As you spend more time with Jesus, and as you follow Him, you will notice that suddenly you will want to do what Jesus did. Jesus instructed Peter that “If you love me” you will take care of and feed His sheep. We take on the mantle of shepherd leadership. This is at the heart of disciple-making. Having watched and then helped, it builds within us a hunger to “do.”

The most ridiculous claim that Jesus makes is found in John 14:12. Jesus, honestly, believes that if you become a disciple-maker and begin to invest in the lives of the hurting and the lonely like he did, you will become even greater than He. Now that is a big, hairy, and audacious goal. Now before we allow our heads to swell up with too much pride, we must remember what Jesus did to become great. He surrendered, served, and sacrificed himself (Mark 10:45).

The result is that a disciple-maker is one who routinely prays Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ, that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved and gave himself for me.” By spending time with God, we learn to deny ourselves, and start to look outward toward the needs of other people. This compels us that if God loved and gave himself for us, then we need to love and give ourselves for other people.

Frederick Buechner said, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” In other words where your greatest passion and the world’s great needs meet. Being able to assess our unique skills, interests, passions, experiences and resources allows us to notice how God has purposefully established the times and places we inhabit in order to help others find their way back to God. In fact we are told that Christ “gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11)

• Apostles are the ones sent out with a vision.
• • They ask: “Where are we going?
• Prophets are the ones challenging the status quo.
• • They ask: “Is this true?”
• Evangelists are the ones connecting people to the vision.
• • They ask: “Who isn’t here yet?”
• Shepherds are the ones nurturing & discipling the flock.
• • They ask: “How are you?” (and mean it!)
• Teachers are the ones making the vision practical.
• • They ask: “So what do I do with this?”

The first followers of Jesus began their faith development trough His great invitation that compassionately asked “What do you want?” and then were sent with a burning question of “Who breaks your heart?”

Questions for Reflection
• Who breaks your heart and how are you qualified to serve them?

• What is your APEST tendency and how are you using it?