What it means to be a deployed disciple
The final dimension of a true disciple is deployment. True disciples are engaged in the ministry of Jesus. More specifically, they are making disciples by reaching the lost and investing in a few. Deployed is an action word. It’s boots on the ground.
Over the years I’ve had several friends who were in the military. One friend was a Commander in the Air Force during Operation Desert Storm. He flew several sorties into enemy territory during that conflict. For him, deployment means to leave the safety of home and engage in the battle.
The true disciple is a deployed disciple. He isn’t just someone who believes in Jesus and spends his time working on spiritual disciplines. He is actively advancing the kingdom of God by reaching people for Christ and walking with them to maturity. He has skin in the game.
Seeing people the way Jesus sees them
One day as Jesus was traveling from village to village, teaching and ministering to the crowds, he was overcome with compassion. He saw that they were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9.36). The word harassed (skullo) means to be mangled, torn apart, and cut to the bone. The word helpless (rhipto) means to throw to the ground. Jesus saw these people the way his Father saw them – victims of the enemy. They were hurt, betrayed, abused, torn apart, beat down, discarded, and walked on. He saw that they had no one to look after them or care for them.
Recognizing the reality of a hurting world
I’ve seen my share of hurting people. I’ve walked through the slums in India where children were playing on garbage heaps, subsisting without clean water or shelter. I’ve been in inner-city schools, tagged and marked by the local gangs. I’ve looked into the eyes of the homeless, the single mom, the elderly and forgotten.
During the economic recession of 2008-2009, the United States job market lost 8.4 million jobs. That represents 6.1% of all jobs in the nation. The area I’m serving was hit especially hard. I’ll never forget seeing a middle-aged man standing on a street corner dressed in a nice suit and tie, briefcase at his side, holding a handwritten sign that read, “I need a job.” Harassed. Helpless. Jesus was broken for these people. When I stop long enough to see people the way God does, my heart breaks, too.
Understanding the solution Jesus gives
And in that moment of honest emotion, Jesus called for the solution. What’s the solution to the pain and heartbreak in our culture? Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9.37). Jesus said the answer to human suffering in the world is prayer. But not a prayer that says, “Lord, help these people.
Reframing how we think about laborers
They are really hurting.” It’s a prayer that says, “Lord, help these people by sending more laborers into the harvest field.” We often hear this verse when someone is making an earnest plea for more volunteers at the church. The children’s workers are running low, so the pastor quotes this passage: “Pray earnestly for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers” and the signup sheet is at the information desk as you exit the auditorium. But Jesus isn’t telling us to pray for people to volunteer within the church. He’s telling us to pray for people to be sent out from the church and into the harvest field. The harvest is where lost people are.
Going where the harvest is
The harvest is where people are hurting, where they are harassed and helpless and need the hope of the gospel. True disciples are deployed into the harvest field. They intentionally and purposefully seek out those who they know are far from God and they invest their lives in a few. Many disciples today are doing just this, even in the face of hostility and resistance.
On a trip to Bangalore, India, I had the opportunity to sit with pastors who have suffered greatly to follow Jesus. We gathered in an upstairs cinder-block building. Fifteen to twenty Indian pastors sat politely in the seats, excited to hear what our team had to say to them. A local denominational leader who wanted to encourage pastors in his district organized the meeting. I was the scheduled preacher for the day, but I quickly realized that I was sitting among giants. Every one of these men had come from a Muslim background and had chosen to follow Christ at the risk of his life.
Counting the cost of stepping into the harvest
One pastor heard the gospel in his remote village over a radio broadcast. He wrote in requesting a Bible, and for months he studied it in secret. When he was discovered to be a Christ follower, the village men beat him severely and threatened his life. His mother helped him to escape. He left behind his wife, children, home, and job. He had absolutely nothing.
I also had the opportunity to meet a young woman named Fatima. When her family learned that she was a Christ follower, she was threatened with death – honor killing. She later escaped and found refuge with Christians. In the years that followed, she married a Christian young man and had a small child. Over time, she was able to communicate with her father and mother, and their hostility toward her seemed to subside. But when she returned home to retrieve some personal documents, her brothers beat her and her husband. As she told me her story, I could still see her bruises and the blood in her eyes.
Holding on to the promise of Jesus in the mission
Jesus warned his followers that deployment into the harvest field wouldn’t be easy, but he promised that he would be with them. Can you imagine a cadre of men and women in your church, trained and mobilized to reach people with the gospel and invest in new believers? Jesus could. That was his vision for his church. It still is.
Returning to the definition of a true disciple
So, let’s review our definition of a disciple. A true disciple is a person who is devoted to Jesus, is developing the character and competencies of Jesus, and is deployed into the ministry of Jesus by reaching the lost and investing in a few. Jesus wanted 3D disciples.
This blog features an excerpt from one of our books, Bold Moves.
