by Darryl Evetts*
First century disciples were accused of “turning the world upside down!” (Acts 17:6, ESV). I love it! I love a good “change-the-world” challenge! But I also have to admit, at times it sounds like an overused theme from a high school graduation speech. Can one person really change the world? Can just a few people really change the world? Jesus did! The disciples did! For more than 2,000 years people’s worlds have been turned upside down (rather, set right side up) as they have discovered Jesus Christ and the life He offers them.
God invites us to join Him as He continues to turn people’s worlds upside down – from the very first, Jesus said to those He called to be disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19, ESV) to His great commission He left us with before He ascended, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV).
First, I believe it’s simply about obeying Jesus’ clear command.
Second, I believe Jesus left us simple steps to follow. Our part is not easy, but I do believe it is much simpler than we make it out to be.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION! An important aspect of making disciples is finding them in the first place. We are often good at “casual” or “shallow” chit-chat, but our challenge is to take these conversations from casual to meaningful, from meaningful to spiritual, and from spiritual to discovery. This can be a bit intimidating, but if you approach your interactions with spiritual intent and genuine interest and love, you will meet people whom God is already in conversation with (drawing to Himself) and He will invite you to join the conversation.
A good example of this is found in John 4:4-26, when Jesus encounters the woman at the well. Here we see Jesus take the conversation with the woman from casual (needing a drink of water), to meaningful (talking about living water), to spiritual (springs of water welling up to eternal life). In each transition, Jesus used a statement or question to see if the woman was open to going deeper.
These statements led the woman to discover truth, to discover Jesus. Rather than Jesus telling the woman who He was and why she should follow Him, He engaged her in a spiritually intentional conversation that allowed her to discover Him for herself. Her world was turned upside down.
This Sunday Tim Faulkner, General Secretary of IBC, will be bring a message to us from God’s word. Please join us:
10:00 Church Prayer Meeting
10:30 Worship Service and fellowship after the service.
* Reprinted with permission from Highlights – IBC, April 2023. Darryl Evetts, Multiplying Churches Core Strategy Director