Discipleship Starts With Discipline
Introduction
Welcome to The Shepherd’s Porch first blog! This blog is the start of a space where you can join us in our journey in finding what it truly means to do life the way God designed. Each week we will post what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us that week to share. It may range anywhere from new recipes, new ways to exercise to new habits or perspectives. We are excited to start this journey with you! Follow us on our socials or make an account on this website to keep updates on when our blogs are posted each week!
Discipleship Starts With Discipline
The inspiration of this blog comes from a documentary on youtube called “Sheep Among Wolves II”. If you have not seen it yet I highly recommend going and watching it. To give a brief overview of the documentary, it is about the underground churches in Iran and how they are absolutely exploding. They go into detail about how different following Jesus looks in Iran versus in the United States.
What I want to focus on today is what their “discipline” part of discipleship looks like in Iran versus in the United States. One of many things that really hit me while watching this film was when one of the missionaries said that “In Iran as soon as they find out who Jesus is they immediately start being radical for Jesus.” They live in a country that will kill, rape and torture if they even suspect you are affiliated with Jesus. Yet, they are the same group of people who radically start following Jesus despite all of that. The missionaries who are disciplining these Iranians focus on decentralizing leadership and distributing it. They teach that as soon as the Iranians know of Jesus and accept Him as their savior they are now equipped to tell others and teacher others about Him.
Everyone who follows Jesus has a responsibility to lead others to Christ.
The documentary discusses how this is different from how leadership in the Christian faith looks like in the United States. One reason being because in Iran they can not have church buildings to worship in, they can not walk down the streets preaching His word. It quite literally takes all believers in Iran to spread the Gospel because there can not be a centralized place of worship. When they disciple people to follow Jesus they are also discipling them to disciple others. In the United States we are allowed to have places of worship and preachers in churches, on the streets, and anywhere spreading the Good News. However, when it comes to discipling others to be Jesus followers we tend to stop their. Just discipling others to follow Jesus not discipling them to disciple others. In the documentary, the missionaries mention that they have the Ephesians 4 framework. Ephesians 4:11-12 states,” And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Jesus equips everyone to disciple others to come to Him, not just prophets, evangelists and teachers. The apostles were just the people following Jesus and the shepherds are usually in the fields just with their sheep and away from everyone else.
The missionary in the documentary states, “we believe, in the west, that people can sit in a church pew for a really long time and maybe at some point they will begin to follow Jesus in a striking way”. The fact of the matter is that…
“God’s software doesn’t run on our societies hardware”
What this means is that God did not intend for us to just worship Him on Sunday’s. Our free society’s hardware wants us to think that we have church’s to worship God in, we have schools, certifications and education for pastor’s and leaders to become qualified. This is what our society’s hardware wants you to believe “discipline” and “discipleship” are. That discipline is making sure you go to church every Sunday and studying so that you can get certified or educated in order to lead others. Don’t get me wrong, going to church every Sunday is awesome and such a gift we have here in the United States. Education is also an amazing privilege and gift that lots of other countries don’t have access to. But what I am saying is that God’s software says that believing in Him is what equips us. Faith in Jesus is our certification. Accepting the Holy Spirit is our certification. Having a relationship with God is our certification. You can have the highest degree or the most certifications but still not have a relationship with Jesus and then you have missed the point.
However, in a society that has access to endless education and opportunities, think about the kind of disciples we could be and think about the kind of disciples we could lead others to be. What I am saying is don’t let a degree hinder you from thinking you aren’t qualified to lead. Instead use it as a tool to improve your leadership that Jesus has already qualified you with.
What I want to end this blog with is one more story from the documentary of an Iranian family that moved to the United States to have religious freedom. A couple months after they moved the wife wanted to move back to Iran. She felt as if her relationship with God was more under attack in the United States than in Iran. She called the threat in the United States “spiritual sleepiness”. The problem we have is that convenience, freedom, entertainment and endless opportunities has distracted us so much so that we as a country are “spiritually asleep”. However, this is has been a problem since the Earth was created. God warns us multiple times throughout the entire bible about this very problem.
James 2:14–17
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ... So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."
2. Matthew 15:7–8
"You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;'"
3. Luke 6:46
"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?"
1 John 3:18
"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
5. Titus 1:16
"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."
So the question is “how do I live in a society where the threat of spiritual sleepiness is more of a threat than persecution and still be close to Jesus and truly follow Him.” I think the answer is discipline. Discipline is part of the word discipleship. The difference between our discipline and the Iranians discipline is motivation. The fact that the Iranians do not live in a world of comfort or stability and their lives are in danger every single day is what keeps them waking up motivated to follow Jesus. I truly believe the answer to wake us up here in the United States is to find something that keeps you motivated to build your relationship with Jesus. Without persecution and inconvenience there is nothing keeping people motivated everyday to follow Him. When I came to this realization I have come up with a few ways that have helped me stay motivated in learning more about Him, building my relationship with Him and telling others about Him.
Limiting Distractions - What has helped me the most is limiting my screen time on my phone and on tv. It is hard at first and doesn’t seem like it is giving you much motivation. However, because I have stopping scrolling on my phone in bed or scrolling when I am at a stoplight or whenever I am bored I have had so much more mental clarity and time to talk to God. I no longer constantly feel stressed or anxious about all the things I want to do in life or that my life isn’t how I want it. My mind feels clearer than it ever has and that is the best type of motivation.
Joining The Bible Recap With Tara-Leigh Cobble on the Bible app - This has helped me reach my goal of reading the entire bible in a year because it helps me keep track of what I need to read each day. It reminds me to read everyday and it also has a devotion that dives deeper into what you read each day. My problem before was that I always lost track of where I ended and how many chapters I needed to read in a day. Because the truth is we will always miss a day here and there on our goals that we set. Having a checklist each day that I can check off what I read keeps me motivated to keep reading.
Weekly Schedule posted on my fridge - I have started a new job running this business and so I created a schedule to keep my day scheduled so that I make sure I have time to read my bible and pray but also get all of my other work done. A schedule like this can be helpful for all kinds of people. Whether you work from home, work a 8-5 or are a stay at home mom. You can make your schedule as detailed or as flexible as you want. But I have found that some sort of schedule has helped me keep my mind from racing about all the things I need to get done as soon as I wake up.
Dopamine Menu - This is a menu that you go to when you want to doom scroll on your phone. Doom scrolling on social media fills our brain with so much dopamine and so that is why this menu is called the “dopamine menu”. It is a menu full of things you love to do that maybe you have forgotten. Post this menu on your fridge so that you can constantly look at it and start doing things that fill you with joy instead of the fake dopamine your phone gives you.
Attend a small group, bible study or church - small groups or even an accountability friend has helped me the most with staying motivated for Jesus. Surrounding yourself with people who also love Jesus and actively follow Him is the best way to continue growing your relationship with Him.
These are just a few ways that have kept that motivation going for me. I encourage you to try to find or implement a few things in your life that will keep that fire for Jesus lit in your Mondays through Saturdays. In the end staying disciplined is our choice and no one else can make that choice for you. Staying motivated is hard and it will not be easy but it is so worth it in the end. Your discipline will leads to others discipleship.
On the main blog page are links to editable schedules and dopamine cafe templates you can access and make your own. You can use them as templates and edit them or you can use them as inspiration and make your own schedule or dopamine cafe in your own way. Make it fun and enjoyable!
