DISCIPLESHIP – ROOTED by Pastor Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson
Introduction: Last weekend, several of the guys in our church came out to help me with our yard. A major reason for that is that in the past two years we had 4 white pines to fall in our yard. The first one fell parallel to the house during a thunderstorm. The second one fell on top of the house during a snow storm. Thank God there was no damage. There were two still standing on the south side of the house and since I’m no arborist or tree expert, I decided to call one from the State to help me figure out what was going on. He came, looked at the trees, and told me that the white pines do not grow very well in our soil here. Although they do have a tap root system, the lateral root development is far more extensive, which means more roots grow horizontally close to the surface than into the ground. He told me that it was a matter of time before the two standing would fall as well. So, I paid a guy to take them down before they could do any serious damage. What does this have to with our message on discipleship? Just like those white pines, many Christians never develop a deep tap root system in their lives. They have more of a lateral close to the surface root system. It looks impressive but it’s useless when the storms of life begin to come. Unless they are rooted and built up in Christ and his Word, it’s a matter of time before they will fall. If I may add, they do a lot of damage when they fall. True disciples are rooted in the Word of God.
Colossians 2 4“Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.5For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see yourgoodorder and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,7rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught…”
Question: Paul was concerned about the Colossians because they were being deceived by persuasive words. He reminded them to stay rooted, built up, and established “as you have been taught.” What have you been taught? Solid biblical teaching is a must for every disciple of Jesus Christ. Without it, you will fall when the storms of life come. Are you a disciple? Are you saved?
Context:To quickly summarize – the goal of discipleship is WATER = WITNESSES + ACCOUNTABILITY + TOGETHERNESS + ESTABLISHED IN THE WORD + REPRODUCING DISCIPLES. To achieve these things, we need certain disciplines – Evangelism, Confession, Weekly Church Attendance, Daily Bible Intake, and Discipling. They’re not the end but simply a means to the end. People ask “What’s the next step?” Last weekend, in a message titled “Pathways,” I explained that true discipleship cannot happen in isolation. You need others to become a disciple. Preaching is vital to your growth but it’s not enough. Sunday School or Small Groups like Clearview Circles are also important but they’re enough. These settings are too large and too diverse. True discipleship happens when you are in the Inner Circle. Jesus modelled this by moving people from the Crowd to the Congregation to the Community to the Inner Circle. An Inner Circle is a 3-5-member gender specific, closed group that exists by invitation only to believers and meets on a weekly basis for a determined period of time. This is where individuals study the Word, memorize the Word, hold each other accountable, pray for each, and, in the process, they learn to be conformed to the image of Christ. When the determined time period is over, they replicate, as God leads. By the way, here’s some exciting news – Last week, many of you informed me that you have begun inviting people to join you in an Inner Circle! That’s awesome!If you’re still wondering how the Inner Circle works, go back and listen to the last message where I explained “How to start an Inner Circle?” and “What do you do when you meet as the Inner Circle?”
In today’s message, I want to focus on Getting Rooted in the Word.Listen again to Colossians 2 6“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,7rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught…”Both individually and in your Inner Circle, you have to become rooted in the Word, the Bible, in order to be true disciples. This requires 3 things: 1. Read the Word. 2. Understand the Word. 3. Apply the Word.
- READ THE WORD – Here people ask me “what’s the best Bible version?” Most Bible translations coming out of trusted mainline Christian publishing houses are good. There have been a couple in the past two decades that have some translational biases towards gender inclusive language that you need to be careful about. If you have any concerns, please check with me. I’ll be more than glad to guide you. The main point is “start reading the Bible systematically every day.”
- UNDERSTAND THE WORD – Here people say things like “the Bible is hard to understand” or “you gotta have a theological education to understand the Bible.” Yes, there are many portions in the Bible that are hard to understand. I’ve been studying the Bible academically since 1995, that’s 23 years, and I still don’t understand some portions of the Bible. Having said that, most of the Bible is not beyond comprehension. Yes, you do need pastors and teachers to help you study the Bible but you can still study much of it by yourself with the help of the Holy Spirit. Listen to I Corinthians 2:12“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
How does this work?Couple of years ago I did a series on how to study the Bible. It was intense. In fact, there’s a whole field of study known as “hermeneutics,” which deals with the proper study and interpretation of the Bible. People spend their whole lifetime working in this field and there are thousands of books on the subject. But, there are certain basic principles that can help an average person study the Bible and understand most of what it is saying. I have condensed them in 4 words which if you can remember each time you study the Bible, they will help you tremendously:
- Exegesis – think about the word “exit.” It means “coming out.” Exegesis means “to lead out.” It means that when we study the Bible, we are to lead the meaning out of the text rather than “eisegete,” which is bringing my personal meaning and superimposing it on the text.
- Context –have you ever said something that was taken out of context? It feels very frustrating. The Bible gets taken out of context a lot. It is critical that we read the verses before and after the verse or passage we are studying and get the whole context. The more you read, the better chance you have of interpreting correctly.
Let me give you 2 examples of exegesis and context:
Old Testament –2 Chronicles 27 1“Jothamwas twenty-five years old when he became king…2And he didwhat wasright in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done (although he did not enter the temple of the LORD)…” If I were preaching a message on the importance of having our kids come to church, that would be a perfect passage. Here’s the problem – That’s not what the writer meant! If you read the previous chapter, Uzziah had actually messed up by entering the temple in his pride and offering incense on the altar, which only a priest could do, and he was struck with leprosy by God! Jotham actually had godly fear and didn’t do that!
New Testament – Philippians 4:13“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”I’ve seen people make this their life verse and athletes tattoo this on their arms. What Paul really meant is very different – 12 “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Paul is really talking about contentment!
- Harmony –The Bible does not contradict itself. If you come up with an interpretation that totally contradicts what most of the Bible is saying, then think through your interpretation again.2 Timothy 2:15“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
- Goal– The Goal of the Bible is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
This brings us to the third thing in being rooted in the Bible –
- APPLY THE WORD – James 122“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;24for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continuesin it,and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
Are you rooted in the Word? Are you a disciple?
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