Rick Warren - What It Really Means to Be a Disciple of Jesus - Part 2

Have you ever heard anybody say this. You know, I

love Jesus, I just don't like the church. I love Jesus,

I just can't stand the church. Then let me tell

you something. You're not a disciple because with all of

its imperfections, all of its faults, all of its faux

paus and failures, because it's made up of normal, ordinary,

imperfect people, Jesus says, the church matters. Christ died for

the Church. In fact, it's the only thing that's going

to last on this planet. Microsoft isn't going to last.

The Democratic and Republican parties aren't going to last. The

United States of America isn't going to last. No empire

lasts forever. There's only one thing that's going to last

for eternity. That is God's family. The Church. You're in it.

It's the only thing that's going to last. It's more

important than everything else put together, because God created the

universe because he wanted a family. And so if you

don't love the church, you're not going to like heaven

because that's all who's going to be there. So you

better figure out how to learn to love other disciples. Now,

Jesus died for the church. The Bible calls the church

the bride of Christ. How about if I said to you,

I like you, I just can't stand your wife, You'd

be You'd be irritated, you'd be offended. You'd have a

right to be. Or the Bible says, the church is

the body of Christ. If I said I like you,

but your body's not too hot, well, you'd be offended.

When you say I don't like the Church, you're saying

I don't like the body of Christ that Jesus died for. Now.

This is absolutely ridiculous. People think that they can follow

Christ and not love the Church. They're wrong. In fact,

here's what Jesus what the Bible says. First John chapter four.

Someone says I love God but hates a Christian brother

or sister. That person is a liar. That's pretty clear.

God says, I'm a liar if I say I love

God and don't other Christians. For if we don't love

people we can see, how can we love God when

we have not seen? Well? Duh? He says, this is obvious,

and so to be my disciple, you must love other

people in the family of God. This is called fellowship.

I want you to write this down. Spiritual growth happens

in community. It doesn't happen on your own. It doesn't.

You cannot be a disciple by yourself. You cannot be

a disciple in isolation. You cannot follow Christ as an individual.

Me and Jesus we got a good thing going. We

don't need anybody else. We can attain maturity on your own. No,

you will never grow to spiritual maturity without a church family.

The Bible teaches that. In fact, notice that verse he says,

if you have love for one another, circle the phrase

one another. That phrase is used fifty eight times in

the Bible. We are to love one another, care for

one another, help one another, serve one another, encourage one another,

pray for one another. We are to support one another,

where to greet one another. We are to encourage one another.

The Bible says, we were put on this planet to

help each other out in the family of God. And

you have to have a Christian church family and be

in relationship with people because life is all about love. Now,

you may be listening to ten radio preachers a day,

and there are a lot of good ones out there.

Some of them are my friends actually. But if you're

listening to all those guys, you're not growing. You're getting

more knowledge, but you're not growing. Because life is all

about love. It's all about love. It's learning to love

God and learning to love your neighbors, yourself. Life is

all about learning to love God. This is what makes

it different. What makes having a relationship with Jesus different

than religion, that every single religion. The more you isolate

yourself from humanity, the more holy you're considered to be,

whether it's Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, or anything else. The holiest

people are those who go off into the monks and

the monasteries, or the gurus who hide in the caves

in the mountain, who separate themselves from sinful humanity so

they can't become impure by all of us who are evil, wicked, mean,

bad and nasty. And so the more holy you are,

the more you separate yourself from earth and from other people.

That is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. Jesus

didn't do that. Jesus was in the marketplace, Jesus went

to the parties. Jesus was at the wedding, turning water

to wine. In fact, Jesus went to so many parties.

The legalistic religious leaders of the day said he is

a quote glutton and a drunk. Today they would say, hey,

Jesus is a party animal. That's what they'd say, because

Jesus taught you can't learn to love unless you're around people. Now,

you could go and hide in a monastery and read

prayer books all day, and you could quote scripture, and

you can pray, and you can study till your brain

is so packed with theology, but you're not spiritually mature.

Because Jesus said, it's all about love, loving God and

loving your neighbor, and you can't do that unless you

get around some unlovely people. I don't look at him

right now, but God says, I measure maturity by how

much you love, not by knowledge, but how much you love.

And this is called radical fellowship. And Jesus expects us

to have a very radical kind of love, more than

the world. In fact, look at the next verse one

John three point sixteen. This is how we know what

love is, what real love is. Jesus Christ laid down

his life for us, and we ought to lay down

our lives for the brothers. Talking about brothers and sisters

in the family of God, other Christians. Jesus laid down

his life for us, and God says, I measure your

love by how much you're willing to sacrifice for other Christians,

for other believers, for other people in the family. This

is radical fellowship. The word in Greek is the word

koynania fellowship, and fellowship is being as committed to each

other as we are to Jesus Christ. That's what it

means to be a disciple. Not that, Oh I love

God and I couldn't care less about the church. No.

God says, if you love me, you love my family.

I tell you that. I say, you can't love me

and not love my family because my family represents me,

and we only grow in community being as committed to

each other as we are to Jesus. This is why

being in a small group is absolutely essential to your

spiritual growth. Number four, Jesus says, if I want to

be a disciple, I must always do what Jesus tells me.

That's the mark of a disciple. I must always do

what Jesus tells me. It may not make sense, it

may not be popular, it may cost me something, but

it's always the right thing because God's not going to

steal you in the wrong direction. God tells you to

do something, it's always the right thing to do. And

he's saying that one of the marks of discipleship is

I must obey him continually. I must always do what

he tells me to do. John chapter eight. Let's read

this verse aloud together. Okay, if you continue to obey

my teaching, you are truly my disciples, then you will

know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Now everybody in America knows this phrase, the truth will

set you free. Most Americans don't know the first part

of the verse. He says, if you continue to obey

my teaching, then you're truly my disciple. And I notice he's

saying here three or four things about spiritual growth that

are very important. You might write these down. The first

thing I want you to notice is spiritual growth is

an ongoing process. It is an ongoing process. It's going

to take the rest of your life. And that's why

you got your whole life to grow up spiritually. But

you're never going to stop learning, he says. If you

continue circle the word continue. He says, it's a process,

it's ongoing. Spiritual growth is not well, I go to

class and then now I'm spiritually mature. No, it's a process,

it's a development, it's incremental, it's gradual, and it's going

to take the rest of your life. The rest of

your life if we go through a step by step

process and it's one step at a time. You know.

I learned this growing up. My dad was a pastor,

and so I knew my dad. He was a great teacher.

But I noticed that people could go to church for

twenty years or thirty years, of forty years and still

be spiritually immature. And I thought, how can that be?

I mean, they're hearing all this good teaching, and yet

they're not growing up. They're still cranky, they're still self centered,

there's still gossips, they're still resentful and bitter, and they

worry and they feel guilty and they're insecure, and they

still got all their hang ups and they don't seem

to be growing up and spiritually maturing. Why is that?

And the reason why is because we forget what we learn.

Studies have shown over and over the first one was

the US Air Force that discovered is we forget ninety

to ninety five percent of everything we hear within seventy

two hours, and if you had heard me teach for

thirty years at saddleback, you have forgotten ninety five percent

of it. It takes more than sermons to grow. Sermons

are not enough to grow because we forget, which, by

the way, is why we pass out these little things.

Because the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.

And if you take notes, you're at least gonna have

something you can go home and you can review it again.

You see, if you don't take notes, you don't remember

what I taught on last week. Shoot, I don't remember

what I taught on last week, and I taught it

six times. You had to listen to it once, okay,

and I've already forgotten what I taught on. So it's

not like it's not normal. If you don't take notes,

if you don't care enough to learn what God wants

you to learn to write it down, then you're not

going to grow. And at the end of this year,

of all of teaching you'll hear at Saddleback, you'll only

remember maybe five percent of it. And that's why we

don't grow up. So we have to continue. We have

to have ways of remembering it now. The Bible teaches

that it is an ongoing process spiritual growth. Second thing, Notice,

it's measured by obedience. He says, if you continue to

obey my teaching, then your my disciple. It's not based

on how much you know, It's on how much you practice,

how much you obey. There are a lot of people

who know the Bible, but they don't live it. Sometimes

you can meet people who are veritable storehouses of Bible knowledge,

and they can quote Bible verses and they're the most cranky, cantankers,

arguing people, judgmental of every other Christian. Because the Bible

says knowledge puffs up love builds up. The more knowledge

you have, the more arrogant you tend to become if

you don't have love to match it and keep it

in a humble attitude. Knowledge without love leads to arrogance.

So God says, I don't measure your growth by how

much you know. I measure your growth by how much

you love, how much you love others, how much you

love me. And he says, you've got to have it's

how much you obey. In fact, would you write this

sentence down? I only believe the part of the Bible

I do. I only believe the part of the Bible

I actually practice. Now you may say you believe it,

but if you don't do it, you don't really believe it.

Do you believe that you should forgive the people who

hurt you? Yes? Do you do it? No? Then I

don't believe it. Do you believe that you should always

return good for evil? Yes? Do you do it? No?

Then you don't believe it. Do you believe you should tithe? Yes?

Do you do it? No? Then you don't believe it.

You believe you should share your faith with other people? Yes?

Do you do it?

No?

Then you don't believe it. You only believe the part

that you actually do.

Do you want to be happier, healthier, and more resistant

to stress, then you need to develop an attitude of gratitude.

In fact, the Bible says we're to rejoice, always, pray continually,

and give thanks in all circumstances. But it can be

difficult to feel grateful. So to help you, Pastor Rick

hand selected fifty two verses to bolster your sense of

gratitude and increase your happiness. This set of beautifully designed

cards will help you memorize scripture so you can recall

God's word when you need it most.

You can also use them to minister to others. Give

one to a.

Friend and write a personalized note of encouragement on the back.

If a scripture really speaks to you, frame it, put

them in places where you can read them during the

day for encouragement. And today, when you give a gift

to help daily hope, take the hope of Jesus to

a world in need, will send you the gratitude scripture

card set to say thanks.

Now, spiritual growth is an ongoing process. It's measured by obedience.

It's based on God's word. That's the third thing this

verse teaches. If you continue to obey my teaching. Now,

there are a lot of books out there you can

read that are good, and they may be positive, motivational.

They maybe, you know, teach you management skills. But it's

not human ideas. It's going to help you grow spiritually.

It's not philosophy or man's philosophy or pop psychology that's

going to teach you to grow spiritually. It is the truth.

We must feed on the truth. It's soul food. It's

the truth. Now, the fourth thing that verse teaches is

that it sets me free, that spiritual growth sets me free.

The truth will set me free. But what does that

mean set me free? The more you grow spiritually, the

freer you're going to be in life. You're going to

be set free from the expectations of others. You're going

to be set free from past memories that bother you. You're

set free from guilt. You're set free from resentment. You're

set free from bad habits. You're set free from shame.

You're set free from the pressures and stresses that other

people try to put on you. Because the more you

mature spiritually, the freer you are. The more you grow spiritually,

you don't become more religious fanatic, you become more natural.

The glory of God is a human being fully alive.

And the people who are most fully alive in life

are those who love Jesus the most, love other people

the most, and are growing in the Word of God.

The more mature you come, you're free from fear. You're

free from anxiety, You're free from insecurity. The truth sets

you free. Now it doesn't happen overnight. Look at this

verse on the screen. Our lives are gradually becoming brighter.

Notice it's gradually. It's a process, step by step more

and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we

become more like him. That's called radical discipleship, becoming like Jesus.

And that's the third goal of life. To love God,

to love other people, to become like Jesus. That's the

third goal, the third purpose of life. Now, how do

you do that? How do I grow gradually? Well, look

at the next verse. Here's what Jesus says. If you

continue to live in me circle the word continue. It's

an ongoing process. If you continue to live in me,

and what I say lives in you continues in you,

then you can ask anything you want and it'll be yours.

That's quite a promise. In prayer said, if you're living

in me and my words living in you, you can

ask for whatever you want. It'll be yours. You give

glory to my Father when you produce a lot of fruit,

and therefore show that you're my disciples. Now, he says,

you got to continue. It's a process, it's a strategy,

it's a journey. If you're going to continue to grow

the rest of your life, and that's what I'm trying

to help you do. You're going to need a couple

of things. First, you need a plan. You need a

track to run on. You need a pathway. You need

some guidelines, You need a trail, You need a process.

Jesus had a plan for helping his disciples grow from

immaturity to spiritual maturity. And he starts off where they were,

not where they ought to be. He starts off where

they are. He loves them, and he takes them through

each step to grow. Now, when they're growing, he loves

them at every stage. Listen to this. Jesus loves you.

God loves you at every stage of your maturity. He's

not waiting for you to become mature before he starts

loving you. He loves you where you are right now.

When my kids were little, Amy, Josh Matthew, they'd bring

me pictures when they're three, four years old, and I'd

look at that picture and that say, Amy, that picture

is perfect. Now what am I saying that she's better

than Picasso? No, that it's mature. No, I'm saying that's

perfect for that stage of her development. And I'm not

waiting for her to become a great painter before I

start loving her. I love her at every stage of

her growth with my children. And that's the way God

loves you. He's not waiting for you to get mature

before he loves you. He loves you unconditionally right now.

But he does want you to grow, and you need

a pathway. Jesus had a plan, and that pathway was

teaching his disciples first to know him and then to

love him, and then to grow in him, and then

to serve him and then to share him. Now, what

I just shared with you, that one sentence is the

whole philosophy behind Saddleback Church. Everything in this church helps

people move through those five stages, those five purposes. First

to know Christ. Then we want you to want you

to know him. Then you can love him because you

can't love him till you know him. And then you

learn to love his family, and then you start growing

in Christ. And then you start serving Christ, and then

you start sharing Christ. It's like a baby. A baby

has to learn to breathe, then it learns to eat,

then it learns to walk, and then it learns to talk.

We all grow at different stages and greats, but every

one of us went through those exact same physical stages,

and there are spiritual stages in spiritual growth too. And

it's why we have a spiritual mature church because we're

intentional about it. We've fought it through. And where did

we learn it. We learned it from Jesus and we

just copied his plans gradual, systematic, sequential. Now, to help

you visualize this, we use a baseball diamond. If you've

been in class one oh one, you remember the baseball diamond.

And each base represents a different stage of growth. First

base knowing Christ and love in Christ, being committed to

Him and his family. Second base, growing in Christ, third

base serving Christ. Home plate sharing Christ. And we say

we want you to cover all the bases. We want

you to be a Grand Slam disciple. You don't get

credit for runners left on base. Some of you went

to class one oh one. You got stuck at first base.

You need to go to class two oh one second

base and learn the habits for spiritual growth. Then some

of you got stuck at second base. You need to

go to third base and learn how to discover your

shape for serving God. Once you finish third base, you

need to go on to home plate and learn how

to live out your life mission in the world, and

that's what God wants us to do. By the way,

those classes were offering him today. Class one oh one

to four oh one are being offered this afternoon. Now

that's really funny because as we've taught the Saddlebacks purpose

driven system all around the world, four hundred thousand pastors

have been trained in this. It's all around the world.

It's funny because they don't play baseball in a lot

of countries, so they have to have different diagrams. So,

for instance, in Brazil, they don't use a baseball diamond

to represent spiritual growth. They use a soccer field and

you go down the field to the ten yard line,

the twenty yard line or the fifty to forty thirty

t and then you score and you hit a goal

when you've gone around all of the basis. In Russia

they use a ladder step one and step two and

step three. Knowing Christ, loving Christ, sharing Christ, you know,

up the steps. In Australia they don't play baseball, but

they play cricket. And I don't know if you know this,

but they use a diamond there too, but you run

it the opposite way. You run it clockwise, which makes sense.

They do it backwards because they're down under, you know,

so it's it's reversed in what we do in the

northern hemphosphere. And so they use a cricket to represent

the purposes. In China, where there's a lot of religious

persecution from the Communist Party, the Chinese Church owes the

Chinese flag because there's five stars on it to represent

the five purposes of God for our lives. So some

Communist leader comes in says, oh, I see, you're very patriotic. Yeah. Well,

what they're doing is they saying that's the symbol for

the five purposes of the five stars. Now, this idea

that I'm sharing with you, helping people grow systematically is

not new. For two thousand years, churches have been doing this.

It's called a catechism. Anybody heard of that one? You

know what a catechism is, it's then catechism, And just

in Catholic Church, all churches have used catechisms. You learn this,

then you learn this, then you learn this, then you

learn this, and for two thousand years people have been

going through a growing process. You need a pathway to grow,

but there's something else you need, and this is really

important if you're going to continue growing the rest of

your life. If you don't get anything else, I say,

I want you to get this. If you want to grow,

you must develop good habits. Would you write that down?

Spiritual growth is a matter of good habits. Every area

of your life is determined, controlled by the habits, the

difference between successful and unsuccessful people. Successful people have habits

that unsuccessful people are afraid to develop, are too lazy

to develop. And in the Christian life, you are the

sum total of your habits. You see, Character is a

matter of habit. It's something that you do habitually. For instance,

you can't say you have the character quality of honesty

unless it's your habit to always tell the truth. If

you tell the truth seventy percent of the time, you're

not honest. It's not a habit. It's not a character.

You got to be honest. It has to be a

habit in your life. If I say to my wife, honey,

I have the character quality of faithfulness to you, and

I will be faithful to you twenty eight days a month,

well that doesn't work. Partial faithfulness is unfaithfulness, right? Does

that make sense? You're not being faithful at all if

you're faithful ninety percent of the time. No, I'm not

faithful to my wife unless I am one hundred percent

faithful to her all the time. Now that's true in

every area. It's developing good habits. We have a class

called Class two one where we teach the basic habits

of the Christian life. Now, throughout the centuries, for two

thousand years of the church, Christians have used these habits.

Sometimes they're called spiritual disciplines. Sometimes they're called devotional practices.

I don't care what you call them. We call them

habits At saddleback. It's stuff that you learn, like how

to have a daily time with God, a quiet time.

How to pray that's a habit. How to read the Bible,

that's a habit. How to be in a small group fellowship,

that's a habit. How to tithe your money that's a habit.

Habit of solitude, silence, being quiet before God, the habit

of fasting, the habit of journaling. There are hundreds of

good habits. Some are more important than others, but they

are the building blocks for growing the spiritual maturity. And

notice the results of spiritual maturity. It says that when

you have these habits and when you grow and you

do what Jesus tells you to do, it says you

will produce fruit.

Do you want to be happier, healthier, and more resistant

to stress, then you need to develop an attitude of gratitude.

In fact, the Bible says we're to rejoice, always, pray continually,

and give thanks in all circumstances. But it can be

difficult to feel grateful. So to help you, Pastor Rick

hand selected fifty two verses to bolster your sense of

gratitude and increase your happiness. This set of beautifully designed

cards will help you memorize scripture so you can recall

God's word when you need it most.

You can also use them to minister to others. Give

one to.

A friend and write a personalized note of encouragement on

the back. If a scripture really speaks to you, frame it,

put them in places where you can read them during

the day for encouragement. And today, when you give a

gift to help daily hope, take the hope of Jesus

to a world in need, will send you the Gratitude

Scripture card set to say thanks