You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Timothy 2:1-2, NIV).
Living in such a way that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind does not happen on its own. Neither does loving your neighbor as yourself or making disciples. Unless we are intentional about living in such a way that we are doing those things, we will never really do them well if even at all.
Discipleship is intentional.
Back in 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul reminds Timothy that he needs to fan into flame the gift of God. In 1:13-14 Paul tells him, What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. In our 2:1 he says he needs to be strong in the grace he has been given.
Fan into flame.
Keep.
Guard.
Be Strong.
Each of these have something in common: they all require intentional action. To fan some tinder into flame, you can’t walk away from it. You can’t keep something if you don’t work to keep track of it. You can’t guard what you are not putting effort into protecting. You can’t be strong in anything that you do not practice or exercise.
All these stress the intentionality that a life of discipleship entails. What was true for Timothy is no less true for us. If we are in Christ, then we have the Spirit of Christ living in us. That is a done deal. We don’t produce it, we don’t need to earn it, we don’t need to work for it. Yet there is a difference—is there not—between having that grace and being strong in that grace. The Spirit has lit a flame in our hearts, yet it is our responsibility to fan that flame, keep that flame, and guard that flame so that it burns bright and warm.
The sign that Paul is looking for as evidence of being strong in grace is in Timothy’s making disciples; and notice further what he is looking for, he is looking for disciples who are making disciples! It is as if he were saying, “Timothy you have learned the gospel and practice my way of life, you are a true spiritual son to me, now show me that you are strong in the grace you have been given by doing for others what I did for you. Don’t just settle for finding and equipping good students, but finding and equipping disciples who will join with you in teaching and training others.” Maturity in discipleship shows itself in impartation. We need to be intentionally helping other disciples grow strong in the grace of Jesus. When those we are discipling are themselves discipling others, we will know that we have grown strong in the grace of Jesus.
Perhaps you have heard the adage, “those who can’t do, teach.” When it comes to understanding Christian discipleship, the adage is, “if you can do, you will also teach.” Impartation, passing the yoke of Jesus and His way of life is part of knowing it. To know it and not to teach it, is not to know it.
We not only need to be discipling those who are in the church, we need to be intentionally making new disciples of people outside the church. In John chapter 4 when Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman, His disciples were taken aback. She wasn’t one of them, she wasn’t Jewish, she wasn’t the kind of woman that was going to make their reputation any better back home. Jesus, however, had a completely different view of things. He said in John 4:35-38 (NIV),
Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.
Making new disciples is not a matter of converting, proselytizing, or getting people to say the magic words, “I love Jesus.” God has saved that work for Himself. It is our job to tell people the good news. It is our job to witness to the reality that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18). It is our job to be ambassadors who represent our King in how we love one another. It is our job to “be (not the Batman but) the rabbi” for those who are willing to learn Jesus’ yoke (i.e., His interpretation of Scripture) and way of life.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 