Category: Gospel of Matthew

Striving to be a Healthy Church (Part 3)

In the two previous posts found here and here, I have sought to layout what the local church is called to do—what makes a healthy church? In those essays I have argued that the number one goal for every church leader is to present every member mature in Christ. That is, the goal, the purpose, the concentration of the shepherds God has placed over his flock is to seek to lead each member in that church to Christ-likeness. 

Now, I would like to shift from answering the “what” question (what makes a healthy church?) to the “how question (how do we go about pursuing this goal of maturity for every believer?). In answering this question I would like to turn our attention to Matthew 28:19-20. Here I suggest is the formula for developing a church with members seeking maturity. Allow me to cite the passage under consideration:

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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).

If the Goal of every local church can be summarized by Paul’s words in Colossians 1:28—“present everyone mature in Christ,” then the best way to go about accomplishing that goal, I humbly suggest, is Jesus’ words in the Great commission. In this article I want to focus solely on the main verb of the passage, “make disciples,” and then in the next post deal with the three qualifiers that describe how we go about doing that. 

The main verb in Matthew 28:19-20 is the phrase “make disciples.” Everything else in these two verses simply explain how one goes about accomplishing this task. Now, it seems that the term “make disciples” can be viewed synonymously with what we have already discussed thus far—that is, presenting everyone mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28). To strive for maturity is to be a disciple; to be a disciples is one who strives to be mature. Making disciples is the goal of the church! And let us remind ourselves what the goal is NOT:

  • Build big beautiful buildings
  • Create really cool worship services
  • Feed the poor
  • Get financially stable
  • Develop awesome programs
  • Have a lot of church potlucks

As admirable, well-intentional, and effective these things may be they are not what Christ gives as the mission of the church. These may be results, or means to that mission, but they are not the mission! 

So what is it? What does Christ call us to do? We are to simply make disciples, period. Our number one and primary mission of the church is to develop disciples of Christ. 

And may I add that this is not the great suggestion, but a great commandment! “Making disciples here is in the imperative mood—that is, it is a command. It has an exclamation behind it—Make disciples! Based on Christ’ authority over everything he commands us to make disciples! This is not optional for the Christian, but binding. You can’t be a Christian and not make disciples. 

So, what’s a disciple…? I’m glad you asked! 

Making disciples, generally speaking, involves following the teachings and behavior of another person. As mentioned here in our text, it has to do with getting others to follow the life and teachings of Christ himself—Discipleship is becoming like Jesus! 

I like how popular writer Francis Chan describes it in his book “Multiply:” 

It’s impossible to be a disciple or a follower of someone and not end up like that person. Jesus said, ‘a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40).” That’s the whole point of being a disciple of Jesus: we imitate him, carry on his ministry, and become like him in the process.

“Yet somehow many have come to believe that a person can be a “Christian” without being like Christ. A “follower” who doesn’t follow. How does that make any sense? Many people in the church have decided to take on the name of Christ and nothing else. This would be like Jesus walking up to those first disciples and saying, “Hey, would you guys mind identifying yourselves with Me in some way? Don’t worry, I don’t actually care if you do anything I do or change your lifestyle at all. I’m just looking for people who are willing to say they believe in Me and call themselves Christians (Chan, Francis. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples, 16-17.)” 

A simple example is in Matthew 4:18-22:

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus’ first disciples simply dropped everything and followed after him! They let go of their desires and replaced them with Christ’ desires! 

Romans 8:29 tells us that this idea of becoming like Jesus is actually at the heart of God’s will for each of our lives. To look like Jesus—to believe and live what he taught. 

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

So, making disciples is simply calling others to live and believe exactly like Jesus. Each of us are called to be little imitations of Jesus. We live, behave, talk, act, think….like Jesus! That’s making disciples! In our next post we will flesh out “How” we go about accomplishing this goal. 

The time Jesus was wrong?

Recently I preached a sermon from Matthew 15:21-28, the famous story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman. In this text I was taken back by Jesus’ seemingly harsh tone and attitude toward a woman who, from all intense and purposes, was one who showed tremendous faith and perseverance. A simple straight forward reading of the passage shows Jesus completely ignoring the woman’s plea for help (verse 23), dismissing her because she is not a Jew (verse 24), and finally calling this poor woman a dog (verse 26)! As one sifts through the Gospel of Matthew Jesus’ actions toward the persistent woman is oddly out of place. Jesus told the gentile centurion that he had never in all Israel found such faith (Matthew 8:10), spoke highly of the faith of the Paralytic in Matthew 9:2, and many more examples could be given. So, why in this particular instance does Jesus seem so unlike, well, Jesus?

While on the surface it may seem that Jesus is treating the Canaanite woman harshly could it be that there is something going on in the text that isn’t so obvious; that when one digs a bit deeper into the text discovers Jesus is actually being tremendously endearing? I think there is.

While trying to unpack the essence of this conversation between Jesus and the Canaanite woman, some clues unveil in at least two places. The first involves the sudden shift in Jesus’ attitude in verse 28. It seems bizarre at first. After completely ignoring this woman while she cries out for Jesus’ help in verses 21-27, Jesus’ tone dramatically shifts as he exclaims “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire (Matthew 15:28).” So, why does Jesus intentionally ignore her in the first two requests for help, but then suddenly shift and speak of how much faith she has?

The second hint is found in the statement made by the Canaanite woman in verse 27. The Canaanite woman finally approaches Jesus, falls to her knees, and says “Lord Help me (verse 25).” At this point one could easily envisage Jesus responding in compassion. But no, Jesus actually responds with what only can be viewed as a harsh and rude statement: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs (verse 26).” It is at this point that the Canaanite says something that changes Jesus tone entirely, verse 27 reads thus: “She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’” What is it about this statement that radically changes the conversation?

I discovered that most English translations translate the Greek phrase Ναὶ κύριε, καὶ γὰρ (yes Lord, yet even) as “yes Lord, yet even…” or “Yes Lord, But even…” The problem however is that the words “καὶ γὰρ” never mean “but even” or “yet even,” but always mean “for even.” When translated as “but even” it gives the impression that the Canaanite is agreeing with Jesus statement. That is, it is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs—Implying that it is not right for Jesus to minister to the woman because his purpose was only to minister to the people of Israel. Rather, the phrase should be translated “For even.”

Read this way it implies something entirely different, namely that the Canaanite is disagreeing with Jesus. In essence she is saying in response, “Yes Lord, it is right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table…(my paraphrase)” In other words, the Canaanite woman was challenging Jesus’ statement. She was arguing that the Kingdom is for both Jew and Gentile! In light of this, Jesus’ ecstatic expression in verse 28 makes sense. Jesus in essence says to this woman—you’re right!

If this interpretation is correct the tone and feel of the conversation between Jesus and the Canaanite woman is read in a different light. Was Jesus being rude and ugly in response to the Canaanite woman’s plea for help? Some would conclude that he was. But, what if Jesus was purposefully responding in the manner he does in order to draw out the faith of the Canaanite woman? Could there be a bit of sarcasm and facetiousness being delivered by our Lord? Was Jesus purposefully saying something wrong in order for the Canaanite woman to correct him?NT scholar R.T. France seems to think so:

Cold print does not allow us to detect a quizzical eyebrow or a tongue in the cheek, and it may be that Jesus’ demeanor already hinted that his discouraging reply was not to be his last word on the subject. Need we assume that when eventually the woman won the argument Jesus was either dismayed or displeased? May this not rather have been the outcome he intended from the start? A good teacher may sometimes aim to draw out a pupil’s best insight by a deliberate challenge which does not necessarily represent the teacher’s own view—even if the phrase ‘devil’s advocate’ may not be quite appropriate to this context!” (France, R.T., NICNT, Matthew, 591)

When I preached this sermon I titled it “The time Jesus was wrong?” It got a lot of attention as you can imagine! But, in the end it is interesting to see that Jesus’ deliberate response to the Canaanite woman actually intended to spur on the great statement of faith that she did. And Jesus was glad she was right!