Reflection on NOOMA Dust and Matt 28: 16-20

Friends, we have shared in this devotional video together today because its creator and author can say some of the most important tenets of the Christian faith around discipleship better then I could ever say. While this video did not directly address today’s scripture passage

What I have gleaned from Rob Bell’s message about discipleship is as follows:

First, believing in Jesus does not make you a disciple of Christ. Let me say that again, believing in Jesus does not make you a disciple of Christ. They are two different things. We could believe in the power and message of Christ without feeling the need to go and live out the great commission commanded in today’s passage of scripture. But I believe that when we do not desire with our beings to follow Jesus, to know what Jesus knows and to be like Jesus, and we don’t strive to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world by baptizing and teaching others what Jesus has taught us, that we are not being the church.

There are lots of reasons that we would rather know Jesus ourselves instead of being disciples – discipleship is hard. Its messy. But above all, I think that we do not go and spread this message of hope, love, and peace, because we do not think that we are good enough. We don’t have a seminary education. We haven’t studied the Bible enough. But brothers and sisters Jesus called the not good enough’s, those who others had rejected and gave them the same authority that he had been given. He invested time in them and they changed the world. We do not need to know everything about Jesus or have our methods for sharing Christ perfected. We are simply called to go, and share our love for Jesus.

Are we willing to be disciples, risking ourselves for a message that is bigger then us? Are we willing to venture into the messy places in life, to share the good news that someone once dared to show us? Are we so in love with Jesus that our feet are covered with the mud of the same places that he traveled? And are we willing to truly believe that this is what Jesus has called us to, no matter what? The harvest is plentiful my friends, are we willing to believe in ourselves as Jesus believes is us, and go? Amen.