Disciple Making: 10 Things That May Be Stopping You
As the Church, it’s pretty common to assume the things we’ve seen as barriers to discipleship and life in community are unique to our own context, neighborhood or circumstances. That’s just not true!
In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, Caesar talks about 10 things that may be keeping you and the folks in your church from making disciples and really living on mission with God in everyday life.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- The most common roadblocks to discipleship and mission.
- What is really behind each of these apparent obstacles.
- Questions to ask yourself to get free and get moving.
- The surprising “roadblock” that encompasses most (or all) of the rest!
From this episode:
“For a whole lot of the church around the world, no one’s making disciples, and they don’t know how, and they’ve never really been discipled in all of life and they’ve never seen it. So they don’t know how to get started with true discipleship communities. Here’s the question to ask yourself: ‘Am I willing to be part of forging new rhythms in my life, in our church and family so that others can see and experience this kingdom of God up close?’ Will YOU be the one to change this? Get started and learn and move and start to create new rhythms.”
Each week the Big 3 will give you immediate action steps to get you started.
Download today’s BIG 3 right now. Read and think over them again later. You might even want to share them with others…
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Join us on Facebook and take part in the discussion!
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this page or right below.
Also, please subscribe and leave an honest review for The Everyday Disciple Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.
Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Free Download of the Big 3 For Episode #323
Coaching with Caesar and Tina in discipleship and missional living.
Free Discipleship and Missional Resources
Transcript
You're saying to yourself, or maybe others, you know that in your church that going well, we've never seen Community that lives like this before.
Speaker:We've just never seen it.
Speaker:So we don't even know what to do or how to get started.
Speaker:Well, that's tough sledding.
Speaker:And so many people have never been discipled, not in the ways of everyday life and in community and treating people like family.
Speaker:And so they haven't seen it.
Speaker:Well, so then does that mean that they won't see it in our lives?
Speaker:And so then they'll also hide behind that and pretty soon then guess what we have kind of where we've landed for a whole lot of the church today around the world is no one's making disciples and they don't know how, and they've never really been discipled in all of life and they've never seen it.
Speaker:So they can't.
Speaker:Here's the question to ask yourself, am I willing to be part of forging new rhythms in my life and in our church and family so that others can see and experience this kingdom of God up close.
Speaker:Are you willing to suck forward?
Speaker:As I say it started , and, and learn and move and start to.
Speaker:Create new rhythms.
Speaker:Welcome to the Everyday, Disciple podcast, where you'll learn how to live with greater intentionality and an integrated faith.
Speaker:It naturally fits into every area of life.
Speaker:In other words, Discipleship as a lifestyle.
Speaker:This is the stuff your parents, pastors, and seminary professors probably forgot to tell you.
Speaker:And now here's your host Caesar.
Speaker:Kalinowski okay.
Speaker:Back in the saddle back together again.
Speaker:got, I love that.
Speaker:I hope you do.
Speaker:I know I do.
Speaker:I'm excited.
Speaker:I'm excited about what we're going to talk about today and all that.
Speaker:Hey, how was your Easter weekend?
Speaker:Depending on when you're here in this, we just kind of came past Easter.
Speaker:Ours was pretty great.
Speaker:It was busy.
Speaker:It was full of people.
Speaker:How about yours?
Speaker:I saw lots and lots of photos posted of everybody and their Easter best, which I hadn't recalled seeing so much of that in recent years as like this year, it seems like everybody's like, we're back.
Speaker:We get to go out.
Speaker:We're doing it again.
Speaker:And anyway, I felt like for us this year, Things were a little more future focused.
Speaker:And actually as of late, they've been a little bit more future-focused, I've felt a little guilty of not making such a big deal out of the pomp and circumstance of that morning and all that.
Speaker:And we did, but we not, like in years past, it seemed like we were always sort of focused on the past.
Speaker:And now I think what we're starting to realize is we get to experience the life that.
Speaker:Jesus died and Rose again to give us.
Speaker:And our focus is much more future-focused in a sense that it was great being with people.
Speaker:Like we had a house full of people twice this weekend, and it was just great being with people again, but it was also great to get to celebrate the life.
Speaker:And hope that we have now and into the future and into eternity.
Speaker:And so at first I was feeling a little guilty about that.
Speaker:No, I should be much more into doing lent stuff.
Speaker:And I don't know all the, like I said, the pomp and circumstance of the big Sunday morning thing, which I used to be a big part of helping put those on for years and years, it feels like we're a little more focused now on living the life.
Speaker:That Jesus died to give us.
Speaker:And at first I felt a little guilty, but no, I'm not.
Speaker:Now I am grateful and feel like we get to enjoy that by the way, if you've not subscribed to the show yet on whatever platform you listen to, would you please do that?
Speaker:If you're on an iPhone and you're listening in that sort of stock native app.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:You can easily leave.
Speaker:When there, if you're listening on other platforms, you can listen there, but please subscribe that way.
Speaker:You're not missing an episode, you're queued up and also leave a review.
Speaker:If your app allows you to do that, you can go to Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash subscribe.
Speaker:That'll take you to a whole bunch of different players and all that.
Speaker:If you're listening on our website or whatever, Hey, I want to throw a little idea at you.
Speaker:I want to start.
Speaker:Boosting the number of reviews we get, which helps people know about the show.
Speaker:And they get to hear about the show from you, not just from me, but from you and what you're getting from it and why you listen to the show.
Speaker:And so I want to throw something out.
Speaker:Would you go and do a review like today this week?
Speaker:And if I get 10 reviews or more this week, so they come in in the next week or so here, then I'm going to invite everybody who left a review.
Speaker:To a private happy hour with me on zoom.
Speaker:And I need you to do it today.
Speaker:What you'll need to do is post your review and whatever.
Speaker:Well listening device and streaming service you use.
Speaker:And then I need you to either cut and paste that review, preferably do a screenshot of it, and then post that in the Facebook group.
Speaker:There's a couple reasons for that one.
Speaker:That's your proof too.
Speaker:Now I can get a hold of you.
Speaker:So if you've not yet joined the Everyday Disciple Facebook group, please do so.
Speaker:You can search and find us real easy, or you can just go to Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash Facebook.
Speaker:That'll take you boom, right to that page.
Speaker:And then there, again, leave a review in whatever, you know, world you listen to podcasts and then grab a screenshot and paste it there.
Speaker:If I get in 10 reviews or more this week, then I'm going to go ahead and invite all y'all.
Speaker:Even if it's a whole lot more, I hope it is to a private little happy hour.
Speaker:We'll do together on zoom.
Speaker:How about that?
Speaker:Let's get to today's topic.
Speaker:I've been watching as church leaders and even regular church folks are looking at.
Speaker:New versions of micro church, or they're trying to revamp up their small groups because hardly anybody's coming on Sundays or whatever, or they're starting new Missional communities.
Speaker:Yay.
Speaker:That's awesome.
Speaker:I want to talk about the things that may be keeping you and the folks in your church or community groups from making disciples and really living on mission.
Speaker:Like what might be getting in the way of that for you.
Speaker:And the things that we think are keeping us or our church or Community from truly living as a disciple and making disciples as a lifestyle.
Speaker:Here's what I found.
Speaker:They're usually just a projection of our own preferences and fears onto that situation.
Speaker:Yeah, they're not necessarily real.
Speaker:And we just sort of project them onto the situation or everyone else, and then act as if it's real.
Speaker:And it's pretty common to assume that the things we've seen as barriers to discipleship and life and Community yeah.
Speaker:Are unique to our context or our church or our neighborhood or the set of circumstances we find ourselves in.
Speaker:And that's just not true.
Speaker:And I want to shine a light.
Speaker:On some things today that may be keeping you or others in your church from making disciples and living life on mission.
Speaker:And once you see these, and if you're honest with yourself, then you can start moving past them.
Speaker:So I'm going to illuminate them for you.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I've got, I got, I think 10 of these.
Speaker:So here we go.
Speaker:And really.
Speaker:You'll see, I'm doing these starting at 10 and working my way to the number one roadblock key thing that might be keeping you from making disciples, but really number one, and number 10, then start with here.
Speaker:They're both super, super important.
Speaker:So I guess order them as you wish.
Speaker:So here's the first thing that might be keeping you from really making disciples and living on mission.
Speaker:It's misunderstanding what the actual mission of the church is.
Speaker:So often we really focus on a lot of the wrong things we think, well, we gotta get people saved.
Speaker:Guess what that's God's job.
Speaker:That's not ours.
Speaker:We got to get people to this church building so they can hear the gospel, or we got to get people streaming now, or we got to even multiplier Missional Community.
Speaker:Now the mission is make disciples.
Speaker:That's it?
Speaker:That's the mission.
Speaker:Jesus gave us making disciples of him more and more of him who is the glory of God filling this world.
Speaker:With him.
Speaker:That's our mission.
Speaker:When we misunderstand that we can embark upon adventures in missing the point and really put a whole lot of time into.
Speaker:Everything that happens for about an hour and a half on one day of the week.
Speaker:And we miss the fact that in the other six days and 22 hours or so of the week, we get to live this life in light of the gospel that the kingdom has come.
Speaker:And if we don't refocus on that and praise God, a lot of people are, a lot of churches are really refocusing on discipleship's the mission.
Speaker:And though it is awesome to worship together and be together and experience the greater gifts of a body and a Fe like a larger family.
Speaker:There's no way we're going to fully make disciples in a Sunday morning context, or only from a livestream or something like that.
Speaker:We've got to start making disciples in everyday life.
Speaker:That's the mission.
Speaker:And so I hope you hear that.
Speaker:Now here's a question to kind of diagnose this a little bit and help you move past it.
Speaker:And I'll have one of these for every one of these things that might be keeping you from discipleship.
Speaker:Here's the question for this one?
Speaker:Am I willing to allow the spirit of God to reshape the rhythms of my life.
Speaker:So that discipleship becomes the focus instead of other things in life, ask yourself that here's the next one.
Speaker:Number nine.
Speaker:This might be keeping you from making disciples and living on mission thinking.
Speaker:No one in my church is into this Missional thing.
Speaker:Well, Missional means.
Speaker:Living on the mission being on God's mission.
Speaker:What's the only mission we just talked about.
Speaker:It make disciples.
Speaker:That's the mission Jesus gave us.
Speaker:And so we got to ask ourselves, am I willing to make small, intentional steps as a family?
Speaker:My family.
Speaker:Slowly, maybe at first and then invest the time and resources to learn more about living in modeling this lifestyle with others.
Speaker:It's even if your church is an Into it, no, one's keeping you from living this life that Jesus died to give us.
Speaker:So are you willing to take and make those small steps and investments to do this and learn this?
Speaker:Will you be the change you want to see?
Speaker:Instead of hiding behind well in my church, just isn't, it's not, it's not into that.
Speaker:It's really old.
Speaker:It's very traditional.
Speaker:It's been here for a hundred years or whatever.
Speaker:Hey, for such a time as this we've been created and we have the spirit of the living, God dwelling in us.
Speaker:So I say, get going.
Speaker:Even if your church is into it, be the change you want to see here's number eight.
Speaker:This might be keeping you from discipleship and mission.
Speaker:Everyone from our church just lives too far from each other.
Speaker:We're just too spread out.
Speaker:I don't know anybody in my neighborhood.
Speaker:That's from our church and we drive maybe 30, 40 minutes to get to that.
Speaker:And some people I know drive a whole lot further cause they just, they loved the pastor and they moved or whatever.
Speaker:Here's what you got to ask yourself.
Speaker:Are there people living near me that I'm willing to reach out to in friendship?
Speaker:And ask God to guide us in building new relationships with those that are right around me.
Speaker:And then words, are you willing to allow God to help identify the People of Peace that he has appointed for your life and start to intentionally do life with them?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Or am I willing to move to where others are living and join them and living on mission in Community, a community that's making disciples.
Speaker:That's our mission, right?
Speaker:Keeping that as the focus, see if everyone is too spread out or your church is such that you.
Speaker:Years ago, you started small groups and you got everybody into different small groups based on what night of the week it was, and maybe age and stage of life.
Speaker:And it was all real me centered us centered, and truth is we don't really live around each other.
Speaker:So we can't Disciple each other in all of life because we barely see each other once a week at this thing.
Speaker:And that's assuming everybody makes it.
Speaker:And then some churches only have their small groups once a month or.
Speaker:They don't come half the time.
Speaker:And then he take the summer off and all.
Speaker:Are you willing to build new relationships, ask God to point out People of Peace in your life.
Speaker:And again, start taking those steps.
Speaker:Yeah, I hope you will.
Speaker:Here's number seven, this is numbers.
Speaker:Number seven, roadblock that might be keeping you from making disciples and limit our mission.
Speaker:It's just too expensive to live this way, having people over all the time, and maybe I'm going to have to work a little less to actually be around, have relationships and build into other people's lives and then having meals like that and all that.
Speaker:I, I, that's not real.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:That might take a little investment on your part upfront, but here's the thing.
Speaker:You're not going to throw a switch and boom have 30, 40 people coming over and you're not trying to impress them with your caviar and shrimp platters.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:You want to invite them into your life.
Speaker:And as, as a community is forming, that's like a family or what a families do.
Speaker:Everybody, everybody brings in, everybody contributes and they help set up and they help clean up and they bring whatever.
Speaker:And I just want to tell you it really, no, one's that worried about what we're serving?
Speaker:They just want a place at the table.
Speaker:So ask yourself what creative ways can we utilize to have simple meals or party with those that God's calling us to treat as his family?
Speaker:Am I willing to humble myself and ask others to treat me like family as well and pitch in on those meals and parties.
Speaker:Some people say, well, I can never do that.
Speaker:Well, what's going on there is you're treating people like guests and not like family.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:If you'll flip that in your head, start seeing people like family, even when it's just one or two, like that family across the street, we're going to have them over today.
Speaker:Let's treat them like family.
Speaker:And so everybody always asks, Hey, what can we bring?
Speaker:And so often people go, Oh no, no nothing.
Speaker:Just bring yourselves plan to have fun.
Speaker:It's like, is anybody asks, say, sure.
Speaker:What would you like to bring we're having, I was thinking this for a main.
Speaker:Like, we're going to have roast pork today, or we're going to have tacos or whatever.
Speaker:Hey, what if I bring some of the fixings for those tacos or, Hey, we've got some really new, cool, soft flour shells.
Speaker:We really like, I'm going to bring a couple packs of those.
Speaker:Awesome.
Speaker:Why don't you bring a beverage that you like as well?
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:See, people want to do that.
Speaker:They want to be like a family and contribute.
Speaker:And they want to help clean up and make the whole thing much more like family.
Speaker:And oftentimes we treat them like guests and we don't want to do that.
Speaker:We've got humble ourselves a little bit.
Speaker:Don't let that be a roadblock for you.
Speaker:It's not going to be that expensive, not when you let other people help and treat them like family.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Here's number six that this roadblock that might be keeping you from making disciples, you're saying to yourself, or maybe others, you know that in your church, you're going well.
Speaker:We've never seen Community that lives like this before.
Speaker:We've just never seen it.
Speaker:So we don't even know what to do or how to get started.
Speaker:Well, that's tough sledding.
Speaker:And so many people have never been discipled, not in the ways of everyday life and in community and treating people like family.
Speaker:And so they haven't seen it.
Speaker:Well, so then does that mean that they won't see it in our lives?
Speaker:And so then they'll also hide behind that and pretty soon then guess what we have kind of where we've landed for a whole lot of the church today around the world is no one's making disciples and they don't know how, and they've never really been discipled in all of life and they've never seen it.
Speaker:So they can't.
Speaker:Here's the question to ask yourself.
Speaker:Am I willing to be part of forging new rhythms in my life and in our church and family so that others can see and experience this kingdom of God up close.
Speaker:Are you willing to suck forward?
Speaker:As I say, it started and learn and move and start to create new rhythms.
Speaker:Will you get the books and the training and coaching?
Speaker:You need to develop yourselves and grow into living a lifestyle of discipleship and mission.
Speaker:Small as big and slow is fast here.
Speaker:You really can do this.
Speaker:So I don't want that to be a roadblock.
Speaker:Well, I've never seen it before.
Speaker:Well, either get up next to some people who are living it right.
Speaker:And that might take an investment of moving or switching faith communities or whatever.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Or there again be the change you want to see, start to create that life.
Speaker:Let people see what it looks.
Speaker:A family that lives on mission and the kingdom has come.
Speaker:And there's grace here.
Speaker:And the gospel is good news, and that's going to draw people to yourself, start to create new experiences and rhythms, and then you'll start to STEM that tide of will.
Speaker:No one's ever seen that.
Speaker:Well, they're starting to see it in our lives and it's starting to take root in their lives as well.
Speaker:Praise God.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Here's number five.
Speaker:The things that might be keeping you from making disciples and really living on mission is a lot of people say, well, we don't have the right home for this right now.
Speaker:We just, our house is not suited for that.
Speaker:It's not big enough or it's a real mess in here, or our kids are little.
Speaker:And so it's always like a bomb went off and all that, you know what none of that matters, we have personally been a part of and helped start Missional communities.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:Families on mission oikos, whatever you want to call them that are in every imaginable type of space, big homes, small homes, the first Missional Community we ever started when he first moved out West here to Tacoma was with, uh, a couple of other few other people.
Speaker:They lived in a, it was a one bedroom apartment.
Speaker:The whole thing was about.
Speaker:The size of my breakfast, nook, right now, it was this dinky dinky little, maybe 400 square foot apartment.
Speaker:And we pretty much as a community, just all were in there all the time and having meals and talking like 15, 17, 20 people just jammed in there eating grilling, and they had a little like sort of access out to like, A flat roof.
Speaker:We grilled out there because there was no room to even cook or have a table.
Speaker:And we did the story of God and we would listen to music and have fun and we'd go out and serve and come back and debrief there.
Speaker:When we did this in, in New York, we had a very small little apartment compared to our house back in Tacoma.
Speaker:It worked fine there.
Speaker:No one really cares about your dust bunnies or there again, when you see people as family, we'll have to flip out on that just the other day, like I was saying over the Easter weekend, we had the house filled twice.
Speaker:I was busy doing some things and getting prepared for some of this from a work standpoint.
Speaker:And then I said to, Tina said, well, there's a handful of things I want to tighten up on the deck.
Speaker:And I'd like to clean our counter off a little better and done out.
Speaker:And she goes, well, if we get to it, Their family.
Speaker:No, one's going to really care.
Speaker:Don't stress that.
Speaker:And she just reminded my heart of that.
Speaker:And we didn't get to everything that we could see and maybe wanting to pick up or tweak or put away or whatever, but it didn't matter.
Speaker:And in guess what, no one cared at all.
Speaker:Pretty much.
Speaker:Those two days, everybody just.
Speaker:Hovered around the kitchen, our Island there, and food and talking and all that.
Speaker:And maybe sat down on the couch a little bit, but no one cares about any of that or the size of your home.
Speaker:So here's the question to ask yourself, do I believe that God is good and has given us home exactly where he wants us to love on his other kids, those kids that are far from him.
Speaker:And while I love people more than my need to have the perfect place.
Speaker:And just offer them a place at my table.
Speaker:Will you do that?
Speaker:I don't want you hiding behind like the perfect place.
Speaker:There is no such thing.
Speaker:If you need to do stuff out like on a deck or out in the backyard or in your driveway, because it's bigger.
Speaker:Cause you just like, my place is a little small.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:But like I've said, we've done it in really small places.
Speaker:I know lots and lots of people in England.
Speaker:Who've done this.
Speaker:And I don't remember what they call them, like two, two ups or something like that.
Speaker:They're very narrow homes that are two floors and their living space and kitchens.
Speaker:They're pretty small and they pack them.
Speaker:They just, no one cares, no one cares.
Speaker:And no one's noticed in your dust bunny.
Speaker:So anyway.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We'll you love people more than your need to have a perfect place so that people will think a certain thing of you.
Speaker:Can you die to that?
Speaker:I hope so.
Speaker:I hope so.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Here's number four, things that might be keeping you from making disciples and living on mission.
Speaker:It could be swallowed hard here.
Speaker:Some of you aren't gonna wanna hear this one.
Speaker:It could be that you're in professional vocation, Missional ministry.
Speaker:And that's the thing that you feel like it's actually keeping you from a lifestyle of discipleship, like really living in community with others.
Speaker:Like I'm just too busy at the building.
Speaker:I can remember when I was on staff at a very large church in the Chicago land area, thousands of people there, like tons of staff.
Speaker:I had zero friendships with not yet believing people.
Speaker:And I worked six days a week in that building and I would not push the button on my garage door, burn up and go.
Speaker:I drive out the door, we'll go down.
Speaker:I drove about seven miles over to the campus and it was giant and into my office.
Speaker:I'd go.
Speaker:And we had meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting.
Speaker:I had one of those little scooters, like a razor scooter kids.
Speaker:You stand on it and you make yourself go with the other leg.
Speaker:I had to have one of those just to get around the campus was so big for all of the meetings.
Speaker:I couldn't make them on time.
Speaker:There was so many back to backs, right.
Speaker:And I would do that.
Speaker:And then I'd go home and push the button again, open the garage door, drive in and go down.
Speaker:And I was beat.
Speaker:I'd been there all day and I would just want to be with my kids and Tina, and then I had some chores to do and this and that, the only time I ever saw anybody was like, maybe cutting the grass and I'd wave at a neighbor or something like that.
Speaker:I was so busy with quote unquote ministry that I couldn't do the mission, which was make disciples.
Speaker:It couldn't be in relationship.
Speaker:And it's very easy to hide behind that.
Speaker:It's it is like everybody's well, that's what we're paying you to do.
Speaker:Hey.
Speaker:If, if, if you're working at a church and they expect you to have no life, that includes making disciples and enjoying life and being a family worth, imitating, and joining, then they're expecting too much from that aspect.
Speaker:Like, we're not a corporation, we're a family.
Speaker:The church is a family.
Speaker:So here's the question.
Speaker:Ask yourself is official ministry, quote, unquote, keeping me from spending time with believers and not yet believers in the normal rhythms of my everyday life and family life.
Speaker:And what are one or two things I could stop doing?
Speaker:Maybe vocationally to start making time to be with people in real life with greater intentionality.
Speaker:What could you just hand off and, Hey, sorry.
Speaker:I don't have time for that anymore.
Speaker:Cause I'm gonna start getting home like an hour earlier, a few days a week because we're starting to have an open table and we have people around and this whole like, shooting.
Speaker:To like Polish up the sermon or whatever, a little bit more on Saturday morning.
Speaker:And I'm like, no, I'm going to be in the neighborhood with people and my kids, and we're going to do stuff and invite others to join us.
Speaker:And I don't know, what is it?
Speaker:What could you do please?
Speaker:Don't let the professional vocational ministry of church life keep us from the very reason we exist in the mission that Jesus has sent us on.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:I know it's common, but I hope he can maybe die to that one.
Speaker:Move past that if that's a roadblock for you.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Here's number three, roadblock.
Speaker:Number three.
Speaker:And this is, we're getting down to the, the big ones here.
Speaker:And as we approach number one, roadblock, number three for a lot of us is insecurity.
Speaker:And our fear of rejection.
Speaker:We're not making disciples and really leading other people to maturity because we don't feel confident enough in it.
Speaker:And we're insecure.
Speaker:We don't have a methodology or a framework where we've never been discipled in.
Speaker:What if they don't accept that, or what if I approach a neighbor and want to have them over for a meal and they say, no, well then they say no, or whatever, our love of self and our fear of men, the Bible says is a snare that it lays a trap for us.
Speaker:And that's what this is.
Speaker:If you're not making disciples and you don't have People of Peace in your life, and they're not increasingly part of your family rhythms in life.
Speaker:Could it be that it's from a fear of rejection and you're living with such insecurity around this.
Speaker:Well, then I want to call you to grow in your gospel fluency and learn to speak the gospel in ways that are good news to people.
Speaker:And you know it, and it's not can it's it's the good news being worked out normal life.
Speaker:People are drawn to that.
Speaker:Here's the question to ask yourself.
Speaker:If you think that might be your roadblock is do I love myself and image and what people think of me more than I love.
Speaker:Others in Jesus' mission.
Speaker:Do I believe I have the full love and affection approval of our good and glorious father?
Speaker:I already have it.
Speaker:And since I have his, I don't have to fear or worry about what really, what others think.
Speaker:They didn't create me.
Speaker:They didn't lay their life down, that I might be forgiven and live eternally and be restored to a right relationship with God and People.
Speaker:Here's another thing to ask yourself.
Speaker:Do I now believe that the mission is making disciples, which takes time and relationship versus rehearsed sales pitches?
Speaker:Well, that's a lot of us have been taught that, Oh, I was taught how to do this whole transitional statement thing, and then I'm gonna get People tricked into admitting something, and then I'm going to try to catch him.
Speaker:And then I want to try to get him to say this prayer.
Speaker:No, that's not.
Speaker:Jesus never did that.
Speaker:We don't see that anywhere in scripture.
Speaker:You don't have to do that either.
Speaker:Please don't and maybe just.
Speaker:Not believing that anymore, like that you have to give some rehearse perfect sales pitch, and it's all up to you.
Speaker:Or this person's going to burn in hell forever or something like that.
Speaker:If you just die to that, that's not the reality.
Speaker:God does the saving.
Speaker:We're called the Disciple people and you already have God's full of love and affection and approval.
Speaker:Like you let that soak into your heart, ask yourself, okay, then can I start to love people?
Speaker:And Jesus' mission more than I love myself protection.
Speaker:That's a big one.
Speaker:That's a big one.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Here's number two.
Speaker:Drum.
Speaker:Rolling.
Speaker:As we're getting down to some harder ones, this one's super common.
Speaker:So this is a roadblock that keeps lots of people from really making disciples and live on a mission.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm just too busy.
Speaker:I really don't have enough time.
Speaker:And again, backing up a few, a lot of pastors even say that are professionals, right.
Speaker:Vocational Christians.
Speaker:Um, but this is probably one of the most common ones I hear all the time is just, we're just too busy.
Speaker:Like w we can barely find a night, a week to even have meals together as a family or small group.
Speaker:That's one night, a week.
Speaker:It's like an hour and a half.
Speaker:We could kick everybody out.
Speaker:That's all, you know what, you know what?
Speaker:We all have the exact same amount of hours in a day as everybody else.
Speaker:And I know lots and lots of people that are living this as a lifestyle, like Jesus died to restore them to a right relationship.
Speaker:Give us a spirit.
Speaker:Send us out to make more disciples of him filling the world with God's glory.
Speaker:There's lots of people doing that.
Speaker:They all have the same amount of time.
Speaker:They all have to work, pay the bills, and we all do exactly what we choose to do every day.
Speaker:And so maybe get some training in how the rhythms of life I'm.
Speaker:In fact, I'm going to talk next episode about how the normal rhythms of life are perfectly suited for.
Speaker:Living life on mission of making disciples.
Speaker:And, and we're going to talk about how to restart your communities around some basic simple rhythms.
Speaker:And so if you think I'm just too busy for this, uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna call polo red card on you on that one.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Let me, here's the question to ask yourself whose life am I living?
Speaker:You know, who sets my calendar?
Speaker:Is it me or am I letting ? God's set my calendar.
Speaker:And the pace of my life and the margins to be with people that he died for and loves, and that we get to Disciple, ask yourself, do I love people?
Speaker:And God's glory enough to allow him to change my schedule so that I can make discipleship and mission my top priority when making choices for how I'll spend my time, which would you let God do that?
Speaker:If God could.
Speaker:Tweak your life for more glory for himself.
Speaker:And it meant greater relational Peace for you with others and spiritual freedom.
Speaker:Would you allow God to do that?
Speaker:Or are you going to keep a death grip on that thinking?
Speaker:There's no way I have to do this.
Speaker:I must work that much.
Speaker:And then I fried and I have to, would you let God do that?
Speaker:Hope.
Speaker:So that's a big one.
Speaker:At least I know people are listening to the podcast all over the world, but here in America, but that is the number that's, it's almost the number one reason.
Speaker:That's number two.
Speaker:Like we're just too busy.
Speaker:There's just not enough time.
Speaker:Well, I'd love to teach you how there's plenty of time and you're already living in rhythms.
Speaker:It'll be perfectly suited for that, by the way, just check out next week.
Speaker:We'll talk about some of that.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Now here's the biggest one.
Speaker:This is the biggest thing.
Speaker:The biggest roadblock that, that keeps.
Speaker:Any of us for making disciples live in a life on mission.
Speaker:And here it is.
Speaker:I hope you're sitting down buckle up.
Speaker:It's self self, my comfort, my preferences, my traditions, our traditions.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's it's you it's me.
Speaker:That's what keeps us from making disciples and living on mission.
Speaker:So ask yourself, am I living my life and teaching my kids and modeling for my church and others that my glory and comfort are really my top priority.
Speaker:Am I teaching that by how I spend my time and resources?
Speaker:Am I letting my religious traditions of what I grew up in or what this church has always done or whatever am I letting that guide my spiritual growth?
Speaker:Or am I truly letting the Holy spirit guide me deeper into life and life and community with others for his glory?
Speaker:So often it's just our, it's our own preferences.
Speaker:It's our fear of rejection.
Speaker:I go back up it's but itself it's really us.
Speaker:There's really, it's not our house.
Speaker:It's not the expense of having some people over for a simple meal, you know, some soup and salad or some pizzas or whatever.
Speaker:It's really, it might not be any of those other nine things.
Speaker:It really just comes down to me and I don't want to, and I like my comfort and my preferences, and I've built my life for my glory, meaning so that I look good and that I get the things I want.
Speaker:And I'm going to add to that stack and then someday I'm going to retire and then I'm gonna really focus on my stuff and my time off for me in my glory and I'll think, wow, that might be the biggest roadblock of all.
Speaker:And for that, we need to repent.
Speaker:We need, allow God to grant us repentance a new mind in light of that, that what we were created for and now saved for and into is God's family on mission.
Speaker:We really have been, and that Jesus lived the best possible life that any human ever lived and he died that we might now have his life, the grand exchange, right?
Speaker:The redemption, he redeemed our lives by giving us his.
Speaker:W we want to live that life.
Speaker:We get to live that life and the spirit will guide you into that life with others in Community, making disciples who make disciples of Jesus.
Speaker:If you'll let him, if we'll get ourselves out of the way and let God do that, I'm not here.
Speaker:I can't make you do that.
Speaker:I'm not here to make you feel bad.
Speaker:If that's the case, listen, I'm looking in the mirror.
Speaker:I'm going some of that's true for me and it crops up again, self my comfort preferences and.
Speaker:The way we've always done things or never done things or whatever that can get in the way and can, and God will sort of cleanse it out of there.
Speaker:And sometimes it just creeps right back in.
Speaker:I allowed to creep right back in.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So anyway, there you are.
Speaker:Those are from my experience, 10 things that often can be.
Speaker:Keeping us from making disciples and living a lifestyle on mission, and then they ended up being roadblocks.
Speaker:So I, now that you've seen them, you can't unseat him.
Speaker:Now that you've heard these things, you've got some work to do and some choices to me.
Speaker:Well, let me start wrapping up by taking you through the big three.
Speaker:I'm going to give you my big three takeaways that if nothing else, you don't want to miss these from today's episode and you can get a printable PDF of this big three and all the big threes as a free download by going to Everyday Disciple dot com.
Speaker:Forward slash big three.
Speaker:So if you want this little concise, maybe it's some talking points.
Speaker:You want to share this with a friend or a spouse, or maybe your staff at church or something like that.
Speaker:Here you go.
Speaker:Here are the big three for this week.
Speaker:Number one are perceived roadblocks.
Speaker:And things, keeping us from discipleship are usually just an extension of our own preferences and fears.
Speaker:It's very common to assume that the things that we've seen maybe for years, as barriers to discipleship and life and Community are unique to our own context.
Speaker:Or wow, this neighborhood or our church or whatever, trust me.
Speaker:They're not those types of limitations are almost always personal preference and fear and their limiting beliefs.
Speaker:That's, what's keeping you from it.
Speaker:And now that you know what they may be, you can release them and live in a new belief, live with new belief.
Speaker:Number two, God created you as his child to live in Community on mission with him.
Speaker:Making disciples of Jesus.
Speaker:That's what you were created and now saved to do and empowered to do.
Speaker:And even though new Missional rhythms, new discipleship rhythms may feel and sound like to others, like you're really swimming against the cultural norms.
Speaker:You are.
Speaker:It might feel that way.
Speaker:This is the life you were created to live.
Speaker:And all of the good things that you have in your life, that sometimes we end up hiding behind, you know, that you've come to love them and enjoy them.
Speaker:They were given to you to be a blessing to others and for God's glory.
Speaker:So let's not let the abundance of God's generosity in our lives become a stumbling block or an excuse to hide behind.
Speaker:And number three, Ask yourself, which of the 10 roadblocks maybe have you been suffering from, and let's change that.
Speaker:Write down any of the roadblocks you think have been keeping you from really making disciples in an all of Lifeway and then ask yourself those sort of diagnostic questions associated with each and then pray, ask the Holy spirit to guide you to the truth could connected to each of these.
Speaker:And here's what I'd suggest, share what you learn with someone else close to you.
Speaker:They and build some accountability and say, Hey, you know, we're, we're, we've been talking about this and all, and I heard this and I got this list of things it might.
Speaker:And I there's a, some of these are for sure, keeping us from making disciples.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:As share it with someone else, ask for their feedback and accountability to live out the truth as you move forward.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And with today's big three, I'll give you all 10 of those.
Speaker:And the corresponding questions to ask yourself again.
Speaker:So another good reason to go ahead and just go to Everyday Disciple dot com forward slash big three.
Speaker:Download the big three.
Speaker:Okay, well, that's that?
Speaker:I want to remind you that if I get in 10 reviews this week, so please do that.
Speaker:Give a review, give some stars, all that, and then do like a little screenshot and copy and paste that into the Facebook group.
Speaker:Let me know if I get in 10 or more, then I'm going to invite everybody who posted one this week, too.
Speaker:Join me in a private little happy hour on zoom.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Like a week or so afterward.
Speaker:So go do that.
Speaker:Let's have some fun.
Speaker:I'd love to meet you and let's help others find the podcast.
Speaker:If you're finding this helpful, that's the way to pay it forward, leave a review, leave some stars.
Speaker:And then if you'll just show me that cut and paste that dual screenshot, where we're posting the Facebook group.
Speaker:Then if I get 10.
Speaker:So we'll get, this is a team effort, then I will DM you and I'll give you a special zoom link and we'll have a little happy hour together.
Speaker:All right, well, that's it for today.
Speaker:Join me next week.
Speaker:As I was already sharing, we're going to be talking about restarting your Missional Community rhythms after such a long year of social distancing and weirdness and lockdowns and all that.
Speaker:How are you getting things going?
Speaker:Are you still dragging your feet and point for summer end or whatever, I'm going to give you some stuff to get restarted and that you're going to love that.
Speaker:And it'll be really super practical on the ground stuff.
Speaker:All right, can't wait for that.
Speaker:I'll talk to you real soon.
Speaker:Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker:For more information on this show and to get loads of free discipleship resources, visit Everyday Disciple dot com.