a real sense, this is the same attitude we need to adopt in our relationship with Christ. He calls us to place our lives on the cross, an instrument of death. Like the Green Beret, we also die to our futures, families, and fame. We die to all except one compelling value – Him! We are to love, serve, glorify, and become like Him. But there's a big difference between the follower of Jesus and those who are fighting this world’s wars. The disciple’s death leads to eternal life, abundant life, real life. This is the way of true discipleship – we die to live!

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A DISCIPLE IS A REFLECTION OF THE LIGHT

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12)


I did a lot of “hiking” at night when I was in the Army. We didn’t normally use lights, so it was great when the moon gave us a little illumination -- the fuller the better. But there where nights when the moon did us absolutely no good. The earth was blocking the sun and the moon was completely blacked out. We were left to grope around in total darkness. We all know why: the moon has no light of its own. It merely reflects the light of the sun. This parallel is so true for those of us who follow Christ. The disciple has no light of his own to shine in this world. And the more the world gets between us and Jesus, the less the Savior’s light can be reflected. But when there’s nothing between us and the Son, man oh man, does that light shine! Of course it’s not physical light that we're reflecting, but spiritual light. The attributes of God Himself are being reflected in our thoughts, words, and deeds. We look like the Son to a dark, dark world. Reflecting with you!

I'll be off the net for about a week. Back to blogging then!

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A DISCIPLE IS A LIGHT

“You are the light of the world.”
(Matthew 5:14)

I was holding a flashlight for my dad as we worked under the car. As my mind would drift to other things, so would the light. My father had to remind me to shine the light on the spot where he was working. Jesus reminds us that this is exactly what we should be doing as His disciples. Our spiritual job description is to illuminate where the Father is working. As we live our lives and do the good work of His Kingdom, it should be obvious to the people around us Who God is and what He's doing. The light that we shed is meant to illuminate Him and His glory. But just as I did with my earthly dad, we may also do with our Heavenly Father. We can get distracted and begin to shine the light on ourselves, pet doctrines, worldly philosophies, or even other people. It takes a certain kind of spiritual concentration and the power of the Holy Spirit to stay focused and to keep the light squarely pointed at His Kingdom. Let your light shine…in the right direction!

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WHAT DO DISCIPLES DO ON REALLY BAD DAYS?

I’d like to take a break from my series “Reflections on the Great Commission” and share an excerpt from a prayer letter I recently received. Josh and Mandy Brown are missionaries ministering in a cross-cultural setting in Detroit, Michigan. In the letter Mandy describes a situation and response that’s worth being reminded of as disciple of Jesus. Let’s let her example sink deep into our minds, hearts, and actions.

“I came back to Michigan on December 26th to return to work while Josh has remained in WA with his dad and brother to continue grieving the loss of Diane. By the time I got home it seemed that anything that could be wrong was. I got a pretty bad cold, our heater was broken, my luggage was lost on the flight back, most of our friends were out of town, and Josh’s car was stolen & completely destroyed and our insurance won’t cover any of it, and my first nights back to work were miserable!

All I wanted was for Josh to be home to fix everything. I quickly became bitter with him for not being here to take care of his poor, pitiful, pregnant wife and allowed the frustration to continue to grow over the next couple of days. Thankfully in one of my quiet times our great God spoke to me with a strong rebuke…

Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." – Jeremiah 17:5-8

God revealed to me that the root of my anger and frustration was that I had been putting my hope and trust in my husband rather than in my God! I longed for a sense of security and protection but I was looking in the wrong place. God showed me that HE allowed all of this to happen, especially when Josh wasn’t home, so that I could really learn to trust in HIM rather than the strength of man!”

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BEING JESUS AS THE BODY

For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12)

A young disciple asked me an excellent question: “Is the Great Commission an individual or corporate responsibility?” To which I answered, “Yes”! None of us has all the gifts and abilities needed to thoroughly disciple others. That’s why we are to function as the Body of Christ. Together, we become like Jesus in the fullest sense and can disciple others more effectively. That’s one of our primary tasks as the “Ekklesia” (the assembly, the church). I have benefited tremendously, both in being discipled and in making disciples in the context of the Body. I call it "discipleship by the village". But the assembly must understand that this is one of their chief functions before God. Are you assembling with those who have a vision for the Great Commission and are they able to train and empower others for the sake of making disciples corporately? It works a lot better together!

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BEFORE YOU SWING TOO FAR

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”
(John 14:12)

“Well, He was God!” is a common response by some of the guys I encourage to be like Jesus. As I’ve mentioned before, there are certainly things that we'll never be able to imitate. But before we let the pendulum swing too far the other way, we need to take a harder look at the works we can imitate and the things we can’t. Miracles seem to be one of the bigger areas we dismiss immediately as “God’s department”. But we see several cases where others raised the dead, healed the lame, gave sight to the blind (all in His power, of course). But what about developing people? Can we be expected to teach the masses, train up laborers for the harvest, and invest in the next generation of spiritual leadership? It's certainly possible! And considering our great commission to reach the world for Christ, shouldn’t we at least try?

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A DISCIPLE IS COMMITTED

But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

As the legend goes, the Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez set sail for Mexico on a mission. Once safely ashore, he had some of his men return to the ships and burned them. There was no returning to Spain until the mission was accomplished. The requirement of this level of commitment for the disciple of Jesus is no mere myth. For the disciple, it's all of Jesus or nothing. There's no “Plan B.” When Jesus called His first disciples, they were fishing. Upon hearing the call, they left their business, their families, and probably their reputations to follow the Rabbi. What kind of leader demands such allegiance? A Leader Who knows Who He is and what’s at stake. He is the King Who holds our very eternity in His hands. He also knows the consequences of ignoring such a call. He invites us to be all in for Him and His Kingdom or not at all. (Revelation 3.15-16)

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