Why Being a Disciple Is The Only Skill You Really Need

You may not have the word “Pastor” in your title, but what you do is absolutely pastoring.

We are swimming in a new age of online discipleship and digitally communicating the message of Jesus in ways that are unprecedented. If the person using words to communicate the message of Jesus from a physical stage for an hour is recognized as a pastor, how much more the person using words to communicate the message of Jesus from a digital stage 7 days a week?

Yes, you are responsible for announcements. Yes, you are responsible for project management. Yes, you are? responsible for SEO.

But do you realize those are the very things that drive people to community? It matters to the person who Googled, “church near me”, found your church, and received Jesus that Sunday. It matters to the woman going through divorce, who joined your divorce group and found healing and restoration. It matters to the guy in college who watched your message, and heard God talk directly to him for the first time.

IT MATTERS.

Now that we’ve (hopefully) cleared that what you do matters, and what you do is ministry, let’s talk about the best thing you can do to ensure you are doing your job well.

It isn’t reading more articles. It isn’t listening to more podcasts. It isn’t staying on top of social media trends.

Your most important job is staying close to Jesus.

Let’s not ever forget that we are simply a conduit to Him. That there is no better coach, mentor, and guide than Jesus.

My friend Ali once said, “Our main job is to get within the sound of His voice.” And she’s right.

Are you hearing His voice? Before you do anything, are you asking Him to lead? In your frustrations, are you giving them over to Him? Are you spending time with Him?

If you haven’t checked out my friend Dave’s youtube channel, you should. It’s awesome. He recently posted a video about??how to read the Bible, and his main thing? Reading the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, every month.

Here’s why:

“During the time of Jesus, a disciple was with his Rabbi 24/7. They watched how their Rabbi treated the poor, handled their money, ate their food, what they were like when they were happy or sad or angry. Because every activity was an opportunity to learn how to be like the Rabbi. And it’s the same for us. If we’re going to learn to be like Jesus, then we have to spend time with Jesus.

…I first got challenged to do this by an Orthodox Rabbi friend of mine who was teaching me about the idea of discipleship in the Jewish Bible. If you can’t find time to read all the gospel stories about your Rabbi every month, then you can’t call yourself a disciple because you’re not spending time with your Rabbi.”

Now listen. As a Mom of a toddler, I will be the last person to tell you that there are rigid rules about what your time with Jesus looks like. Elisabeth Elliot once said, “Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.” I abide by that. But I love Dave’s point. If your focus is off-center, everything else will be too.

What you do matters. Beyond any tips / tricks / tools, your relationship with Jesus is the most valuable resource you will ever have.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash