Below is an older post from 5/18/17.
If I Have Not Love, I Am Nothing
Discipling others begins with love. It's about caring for someone deeply enough to open your life and invest major time and sacrifice to see Christ formed in them. As we know from the story of the gospel, love is not just a feeling, but an action. "But God demonstrated His own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) In fact, if we don't have an action love for the people we are discipling, we would never be fully committed to push through the challenges and obstacles that come with investing. Sin is real, people are messy, and applying the scriptures to life can sometimes be complex. Truth is we can teach people stuff, but it's that action love of doing things that are hard and inconvenient that show the love of God to others in the messiness of disciple making.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
It's often been said that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. So unless we are willing to roll up our sleeves and really love those we are leading, our teaching could be lacking. Practically this could mean being a better listener. When people in your group need someone to talk to at inconvenient hours, we are available. Maybe it's going the extra mile to share a burden they have by contributing your own resources and time. Love could be as simple as texting people in your group and saying, "I'm praying for you, let me know if I can do anything." Sometimes love is having a really hard and awkward conversation about sin. It's also the reality that If they actually come to repentance, I am willing to help them navigate the fallout that could come with that. Whichever way love expresses itself in our disciple making, it will always ask of us a selfless action and a relentless commitment. It's been my experience that those kinds of relationships create bridges where we can carry loads of truth into another person's heart. I love that Jesus modeled this sacrificial, serving kind of love when He washed His disciples feet in John chapter 13. The scripture says that Jesus, "having loved His own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." (v.1) Not to leave us wondering about how He loved them to the end, John writes, "that( He) rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him." (John 13:4-5) Just like at the cross where Jesus died to prove His love, He showed His love for the disciples by serving them. Too often we want to grab the title of leader without the towel of servant. But this is backwards in how Jesus made disciples. So let's think through some ways to practically love our D-Groups this week.
Grace & Peace, Scott