"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35
Here in Indiana it has become the rallying cry of the Church of God to 'Make More and Better Disciples.' I sometimes wonder what that really means. Throughout the churches history it has meant different things to different people. Sometimes being a disciple has meant that you need to blindly follow the church leaders. Sometimes being a disciple has meant something akin to legalism, knowing the rules and enforcing them. Sometimes being a disciple has meant nothing, the only important thing being getting people to an altar to a baptismal and to a tithing envelope. [and really only that last step is really important]
In Jesus's day a disciple was said to have the dust of the rabbi's feet upon them. In other words they followed so close that they wouldn't miss a thing that the rabbi said or did. It is this proximity to the rabbi that we need to relearn as a people who claim Jesus. It is not about learning the rules. It is not about following leaders blindly. It is not about a prayer or water or money. It is about following Jesus as closely as possible. If we follow Jesus that closely we should pick up certain things that Jesus was spreading around.
Jesus does us the favor of letting know exactly what we are supposed to pick up. Look at the top of this post and you'll get it. Love. Not rules. Not memorization of scripture. Not gatekeeping. Not membership drives. Not propaganda. Not blind faith, blind eyes, blind hearts. Love. The one thing that should set Jesus's disciples apart from all other disciples should be their love. How is that going for us?
In order to make more and better disciples in our churches in Indiana and around the globe we must do one thing and one thing only, love. Teach it. Preach it. Share it. Live it. And the people who come to our churches will get it on them, like the dust from the rabbi's feet. They'll get it on them and it will spread like a wildfire or an infectious disease. And we will be a church of love, because of who we are following.
+ Do you consider yourself a disciple? Is it something you are striving to be?
+ How closely do you follow Jesus? What is rubbing off on you? What are you spreading around?
+ How do you define love? How do you show it and share it?
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