Will You Answer? - A Call to Obedience

We all have a calling - a purpose - to our lives. And I’m not talking about some abstract, vague idea of specific tasks or objectives set up for us by God or the universe. As believers of and in God, Jesus Christ, and His gospel, our calling is never laid out more clearly than in Matthew 27:18-20:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

As God’s chosen people, we are called to make disciples of all nations. This of course begs the question to us as individuals; “Are you making disciples?” Another way to ask this question is, “What evidence of God can be seen by others in your life?”

Ask this question to yourself, honestly. If you can’t think of any ways you’re pouring out into others, then the follow-up questions are: Why not? What is getting in the way? What is stopping you?

The Book of Ruth: Answering the Call

In my experience, many of us know what we’ve been called to, and we have an honest desire to impact the world and honor the command of our king, but something stops us. Maybe it’s comfort, maybe we feel it would negatively impact our image to others.

For me, it was both, and honestly, sometimes, it still is. But there’s a cool and niche example of God-honoring a man who obeyed his call, and it’s found, of all places, in the book of Ruth.

Ruth is a rather short book, but the impactful story is that there is a woman named Ruth, and she is the daughter-in-law of an Israelite woman named Naomi. Naomi’s husband dies, as well as Ruth’s husband, and Naomi’s other son. Naomi and Ruth travel back to their hometown and discover that a close relative of Naomi lives in the town.

Now in these days, the Israelites were still operating by the law set by God through Moses, and included in this were various laws about family, heritage, and widowing.

One of the laws was that if a married man died, and left no children behind, then his closest, unmarried male relative, (usually his brother,) would have the duty or responsibility to marry his wife and provide children so that the wife would be cared for, and so that the family name of the deceased would not die out.

So Ruth and this relative, Boaz, discuss this possibility, and Boaz agrees to marry, or redeem Ruth, in the place of his relative. The only hitch, however, is that there is a relative who is closer to Naomi, and therefore Ruth, and so technically speaking, he’s first in line for the chance to marry Naomi.

So Boaz calls the closer relative, and the officials of the community together, and he tells them about Ruth and Naomi, and their situation and explains that the closer relative has the opportunity to gain his deceased relative’s property, given he marries Ruth. The closer relative, upon hearing that he would need to marry Ruth, declines.

He does this because it means that his firstborn son he would have, would not carry his name, but his relatives' name. In the end, Boaz marries Ruth and bears a son in the place of his relative, and that son goes on to become the grandfather of King David.

Boaz is not just mentioned by name, but he ended up being the great-grandfather of King David, and greater yet, he is listed as one of the ancestors of Jesus Christ himself. God honored his obedience, and his call to responsibility by placing him in the family line of the savior of the world.

While it is a small example, I really enjoy the questions that stem from this story, such as, "What have I been called to?” and “What am I waiting for?” So with that being said…. what are YOU waiting for?

The Definition of Discipleship

Now that you've seen some examples of answering God's call and how people came to follow Jesus from the Bible, it's time to get technical. What does Christian discipleship really mean?

If we want to get really academic, the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of a disciple is, "one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ's followers according to the Gospel accounts."

When we take an analytical approach to the term, discipleship's meaning becomes quite clear: embodying Jesus and taking on God's love of the nations as our own, as Jesus taught. To be one of Jesus' disciples in the modern world is to go beyond Biblical theology to know God's word in our hearts and spread it across the nations by living a Christian life of missions.

Missions can take on a variety of forms, from serving the Lord Jesus Christ in worship with others to praying over a meal you share with individuals unfamiliar with God's story. Discipleship requires you to walk with other disciples, but it's also an extremely intimate experience between you and God - one in which you can expand upon in YWAM's discipleship training school.

Founded on Discipleship: YWAM DTS

We know what God has told us to do, what we have been called to:

“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, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

So what are you waiting for? Can you honestly say you are doing what has been asked of you? What is in your way, and is it actually in your way, or are you afraid of what happens if you do it?

If you feel you are doing what has been asked to the best of your ability, then great. But if you’re part of what I suspect is the majority, then you’re not alone. And there is no better time than now to step out in faith because we know God meets us where we’re at. We shouldn’t wait until tomorrow to do something today.

Personally, I would highly recommend a Discipleship Training School with YWAM Salem as it has helped me grow in my faith and step out in fearlessness. YWAM's DTS is about more than disciple-making, it's about connecting Jesus' followers with the tools to gain a deeper understanding of His love and how to apply it to their lives and the world around them.

Don’t be afraid to step out in faith, be afraid that if you don’t, you might miss out. And a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. Apply for DTS today.