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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781631468285 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The Navigators |
| Publication date: | 06/05/2018 |
| Pages: | 208 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.60(d) |
About the Author
Robert Celinas (Robert RGelinas.com) is pastor of Colorado Community Church, Aurora, and the author of several books, including Finding the Groove and The Mercy Prayer. He and his wife, Barbara, live with their six children in the Denver area.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
TWO WORDS
That Will Change Your Life
Two words worth underlining in your Bible: Jesus himself.
Let them inspire hope for what is possible in your relationship with God. Zero in on them and let them spark the imagination of your soul.
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.
LUKE 24:13-15, EMPHASI S ADDED
Passover had ended. Like many of their fellow Jews, these two travelers had come to Jerusalem for the feast. Now they were traveling home. But as momentous as each Passover was, this particular feast had been singularly disruptive. Why were these two travelers so interested in what happened to Jesus? Because they were his disciples. They were engaged in deep dialogue as they attempted to figure out what happened to Jesus. While they were in Jerusalem, he was arrested and executed, but now they had heard the incredible rumor that he was, in fact, no longer dead. They debated the possibilities and probabilities and wondered aloud, "What does this mean for our lives?"
Then it happened. Jesus himself began to walk with them.
They didn't, however, immediately know who had joined them. We're not sure why they didn't recognize him. Perhaps their eyes were fixated on the ground, or maybe the sun, low in the evening sky, impeded their vision. We are told that they were "kept from recognizing him," which might indicate that something supernatural was taking place (Luke 24:16). What's clear is that Jesus himself was with them that day.
He walked with them. More than that, Jesus himself talked with them:
He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
"What things?" he asked.
LUKE 24:17-19
Jesus himself asked them questions, sparking conversation. And because they didn't know who he was, they began sharing with Jesus what happened to Jesus! They explained to him, "We pinned our hopes on this would-be Messiah. Then the Romans crucified him. This morning, some of our friends went to the tomb; they said he wasn't there, that it was empty. We're just trying to piece all of this together."
Then Jesus himself gave them an opportunity to grow in their faith: "He said to them, 'How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?'" (Luke 24:25-26). Such a brazen approach for a would-be stranger. But this was Jesus; he knew them — personally — and was inviting them to enlarge their view of what God can and cannot do. They were witnesses to the fulfillment of God's promises, but they were failing to connect the dots.
Then comes my favorite part, Jesus himself teaching them: "Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself " (Luke 24:27). He led them in a Bible study! They didn't have the New Testament (they were living it!), but the Old Testament contained plenty to point them to the Messiah. Jesus could have easily drawn a connection between the Passover lamb and the Passover they celebrated just days before. If he had, perhaps he showed them that they had just seen the ultimate sacrifice that sets people free from bondage. Maybe he showed them where it says the Messiah would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver or how none of the bones in his body would be broken.
During this Bible study, he most likely spent significant time with them in the book of Isaiah: "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities ... by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). I wonder if he pointed out how Job pre-called his resurrection when he said,
I know that my redeemer lives,
JOB 19:25-27
Let this sink in: Jesus walked with, talked to, and taught them himself.
Is Jesus himself available to do these kinds of things in your life? Is this experience of God reserved only for those on the pages of our Bibles? Is living vicariously through them the best we can hope for?
Twelve Lucky Ones?
These travelers on the road to Emmaus weren't the first to be discipled by Jesus himself, of course. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were at work when Jesus showed up and called them to be his disciples (Matthew 4:18-22). Jesus ate dinner with Matthew the tax collector in Matthew's own home (Matthew 9:9-13). In all, he personally invited twelve people from different backgrounds into a direct discipleship relationship with him. It was intimate, face-to-face, and one-on-one. Jesus joked with them and assigned nicknames (Matthew 16:18; Mark 3:17). He sent them out on assignments and debriefed them afterward — coaching them in the ways of the Kingdom (Luke 10:1-24). They heard him teach and asked him questions about the meaning of his parables (for example, see Matthew 13:36). The Twelve saw Jesus tired, lonely, struggling, and anguished. When Jesus was disappointed, they were close enough to see it on his face. They knew firsthand that his love was real as they received training, instruction, correction, purpose, and inspiration from him. They were discipled by Jesus himself.
We find ourselves envious of these first disciples. We think, If I were discipled by Jesus himself, then things would be different. I would be bolder in my witness, clearer in my mission, and closer to God. Faith would be so much easier. But you and I weren't meant to gaze longingly at their incredible fortune. They weren't the lucky few who just happened to be born at the right time and place in history. Quite the opposite — they were prototypes for you and me. Their experience with Jesus demonstrates what life is supposed to be like for all of us.
Sometime during the centuries between them and us, we lost sight of this beautiful reality. Our modern view of discipleship is deficient. We've busied ourselves with activities — many good and well-meaning — that, ultimately, are far less than what God had in mind for those who abide in his Son. It wasn't unreasonable for us to assume that what they had was special and that we have to settle for something less now that Jesus has ascended into heaven. After all, they existed at the same time in history and occupied the same geographic space as Jesus. Jesus was physically present with them. But Jesus promised his real presence to us, too. Jesus told us that he will never leave us and that he will be with us for all time (Matthew 28:20).
When we forget this, we give honor and respect to Jesus when it comes to our spiritual growth while at the same time seeing him as peripheral, unnecessary. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his classic treatise The Cost of Discipleship, wrote, "Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship." Bonhoeffer saw that discipleship was inextricably linked to the active involvement of the resurrected Jesus. As Bonhoeffer so eloquently wrote, "Discipleship without Jesus Christ is a way of our own choosing." We must go back and reclaim a first-century view of what it means to be a disciple if we are going to experience what the twelve disciples, two fellow travelers on the road to Emmaus, and many others learned from Jesus himself.
Any definition of discipleship that does not recognize the real presence of Jesus misses the point. Discipleship is a direct, one-on-one relationship in which we are led by, taught by, and loved by Jesus himself.
Biblical discipleship requires face-to-face encounters with Jesus, and that, for us, requires a risen rabbi. Discipleship, then, is inseparable from the Resurrection. Unfortunately, too much of what we call discipleship could happen with or without the one who was crucified, died, was buried, and on the third day rose again.
Eyes to See
Luke Timothy Johnson's book Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospel opens with this sentence: "It makes a big difference whether we think someone is dead or alive." He goes on to explain that if we think someone is dead, then we don't expect to have actual interaction with them. Our relationship with them is based upon who they were and what they've left behind — past tense. However, if they are alive, then we expect a current, present-tense relationship. "The most important question concerning Jesus, then," Johnson continues, "is simply this: Do we think he is dead or alive?" If we truly believe Jesus rose from the dead, "what we learn about him must therefore include what we continue to learn from him."
Continuing to learn from Jesus: That should be our expectation and experience. Jesus is still with us. He is available right now to teach us the ways of the Kingdom in a way that we will experience the living nature of God's Word. Our hearts will burn inside, for our rabbi is near.
The reality is this: Jesus himself is walking and talking with us. Jesus himself is teaching us directly. However, the Emmaus road story does leave us with this question: Do we recognize that it's him?
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
LUKE 24:28-31
Jesus is available to us as he was to these first-century disciples. However, what we learn from them is that it is possible to have Jesus fully engaged in our spiritual growth and yet, for any number of reasons, not recognize him. Sometimes it takes a special moment when our eyes are opened to this reality.
There is much we need to unlearn about discipleship, for there are many myths and misconceptions. What's clear is that he is present even now in this very moment. As we continue, ask Jesus to reveal himself to you.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Discipled by Jesus"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Robert Gelinas.
Excerpted by permission of NavPress.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Introduction The Coming Reformation in Discipleship xi
1 Two Words That Will Change Your Life 1
2 The Discipleship Myth 11
3 Embracing Jesus as Your Pastor 28
4 Choosing Jesus as Your Teacher 41
5 Learning to Pray in the Spirit 61
6 Joining the Great Co-Mission 87
7 Preparing People to Be Discipled by Jesus 105
8 The Ultimate Goal of Discipleship 123
Epilogue: The Thirteenth Disciple 147
Appendix A A Personal Guide to Loving Jesus 149
Appendix B How Being with Jesus Changes Us 167
For Discussion 173
Notes 179
What People are Saying About This
A treasure chest filled with spiritual wisdom. This book is a much-needed course correction for the people of God. With so much religion around, Robert keeps pointing us back to Jesus.
Robert Gelinas, my pastor, hand-delivers Jesus’ invitation: Come. Follow Me. I will make you disciples. Wait no more. Read on and discover all that is waiting for you when you accept the invitation to be discipled by Jesus.
Robert Gelinas is revolutionizing everything we have ever known about discipleship. A clarion call to pursue a life of faith that is richer and deeper than we had ever imagined.
Robert Gelinas has done it again. I am touched by God every time I sit under his teaching. This book is liberating me in ministry and inspiring me to re-enroll in the school where Christ is the teacher.
A powerful book that grasps the reality of Jesus being the one who transforms us!
I hadn’t even made it through the introduction before my “steady as she goes” Christian journey started getting rocked. With a thoughtful spotlight on Scripture, Discipled by Jesus unwraps this beautiful and compelling reality: I can be discipled by the Messiah himself.
Finally, a book on discipleship that invites readers not to know more, to do more, to be more, or to give more to Jesus, but simply and significantly to be with Jesus.
One of the most exciting teaching pastors in the world invites God’s church to welcome Jesus himself back to the exclusive role of making his own disciples—because nobody but Jesus can. As African American believers have sung for decades, “Can’t nobody do me like Jesus!” For a church gone dry, Robert steps forth to offer its best teacher, discipler, and leader: the living Christ. Dynamic, urgent, and inviting.
Skillfully exposes some of the myths underlying the way many of us have thought of discipleship and then compassionately leads us to a vibrant walk of faith with the risen Christ. This book not only changed the way I think about discipleship; it changed the way I live as a disciple.
It’s been said that mentoring is “Come and meet with me,” while discipleship is “Come and do life with me.” When it comes to the latter, there is no better person to attach our lives to and be apprenticed by than Jesus Christ. Sorry; no celebrity Christian leader will suffice as a surrogate substitute. This is the point my friend Pastor Robert Gelinas excavates profoundly in this highly accessible book, Discipled by Jesus. I pray this gets a wide reading for generations to come!