Diagram of a Disciple Pt. 3: Values
The Healthy Christian • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsThe 3rd message describing what a healthy disciple of Jesus looks like, this sermon highlights the virtues or values held by healthy Christians. In this case, it's a matter of ensuring 3 ongoing practices: Receiving Godly Instruction, Practical Implementation, and Purposeful Investment into others.
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INTRO: I once heard a pastor say, “If you show me your calendar and your checkbook register, I will tell you what you value in your life.”
I wonder what you might uncover in your life if we put your calendar up in the screen:
Athletes will note how many hours are spent working out or practicing.
Hunters and fishermen might note the time and money spent on gear and sport.
In my life, I can note the number of hours and dollars that have gone into study as I pursue advanced education.
And sometimes when we talk about our values, we start to silo our life so that everything we love and value is in competition. This leads to closed minds and ears because you know and I know that our greatest love; the thing we value most must be Christ.
But sometimes we don’t know what Christianity looks like outside of a church building or program. What if I told you that God has created you in such a way that when we value His Kingdom and put Him first, He will align our other values?
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
This passage is speaking directly about our worries and necessities, but has implications for our purpose and our life-path. So, if we seek God first, then He will allow us to, let’s say, be athletes and leverage our talents and relationships so that in and through our athletic ventures, we are bringing Him the greatest glory with our lives.
I bring this up so that we can step back and look at this 3rd perspective of a healthy disciple of Jesus.
We’ve looked at the heart motivation of the disciple in our study of the beatitudes; the internal components.
We’ve studied the External Expressions of the healthy disciple when we looked at the Fruit of the Spirit. These indicate that we are being led by the Holy Spirit as opposed to our flesh.
And today, we will look at the mind of the healthy disciple, seeking to identify what we must intellectually value as a follower of Jesus.
Now, before we jump into our study, I want you to picture a lake. A lake that has no streams or rivers filling it will not be a lake very long, for it will dry up. A lake that only has water in it when there’s a lot of rain is nothing more than a big puddle. It cannot sustain life.
Of course, a lake that has no outlets, will build up with so many rich nutrients, that it becomes such that nothing can live in it. The Dead Sea is an example. It has several water sources coming in, but none flowing out. This makes it very salty- 10 times saltier than the ocean.
But a lake that supports life has water sources flowing in and water sources flowing out. And even though water is on the move constantly, there is a healthy ecosystem of fish, plant-life, and all that indicate that this is a healthy lake.
Some of you might already be connecting this illustration to our lives as healthy Christians. So, let me invite you to take your bible and turn to Titus 2 (READ)/ PRAY
1 But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.
2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.
3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,
4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible;
7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified,
8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,
10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
15 These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
This letter was written to a young pastor to help him develop a healthy church and healthy Christians (1:5). Chapter 1 lays out some issues and foundations for Titus, and in chapter 2, Paul gives him a picture of what Christians ought to value, and thus a perspective of what they look like. I am going to introduce them to you this morning in 3 parts or values of the healthy disciple.
So, if you have a bulletin, I encourage you to follow along. The sermon is titled, Diagram of a Disciple Pt. 3: Values. Let’s jump in.
The first value that we can identify is the value of:
Godly Instruction (1, 15)
Godly Instruction (1, 15)
(READ)
Paul tells Titus to teach, exhort, correct all things necessary for sound doctrine. Doctrine, if you remember, can be defined as “the truth about God and our relation to Him.” Sound doctrine is speaking about teaching truth that is not tainted or compromised.
ILL: It’s not difficult to imagine ways that the truth of God is compromised in our world. There are churches who have perverted God’s word and teach a feel-good theology that isn’t even close to what the Bible actually teaches. There are people and groups who claim to be Christian, but who have replaced the God of the Bible with a false god of their imagination. The world is full of tainted teaching about Jesus.
But Paul tells Titus that this must not be true for authentic believers and followers of Christ. As a pastor, I have a responsibility to teach the truth of God’s word and I will one day stand before Him and give an account for every sermon, counseling session, SS lesson, and discipleship meeting. As a pastor, I hold in high regard this responsibility and so I pray and wrestle with the Word of God so that I might be faithful in this arena.
As Christians, you must value godly instruction and receive it as from the Lord. You need to read your bibles, listen to the sermons and SS lessons you are taught, and value them enough to meditate upon these truths. You ought to take notes and ask questions. You ought to consider how the instruction connects with other teachings and what that means for your walk with Christ!
You need to see that what God’s Word says must be proclaimed! And even when you feel like the pastor is preaching at you or maybe you think the topic only applies to “other people”, you need to step back and pray that God would transform you through His word!
Friends we must value Godly instruction and submit ourselves to it regularly, partaking of the provision of Almighty God that reveals His character and love to us because sound doctrine feeds the soul and crucifies the flesh! Godly instruction confronts us in our sin, encourages us in our faith, and gives glory to Jesus Christ who gave His life as a ransom for you and for me!
So, each week, instead of showing up like this is some kind of theater performance meant to tickle your ears, come prepared to hear from God through the teaching and preaching of His Word. Train yourself to be engaged, not because you are entertained, but because you know you have a desperate need for Godly wisdom, your life crying our in need for Godly counsel!
For heaven’s sake, we must value Godly Instruction because God is worthy of our attention and He’s worthy of our praise. He’s worthy of our focus and He has something to say to you and me and it comes out in Godly Instruction.
Next, a healthy disciple values:
Practical Implementation (2, 3a, 6-10)
Practical Implementation (2, 3a, 6-10)
(READ)
ILL: How many of you like/ liked homework? I know, I get it. BUT, if you put into practice the instruction you receive, you will have a good chance of retaining it and seeing how it relates to life.
When it comes to God’s Word, we must understand a vital truth. God did not give us the bible so we could simply “know” more. He gave it so we can put the truths, instructions, and doctrine into practice in our everyday lives. James remarked in his letter, James 1:22 “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
This is what it means to implement God’s teaching through application. It means that that when we hear instruction from the Bible to forgive, we apply that by extending forgiveness to someone. When we receive instruction to serve others, we apply that by serving others. When we are taught to be good stewards, we apply that by using what God has given us wisely for His glory.
Here in Paul’s letter to Titus, he explains that the result of Titus’ teaching should be that men, women, slaves, (all who received it) would be a healthy reflection of Jesus. Let’s look at a few descriptors he uses:
Temperate: this means self-controlled. They are not easily led into sin and temptation.
Dignified: Worthy of respect/ respectable/ trustworthy
Sensible: Understanding, prudent
Sound in faith, love, perseverance: Having a right understanding and display of their trust in God, resulting in love of neighbor, eternal perspective, etc.
Not gossips: That’s pretty obvious… we don’t tear others down, we build them up
Beyond reproach: Not doing questionable things or partaking in sinful actions.
An example of good deeds: Modeling Jesus to others.
There are other descriptors here, but you probably get the idea. When Godly Instruction is received with the motivation of a sincere heart and APPLIED in the power of the Holy Spirit, we should see signs of health that look suspiciously like the Fruit of the Spirit.
Are you beginning to see how these diagrams or perspectives of a healthy disciple of Jesus fit together?
So far, the picture we see is of a disciple who values Godly instruction, submitting themselves to receive it and taking practical steps to apply what you have learned in your life. But if we stop here, then we are much like the Dead Sea I talked about earlier. What we need is both inlets and outlets. That leads me to the final point,
Healthy Disciples value
Purposeful Investment (3b-4, 11-15)
Purposeful Investment (3b-4, 11-15)
(READ)
One of the primary reasons that we learn and apply God’s Word is so we can teach others. So that God’s Kingdom may increase and He will be glorified in us and through us. This is because God has brought salvation in Jesus for all who will call upon Him. His plan, from the beginning of time, was that we would know Him and love Him.
And we can only love Him because He first loved us, and our love for others is a demonstration of our love for God and His love for us.
So, as we learned several weeks ago, as followers of Jesus, we are called to GO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS and that means that we are necessarily taking what we have received in Godly instruction, fleshing it out in practical implementation in our lives, and purposefully investing all that we have learned and become into others so they may know God like we know God.
Now, folks the church has put into place programs that help facilitate some of this. But here’s the thing, all that we do here is part of the instruction so that you can implement and invest throughout the week in all the other 165 hours of your week.
If you are a follower of Jesus, a healthy disciple, then you need to value investing in others so much that you make plans to do it. You sacrifice to invest in someone else- you get up early, share your dinner, be vulnerable, whatever it takes to help someone else know Jesus like you know Jesus.
So, where can you start? What does it look like in your life?
ILL: I want you to think about your favorite hobby. Maybe it’s a sport or craft. Some of you like to crochet, some of you like to golf. If I believed that you would benefit from learning to golf, I’d take you to the driving range and teach you everything I could, then I’d take you to a course and we’d play. I’d tell you what I’ve learned and help you understand etiquette and scoring… all the golf things. Folks, I’m no Tiger Woods. But I like to golf, and I wish you could enjoy the game like I do.
Now, just do that with Jesus. I want you to enjoy Him like I enjoy Him. I want you to know Him like I know Him and love Him like I love Him. I want you to be captivated by His Word and confident in your prayers to Him.
You don’t have to be a pastor to do this. You don’t have to have a seminary education or even be a gifted teacher. But, you cannot give what you do not have. Nobody can pour from an empty cup.
Oh friends, like the healthy lake that I described in the beginning of our time with healthy inlets and outlets and circulation, when we value Godly instruction, practical implementation, and purposeful investment, we become a picture of a healthy disciple.
I encourage you to take a step in this direction today. Assess your values and make adjustments. APPLY what you’ve received and let’s see what God will do!
[PRAY]
Discuss: How can you prepare yourself to best receive the teaching of God’s Word?
Discuss: Do you struggle to apply the Biblical teaching to your life? What steps can you take to improve?
Discuss: Who can you help in their Christian walk? Pray for them and take a step to begin walking alongside them… maybe start with lunch!
