PEOPLE CONNECTIONS PART 7: MAKING DISCIPLES OF POWER

Mark 1:17; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 9:17-29 (NASB)
David Bruce Linn, Pastor-Teacher
31 July 2005
All Rights Reserved

In the film Star Wars, Part V, the Empire Strikes Back, a handsome young warrior named Luke Skywalker finds himself as one of a handful of people who might be able to save the known universe from total domination by an evil power. Skywalker learns that his destiny is to become a Jedi knight, member of an elite group of warriors who harness the spiritual power of the universe to defeat their enemies.

Luke goes in search of a great Jedi master named Yoda on the swamp planet Dagobah. He lands his fighter spacecraft in the swamp, and as he is unloading it sinks beneath the murky water. There he meets a little green man with pointed ears, a funny voice, and tufts of gray hair sticking out of his head. After much dancing around, Luke learns that this, in fact, is Yoda himself, a great Jedi warrior and the one who had trained Luke's father to be one of the most powerful Jedi.

They gradually accept one another as master and disciple. Yoda has Luke running to build physical strength but most important, doing exercises to focus the spiritual power of the Force. He has Luke standing on his head and lifting rocks without touching them. Finally, Luke is faced with trying to lift the fighter out of the swamp with nothing but the Force. He closes his eyes, extends his hand to the spot where it sank, and tries to focus spiritual energy. The craft lifts a little, but Luke cannot hold it, and it sinks even deeper.

Luke cries out in frustration: "You ask the impossible!" and stalks off to sulk. While his back is turned, the little man with the pointy ears lowers his head, closes his eyes, and extends his hand toward the fighter. Luke hears the water and slimy swamp plants sliding off the fighter, and spins around to see his spacecraft floating ten feet above the swamp. Yoda guides the craft to solid ground and gently sets it down. Luke turns to him and cries: "I don't believe it!" Yoda stares back in his face and replies: "That is why you fail."

1. POWER FAILURE AMONG CHRIST'S DISCIPLES

I am not surprised that I do not know many disciples of Jesus Christ who do miracles. I am surprised at how many I know who seem not to have the power to resist a seducer or the compelling power of their own inward sins. I am even more surprised at how many disciples seem not to have the power to lead people to Christ or to have a consistent devotional life. According to surveys done by George Barna, the vast majority of evangelical Christians apparently lack the power to read the Bible much, pray regularly, or even follow the Ten Commandments.

This does not sound like the picture of discipleship Jesus planned when he sent his followers out: "And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits..." (Mark 6:7). He also gave them power to heal, the keys of the kingdom to release people from bondage, and the power of God for salvation found in the gospel. They did, in fact, go around leading people to Christ, healing, casting out demons, and doing all kinds of miracles.

In Mark 9 we find a situation where the twelve could not cast an evil spirit out of a boy who had been plagued since birth. The spirit had made him deaf and dumb. It had also caused unpredictable convulsions making him fall into water and fires. His father brought him to the disciples in hope of relief, but they failed. The failure was rapidly becoming a public embarrassment as a crowd gathered. Jesus approached the group and the father cried out to Jesus: "...If You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!' And Jesus said to him, 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, 'I do believe; help my unbelief'" (Mark 9:22b-24). What do you think happened as a result of this statement of faith? Jesus commanded the demon to leave. The demon threw the boy to the ground, cried out, convulsed him for a bit, and then departed never to return.

The disciples were mystified. Jesus had given them authority to cast out demons, but their power had failed. "'Why could we not drive it out?' And He said to them, 'This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer and fasting'" (Mark 9:28b-29). At first blush, this does not make sense. They had already been casting out demons with nothing but a word, but now Jesus tells them to go to prayer? What good would that do?

The answer is found by noticing what Jesus said when they first came to him with their power failure: "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!" (Mark 9:19). Jesus lumped his disciples in with the rest of the unbelievers at that moment! Remember that faith is not a force, and it is not a thing. It is simply our connection to God. So if we have a power failure we have a connection failure. The demonized boy did not get delivered because the people connection between the disciples and their Lord had become damaged.

We see this in Jesus' instruction for them to pursue the power of God through fasting and prayer. He is not saying that there is power in prayer itself, but it is the means by which we seek God. It is one of the primary ways we strengthen our faith connection to our Lord. So when the power fails Jesus tells us to strengthen our connection to him.

A key reason that the people connection was damaged between the disciples and Jesus was that he had begun to unfold the real reason why he had come: "For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, 'The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.' But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him" (Mark 9:31-32). This most difficult test of faith had caused the disciples to pull back in their relationship with Jesus. They had hoped the Messiah would drive the Roman persecutors out of Israel and that they would be part of the magnificent victory. Crucifixion was not on their agenda. So they loosened their faith connection and the results were predictable. The power of God flows over the interpersonal connection of faith in Jesus. Weaken the connection and the power stops flowing.

2. JESUS' WAY OF MAKING DISCIPLES OF POWER

It is vital that we see with stunning clarity Jesus' own way of forming people like us into disciples who are able to move in the power of God. He was not confusing on this issue. There are no tricks. In fact, he bracketed his earthly ministry with statements designed to reveal the whole process of making disciples: "And Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men'" (Mark 1:17). He did not say this to everyone he called to follow him at that time. Here was revealing his intention to take twelve people, build powerful people connections with them over three years, and use those connections to develop them into apostles who were ready to found the church. Jesus' way of what many are now calling spiritual formation was fundamentally personal.

Near the end of his ministry he issued the Great Commission: "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20). The Christ who personally formed disciples now commands us to do the same, and we must not import some method different than his own. Through his earthly people connections Jesus transmitted the breath-taking prophetic vision of God, his mission to reach the lost, and the strategic vision which would launch the church.

And the power is all his. He never delivers it over to us apart from himself. If we want more power, we must have more of him, and we get more of him by strengthening our faith connection to him by giving attention to his person. If I were to write a book on the core of the life of faith it might be called The Person-Driven Life, because that is the plan Jesus followed and it is the only way to become disciples of power. It is also the only way for us to make disciples of power out of others.

3. THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAKING DISCIPLES OF POWER

This sounds like a lot of work. In fact, it requires total commitment. There is no Bible verse describing Jesus' vacations from his disciples just to get away from them. So how do we determine the specific people into whom we are to pour our lives like water? Just follow the people connections.

Among the strongest of people connections is between a parent and child. Paul wrote to Timothy: "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8). If that is true of providing our families with bread to eat, how much more is it true of providing them with the Bread of Life, who is Jesus Christ our Lord? I can think of no higher family responsibility. I plead with every parent to accept your role as the primary discipler of your children. No church program or Christian school can make your children into disciples of power. And an unwillingness to do that work on your part has the power to negate what little can be done by such programs.

Husbands have a personal responsibility to disciple their wives: "So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church..." (Ephesians 5:28-29). I think that wives can be a powerful encouragement to their husbands in Christ, but men should have another man as their primary discipler. Furthermore, every people connection in the family ought to become an avenue for making disciples.

Beyond those strong familial connections there is the body of Christ which is the family of God. Church connections are also avenues for discipling, and they are also primarily personal in nature. Programs may provide the information, but the command of Jesus is to teach others how to live. It is a way of life with Christ at the center of every life and supreme over all. As Paul wrote to Timothy: "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:1-2). Timothy was not Paul's biological son, but their family connection in the body of Christ was intensely personal.

We live in the information age. There is more good Bible teaching and devotional literature available than at any time in the history of the world. Why, then, is there no huge contingent of disciples who walk in the undeniable power of God? One reason is that many Christians today have refused to shoulder the mantle of personal responsibility to disciple others. Weak, damaged, or missing people connections have crippled the church even as we are flooded with information.

When I began as a senior pastor at the age of 26 I had no mentor. There was no one helping me become a pastor. There were no official ordination mentors and I had no strong people connections because we had moved cross-country. I was rebuffed by a senior man in my church who had pastoral experience. We were required to attend training classes, but the only one I can remember was on how to dress for success. My wife had no one to disciple her personally. I'll tell you--we did a lot of floundering! We almost didn't make it.

4. ATTACKS ON OUR PEOPLE CONNECTIONS

If the work of making disciples of power flows primarily over people connections, what do you think the devil wants to do with them? He wants to tear them apart. He knows that his best means to prevent the formation of disciples of power is to divide marriages, make parents distant from their own children, convince pastors that they have no personal responsibility for other pastors, divide communities, and create division in the church.

Technology has a strong tendency to depersonalize life. It is possible to live entirely online without having to face a single real person. The misuse of spiritual technology in the church has deceived us and robbed us of the personal. Government welfare, while helping millions, has also generated millions who are now free to ignore the people connections God designed for the family. In short, there are many forces which tear our people connections apart and few which strengthen them.

5. WHAT TO DO?

The film series Star Wars admittedly is filled with spiritual dangers. Its view of the afterlife is a blend of eastern religions. In real life the Jedi use of spiritual power--the Force--to lift things in the physical realm is sorcery. Such attempts are efforts to call up the demonic, and are an abomination to the Lord.

With that warning in place we can nevertheless see some clear illustrations for making disciples of Jesus who walk in true spiritual power. First of all, we must become the thing we want to teach. Our disciples may go far beyond us, but they won't walk in power at all if we do not. No one can teach something they do not know, so we must embrace our personal connection to Jesus Christ above every other aspect of religion. Yoda was not merely a teacher, he was one of the most powerful Jedi warriors, and had 800 years of experience to boot.

Secondly, we must find a willing disciple. Yoda and Luke danced around quite a bit before Yoda was convinced that he should pour himself into Luke. No one can disciple the unwilling. Often we wish certain people were ready to become disciples of power, but the real opportunity is with someone we are not expecting.

Thirdly, we must make, develop, and protect our people connections. Yoda had trained Luke's father to be a Jedi knight. That was a start, and then they developed their own people connection. If you just look about your life you will see people connections which God has already given you. Are you using these and strengthening them? As you go about your life have you noticed that God gives you many opportunities for new people connections? Treasure these and be sure to protect those you already have. Every broken relationship you allow to develop in your family, church, or community is a lost opportunity to build the kingdom.

Finally, making disciples of power works through failures. Luke Skywalker attempted to lift the fighter out of the swamp and dropped it right back in. Yoda did not reject him, but showed him the power to lift it himself. Do you think that Jesus Christ was surprised when his disciples failed to cast the demon out of the boy? Not for a moment. Failure is a part of the learning process.

When Luke saw Yoda lift the fighter out of the swamp he cried out: "I don't believe it!" And Yoda replied: "That is why you fail." Jesus cried out: "Oh unbelieving generation!" Our people connection by faith to Jesus Christ is what makes us disciples who can walk in his power: This kind cannot go out except by prayer and fasting."

It is our people connection to others which Jesus uses to mold disciples of power today. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'" This is not a science fantasy story with pointy-eared munchkins. The power of God is real, and the task of making disciples who move in that power is all about the people connections.