Last summer, I visited the Czech Republic for the first time, and it was a great experience. We partnered with a church near the Polish border and helped with their annual English Camp. Thankfully, we did not just dive straight into the camp, unprepared. We did months of preparation on the front end of the trip, and even a couple days of training in Prague upon arrival.
During our training, we were not only given time to overcome jet lag, but we were also introduced to Josiah Venture’s discipleship training material. I thought it would be helpful to share it with you all since it is the abstract paradigm through which I will be operating this summer as I minister to high school students!
As a disclaimer, the first two of these challenges first happen to people who have not yet repented and believed (i.e. nonbelievers). Every person who is in Christ encounters these five challenges in their life!
The Five Challenges of Christ
Okay, so obviously Jesus gave more than five challenges to disciples and others alike during the incarnation, but this framework has been what Josiah Venture has been using to train others to disciple during their camps ministry. I have found it very digestible, actionable, and easy to remember. I think it is cool too because I see parallels between Jesus’s words in Scripture and a Biblical Theology of Mission (spoiler alert).
1. Come and See
In the first chapter of John, before Jesus began His ministry, we saw Him calling men to look at and entertain what He was doing.
“[Jesus] said to them, ‘Come and you will see.’”1
Jesus (God incarnate) was drawing people to Himself. Is this new? Nope.
Think about ancient Israel! They had a ’limited’ mission - to be a covenant community designed to mediate the presence of God on a sinful and rebellious earth. Israel did not reject foreigners dwelling among them, insofar as these foreigners did not lead the Israelites astray, but they were certainly not evangelistic.
In order for discipleship in my life to take place, I must first come and see what God is doing. How can I give a reason for the hope that is within me, if I have not begun personally witness what the Lord is doing?
2. Repent and Believe
Discipleship does not stop with acknowledging God. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation! When Jesus came to earth, He began His ministry saying,
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.”2
What is this mysterious ‘kingdom’ language Jesus is using? Why is it grounds to repent and believe the gospel?
This is because the kingdom life is the life Jesus himself embodied and inaugurated.3
You see, Jesus could say that ’the kingdom of God is at hand’ because He was standing in their midst. Jesus not only made the perfect atonement for the sin of humanity, but He also embodied the lives God designed His people to live. Because the embodiment of the kingdom life was at hand, the kingdom of God was also at hand by extension. This is why when He started his ministry, He invited people to take on this kingdom life.
In order for us to take on this new life, repentance is necessary. A godly sorrow for sin, and a turning away from things that displease God are key components of this. A bold faith in the truth and power of the gospel is of equal importance. Only then, when I understand what life with and in Christ means, can I begin to show others what it is about.
3. Follow Me
“As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’ And he got up and followed Him. Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.”4
Repentance and belief in the gospel are not a single, one-time events. Perhaps you can argue that the resolution to repent and believe in the gospel is, but repentance and belief are daily decisions. When someone consistently makes the daily decision to repent and believe in the gospel with a genuine sincerity, one can say they are following Jesus!
Following Jesus requires faithfulness. This component of faithfulness pertains to steadfastness. We can be faithful in one sense, where we believe in the gospel, but we can also be faithful in the other sense, where we had steadfast, unwavering belief.
In this phase a person begins to understand what life with God truly looks like.
4. Fish for Men
I too can invite people to ‘come and see’ what God is doing – both on a personal and corporate level. This is one way we can mediate the presence of God on earth, as His royal priesthood.
“And [Jesus] said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”5
This invitation to ‘fish for men,’ is a challenge to invite people to come and see, repent and believe, and follow Jesus!
One of my favorite examples in Scripture of this is the first four of these challenges in action, demonstrated in two verses. Paul writes to Timothy,
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”6
This is precisely the verse we used to name the podcast that my friends started at my church in Arizona (shameless plug - click here to listen on Spotify)!
Is this idea of entrusting what we know about follow God to others new? Nope.
Let’s check out Deuteronomy 11.
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign in your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…”7
This is not a new idea! Propagation of the truth and kingdom life amongst humanity is a key part of God’s plan to restore Creation. Fishing for men plays a critical role in this plan!
5. Send Them Out
After the resurrection, Jesus visited His disciples, and He said,
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”8
The last challenge Jesus has with respect to discipleship is to send your disciples out. Just as we were once sent, we also need to send out those whom we have walked with. This challenge gives us all the more reason to train them up in the way they should go, because they will need to be equipped with a robust understanding of the things of God, and more importantly, a deep love for Jesus.
Conclusion
I hope this post gives you a glimpse into what things we are trained to do in our internship. To be honest, this material was mostly things I digested last summer on my short-term trip, with a little bit of extra synthesis on my part. Hopefully, you gleaned something from this post, and are able to implement this into your life!
χάριτος καἰ εἰρήνη,
(grace and peace)
- Carson