Are You Only Listening & Not Doing?

So many of us this week attended a church service. For some it was in a large building full of thousands of people with a full band to lead in giving praise to King Jesus. Or for some it was a small group of people meeting in a home to study the word of God. The latter is what the majority of the church looks like globally, from week to week. But as the body of Christ, the church, we can meet anywhere for fellowship and teaching from God’s Word. These two functions of the church are vital for church health, but they are not exhaustive pertaining to health. When meeting with the church most of us have been in the listening position more than the teaching position. But have you been there too long? Today, I’m going to challenge you with Scripture to move beyond just listening, but to teaching or doing!

We don’t have to look too far to find the answer for why we need to become teachers, or another way to say it, doers. Matthew 28:19-20 gives us a clear answer. Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” As followers of Christ this is our mandate, “to go make disciples of all nations.” Many of us know that by making disciples we will reach the world with the gospel. History even teaches us that making disciples and planting churches is the most effective way to spread the gospel, but I fear we know this in theory, but not in practice. Recently reading in the book of John, I was reminded of a key component in Jesus ministry that guaranteed he would make disciples that would reach the ends of the earth.

John the baptist, who was the one who would point others to Christ, was with two of his disciples. John looked up and saw Jesus passing by. He shouted, “Behold the Lamb!” The response of these two disciples with John was to follow Jesus. Jesus saw that they were following and asked them a question. “What are you seeking?” The two disciples replied, “Rabbi, “Where are you staying?” Jesus answered, “come and you will see.” So the disciples went and stayed with Jesus.

Following this encounter Jesus called another man named Philip to follow him. After meeting Jesus, Philip found Nathaniel and told him that he had found the one spoken of by Moses and the Prophets. That this man was from Nazareth. Nathaniel’s response was “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip responded, “Come and see.”

Philip’s respose was right on. Just as Jesus had said, “Come and you will see,” Philip followed suit. Jesus had a come and see ministry and passed that onto his disciples. We discover from these stories that he didn’t spend alot of time answering the two disciples questions, but invited them to spend time with him. He could have had them listen to him speak about the kingdom of God, which he did at times, but when it came to making disciples he valued that they see what he was doing. This is why later, when he told them to go and make disciples, they were not only hearers of his word but doers of his word.

This method of discipleship did not stop with Jesus, but we can quickly see how Philip saw the importance of telling Nathaniel to come and see. The main point I discovered from these two stories is when it comes to discipleship many of us are only telling our disciples to listen, but not encouraging them to join us in what we are doing. Or beyond that telling them to go make their own disciples. Because Jesus invited those two disciples to see what he was doing they in return learned from him and when he ascended back to heaven they had no excuse to give for not doing the work. They had spent time with the master.

In India, one of the challenges we face is men and women want to only be hearers of the word and not doers. Because of this challenge we teach those who want to make disciples to teach their disciples to not only hear the word but do it. Jesus had a vision that was to reach all nations and knew that the men he surrounded himself with were to be more than hearers. Many of you reading this may not see the necessity of showing your disciples their potential because your vision can be accomplished by you alone. Another way to say it is your vision is too small! I would encourage you to expand your vision. When you do that you will see the importance of making disciples that are not only hearers but doers.

As the disciples spent more time with Jesus they saw what was the next step in their ministry. Jesus had a vision that included his disciples doing more than even he could do. As we study the Apostle Paul’s ministry he had the same vision. My prayer is that we would be like Jesus and have a “come and see” ministry, which in return will develop men and women that are doers of the word. How many of your disciples that you teach each week are doers of the word? How can you help those who are only hearers to become doers? This is your task this week!!!