Jesus on Discipleship - Part Two

Last Sunday we considered how the word “abandon” fits into the scheme of being a disciple of Jesus.  This week the word is “immersion.”  A careful study of the gospels reveals that after the twelve were chosen, as part of their training, Jesus intentionally immersed them in active ministry.
The word “immerse” means to cover something completely or to occupy oneself totally with something.  As part of His training, Jesus immersed the disciples in continual ministry.  Jesus had no intention of having part-time followers.  Instead He took the twelve with Him everywhere He went and involved them in every aspect of His ministry.  Luke 8:1 shows Jesus in action: “…Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.  The twelve were with Him.”

The twelve were not with Jesus to provide Him company or to serve Him personally in some way.  They were with Him to learn how to care for and serve others as He did.  To instill in His disciples the things they needed to be effective for God’s kingdom, Jesus employed a six-fold strategy.  First, Jesus told them what and then taught them why.  Second, He showed them how and then did it with them.  Finally, Jesus let them do it themselves and then He deployed them to go and make other disciples.  Throughout the entire process they were immersed in His teaching, ministry and, ultimately, in carrying out His great commission.

As I think about what I hope you will take away from this article, I believe it would be this:  Discipleship is not a part-time calling.  Treating discipleship in this way sets us up to be pulled into the world’s distractions which hinder our development as Christ’s disciple.  It’s been said that if one is busy rowing the boat, they don’t have time to rock it.  In like manner, when we are immersed in growing toward the image of Jesus, we are much more likely to make consistent progress toward that goal and less likely to fall by the wayside.