On the danger of following Jesus, admirers vs followers, cross-cultural witness and zeal.

Dear friends,

This is the first edition of my weekly newsletter of personal writing and content curation on mission, discipleship and spiritual renewal.

If you’re reading this and are not a subscriber, click here to subscribe.

Here are your weekly bullets:

On Following Jesus (1):

On Following Jesus (2):

“The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires.”

— Søren Kierkegaard, Practice in Christianity

On cross-cultural witness and discipleship in cities:

In view of The Fourth Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization, here’s a brilliiant piece by Len Bartlotti on “The Ends of the Earth” and unreached people groups.

“Today, especially in cities, the nations are not “far off,” but near, at our doorstep! From Dubai, Singapore, and Sao Paulo, to New York, London, Brussels, and Marseille, the church must now impart the basic knowledge, understandings, and relational skills needed for cross-cultural witness as an essential component of discipleship. Ministry among unreached peoples includes diaspora and immigrant ministry among nations that are now our neighbors, many of whom maintain transnational connections.”

— Len Bartlotti, The Ends of the Earth

On zeal, the “one thing”:

“Zeal in Christianity is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire, which is not natural to men or women. It is a desire which the Spirit puts in the heart of every believer when they are converted to Christ, however, a desire which some believers feel so much more strongly than others that they alone deserve to be called zealous men and women.”

— J.C. Ryle

On Great Commission Discipleship:

I am writing this email after a week of diving deep into the State of the Great Commission Report. There are many things worth mentioning from the report, but the section on “Great Commission Discipleship” particularly moved and impassioned me. We are in serious need of Great Commission discipleship.

• A survey of 1,500 global Christian leaders from various denominations found that less than half of the Christians in their regions could explain what the Great Commission is.

• The Lausanne leaders surveyed perceived that less than half of the people in their churches felt adequately prepared to share the gospel.

• All across the world, a high percentage of believers see the Great Commission as optional.

• Less than 15-20 percent of Christians are ‘very active’ in gospel proclamation and 35-40 percent of Christians ‘never/rarely’ proclaim the gospel.

Oswald Smith said that any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist.

Disciples who never make disciples are not truly disciples.

We are not fully being formed in the image of Jesus, until we “go and make disciples”.

On Doubters and the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus is raised from the dead and when His eleven disciples see Him, they worship Him.

But some doubt.

It is astounishing that some of Jesus' closest disciples, who had seen the most extroardinary things, and now see Him raised from the dead, still doubted.

But what is even more astounishing is that Jesus doesn’t seem to be fazed by that. He comes to them and commissions them.

ALL of them. Even the doubters.

And in the face of their doubts and fears, they obey their Master and go.

And the very same doubters became the heros (maybe even martyrs) of the early church.

Let this be an encouragement to you.

Regardless of your fears and doubts, give yourself to Jesus.

Go.

In the authority of Jesus who has ALL authority.

Make disciples of ALL nations.

Teach people to obey ALL Jesus commanded.

He is with you ALL the way.

I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Which content resonated with you? What would you like to see more of? You can let me know by replying to this email.

Much love and until next week,

Timo