Called to Discipleship (P3) — K.P. Yohannan

There's a great deal of confusion surrounding discipleship today. Many people who claim to be under the banner of Christ really don't understand what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Join us for the Road to Reality and learn how to get on the Road of Discipleship.

This is the Road to Reality at Ministry of Gospel for Asia. I'm Richard Bews, and K .P. Yohannan is our teacher. Today we join him in studio for the third part of his series called To Discipleship. If we belong to Christ, it's important that we realize the seriousness of giving up sin and the world and walking with Christ in simplicity and deep godliness.

K .P. is here to encourage us towards complete submission, that's the word, to the Lordship of Christ.

The Danger of Comfortable Christianity

Without any doubt, one of the greatest dangers Christendom faces today is that so much of teaching and explaining of God's word has to do with giving people freedom and liberty to live a life according to the lifestyle or the culture in which they live.

In other words, the way scripture is explained often, it is to give us comfort and permission to live like anybody else in our society. Well, if you don't believe me, go to the Christian bookstores and look around and see the number of books and the titles you'll find there.

You hardly can find books written by A .W. Chaucer or the old Puritan writers, people calling for godliness and uprightness, calling us to repent and forsake sin and live holy lives in a wicked and perverse generation.

As a matter of fact, teaching on discipleship, radical commitment to Christ and His Lordship is hardly spoken anymore. Well, I'm not knocking on pastors or teachers or Bible study materials, but here's the thing I want to ask you.

How many years it's been since you repented and gave your life to Christ and got baptized or whatever and you go into church. But please let me ask you, how is your life today in the light of the kind of call Christ gave to His followers, loving Him supremely, denying self and forsaking all else to be His, fasting in prayer, brokenness, having a compassionate broken heart for the lost world, saying not to sin and materialism and the pull of the dust for the sake of Christ who paid blood as the price to purchase us.

Please don't misunderstand, I'm not after you or anybody else to put them on a guilt trip and bring condemnation on people. And no, as a matter of fact, I am totally opposed to anyone who is trying to be legalistic and bring us under bondage.

The New Covenant and Love-Driven Obedience

I'm the one who's been saying forever that we are in the new covenant. If our praying and studying the Bible and doing evangelism, giving money and all this stuff we do because we have to do it, because there's a need out there, we have to do it.

Somebody persuading us, somebody's expectations, we are actually running back to be under the old covenant. The old covenant is, do this, don't do that, obey this or you're going to get killed or whatever else.

But the new covenant, we are called to be partakers of His nature. That is, the love of Christ constrains me to do what the Lord wants me to do. I hate sin, not because it is a terrible thing, it is a bad thing, no, I mean it's true it's bad and terrible, but something more sacred and holy.

That is, I don't want to make the Lord sad, I don't want to hurt Him. Saying goodbye to the follies of sin has to do with, Lord, I love you so much. So being a disciple of Christ is not simply saying, now I'm a wonderful Christian, I'm a part of the church, and I do this, I do that, I have a wholesome living, and I got good family, everything is wonderful, in the end I'm going to go to heaven, no.

Jesus' Radical Call to Follow Him

The call to discipleship or being a follower of Christ is much more radical than most people realize and that's the reason I prayed with you to read the four gospels and see what kind of thing Jesus talked about for those who follow Him.

Go to the book of Acts and read the lives of these Christians, the kind of lives they lived. For example, in Acts chapter 17 verse 6, we read about the early Christians. These, those who turned the world upside down have come here also.

In one translation, world revolutionaries have come here also. It is the lifestyle, the character, the nature, the people we are, being the light and the salt, they cannot deny it that we represent Christ.

The Unreached World and the Cost of True Conversion

Especially how crucial it is, my brothers and sisters, when you think about two billion people in our generation that wait to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, they never heard His name. And I think this friend of mine writing these words is quite appropriate.

He says, we call ourselves citizens of heaven, yet our hearts are caught up in earthly treasures. We sing, we are the people of God. But we are entertained by the worst of the devil's children. And how often, this is true, listen to this.

We say, just confess Jesus as Lord and you are in. And Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Matthew 7 .21.

We say, just pray this prayer and it is done. And the Lord says, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9 .23. And we say, oh, just come to the altar, it will only take a minute.

The Lord says, make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Luke 13 .24. And the truth is this, Jesus made it painfully clear to the large crowds who were traveling with Him, that if they wanted to follow Him, and He simply said, you have to hate your father, your mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even their own very life.

Otherwise, they couldn't be His disciples. You think Jesus changed His words for this generation? That He diluted it? And He says now, I just want you to be a nice Christian and come to heaven in the end?

Or you think He's saying the same thing to us? Hey, please don't get offended. I'm not painting a picture of exclusivism or being a hermit and not living in a normal society. No, we are called to be in our world, in the society, yet our life of humility and brokenness and simplicity and devoutness to the Lord and our life that is deep in Christ will become the reason for our family members, our neighbors, people at work, and in our society, and in many other nations around the world, that they will come to know the Lord.

Prayer, Compassion, and the Lost Nations

I never forget the telephone call I got from a lady in California. And I said, Hello, and then she introduced herself to me in the end, I said, you know, I just wanted to know, I'm paralyzed and I lay in my bed hours, but beside my bed, there is a world map.

And about seven hours a day, I pray for the different countries of the world. Then she started rattling off names of people, groups and places and all kind of stuff. And then she said, you know, the more I pray, the more convinced I become that someday when I get to heaven, I'm going to see millions and millions of people from all these nations.

Then she started talking about the revival that will take place, the more God in the last days that will take place in the land of India and on and on. What a delight. What joy to hear someone who is not able to move around, but her heart is caught up, not in her world of pain and sorrow and difficulties.

I'm sure life is not comfortable for her, but she's lost in a world of wonder and happiness and excitement and anticipation. And someday the joy of seeing the Lord and the world that came to Christ. Through her prayers and godliness.

Completely submitting to the Lordship of Jesus, that is actually where our Lord wants us. And in just a moment, we'll get back to K .P. Johanan for more encouragement in that regard. As you've probably realized, though necessary, this type of submission is far from easy.

In order to give us help in this regard, Brother K .P. has written the book, Living in the Light of Eternity. In his uncompromising way, K .P. seeks to impart a solid basis for genuine spiritual growth.

The book is available on our website, roadtoreality .org .uk, for a suggested donation of £5. That's roadtoreality .org .uk. All right, let's get back to K .P. now.

Sacrificial Mission and the Example of Jim Elliot

Well, I am someone who is, you know, living always with this passion to see the lost world come to Christ. But the older I get, the more convinced I become that the way we can touch this world is not through money and buildings and all kinds of projects and programs.

Rather, to see once again, true disciples following the Lord and making impact like those early Christians and early disciples. I'm sure you heard about the name Jim Elliot. Here was a young man who was, while studying in the university, he was so devout to the Lord, he saw himself called to live for Christ who gave his life for him.

I'm sure while many of his friends didn't understand him and they spent the time they wanted to spend or their money and resources, whatever, Jim Elliot chose to spend his time with the Lord, hours, days.

And finally, he heard the call to become a missionary. Along with a few friends, he went to some unreached tribal groups and there he was martyred. He lay down his life and he's the one who said he is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

What a fantastic statement. But the question is, how can we apply that to our life? Incidentally, during one of his meditation time in the book of Hebrews, reading chapter 1 verse 7, he maketh his ministers a flame of fire.

Jim Elliot wrote these words in his diary. I quote, Am I ignitable? God, deliver me from the dread asbestos of other things. Saturate me with the oil of the spirit, that I may be a flame. But flame is transient, often short-lived.

Canst thou bear this, my soul? Short life? In me there dwells the spirit of the great short-lived, whose seal for God's house consumed him. Make me thy fuel, flame of God. By the way, the last line was quoted from the poem of Amy Carmichael.

A lady, a young woman, who gave up all and everything to go to India as a missionary and give her life to rescue the perishing. And Jim Elliot must have read the poem that Amy Carmichael wrote. Here it is.

This is Amy Carmichael's prayer. From prayer that ask that I may be sheltered from winds that beat on thee, from fearing when I should aspire, from faltering when I should climb higher, from silken self, O Captain Free, thy soldier who would follow thee, from subtle love of softened things, from easy choices of weakenings, nor thus are spirits fortified, nor this way when they're crucified, from all that dims thy calvary, O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way, the faith that nothing can dismay, the hope no disappointments tire, the passion that will burn like fire. Let me not sing to be called. Make me thy fuel, flame of God.

I think it is reasonable to say that people like Amy Carmichael or Jim Elliot or tens of thousands of others who followed the Lord and we read about them and we're touched and gripped by their lives and their stories.

But please remember, each of these people, they chose a deliberate choosing of the narrow road in their walk with the Lord. And that's what I'm talking about. Often, we may have a church with 2 ,000, 3 ,000, 4 ,000 people, but the community still not impacted.

Still 2 billion people of the world wait to hear the gospel. I think the real issue we have to deal with, if Jesus turned the world upside down with a handful of people, why can't we see our nation, our society turned around?

Denying Self and Embracing the Cross

I think the problem is, people, those who say they belong to Christ don't understand the seriousness of giving up sin and the world and walking with him with simplicity and commitment to deep godliness.

And so when Christ says in Matthew's gospel, chapter 16, verse 24, deny yourself and pick up the cross. Often people misunderstand. Denying self, they think is self-denial. No, self-denial is you forego certain foods and pleasures and, you know, some vacations and whatever else.

But denying self is complete submission to the Lord for Christ. It is not simply, I want to escape hell and go to heaven. No, it is rather understanding that Jesus came not only to forgive us of our sins and take us to heaven, but also to set us free from our self-centeredness.

And this is the reason why often Christians never understand the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't understand the meaning and the tremendous joy of following Christ. Why? Because they do not want to accept the cross and the suffering in their life.

It says in Peter, And he suffered for us, leaving this example that we may follow in his footsteps. Oh, don't think this is talking about the cross, the nails and the blood. No, no, no. This is talking about Christ's life on earth.

Throughout his life, forever and always, he said not to himself so that he can do the will of the Father. Read 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and chapter 6. You will find Paul, this follower of Christ, he was willing to embrace the difficulties and accept the inconveniences so that he can fulfill the call of God in his life to be Christ-like in his generation.

Applying Cross-Bearing Discipleship to Global Suffering

You say, Brother KP, how do you explain this for me in my world where I'm living in? Well, think about it. You're looking at the television set or reading some magazines or radio. You hear stories from Rwanda or Afghanistan or Iraq or the huge tidal wave that hit Bangladesh or some calamity in some place.

You read about the 14 ,000 Christians being killed every year around the world for their faith. And now the huge persecution going on in Orissa state in India. And I mean, there's plenty of information.

Just go to the website and look for these things. Or 180 million child laborers who are living less than, you know, the life of slavery and slaves and bondage. When you read and understand, hear this kind of information, question, how do we respond to that?

Could it be that your response would be saying, Lord, I'm going to take a day or two or three to fast and pray for these communities, for these nations. I'm going to turn my alarm clock on to wake me up two in the morning so I can spend a couple hours on my knees in my living room, on my knees, praying and crying out to you for these people.

Or is it, Lord, I made my plans to spend my money on vacation and go here and there. And Lord, I see the need so much that I'm saying not to myself and what I want, I want to spend these resources to touch the lost world.

There's a thousand ways you can translate that scripture embracing the cross into a practical life for the sake of reaching the lost world. By the way, this is one of the reasons why I encouraged often pastors and churches.

Training Young Believers for Radical Service

Hey, think about sending our young people to our one-year internship here in Dallas. We have some 160, some brothers and sisters, families, children here on our staff. And, you know, we open our doors for 15, 20 young people to come here for a year-long internship.

Here they see and touch and understand godliness by living with people who are radically committed to the Lordship of Christ and their commitment to reach the lost world. They understand prayer because now they pray with the people.

They understand fasting, not because somebody tell them, because they see the lives of other people around them. They understand godliness because they see examples around them. So if you are a young person who finishes high school or high school and you want to spend a year and come and be here for a year-long road to reality internship, we call it.

I tell you, your life will never be the same again. And part of the year we send you overseas to some country where you will see the body of Christ and the way the Lord is working among these people and have a chance to interact with the believers in these other nations.

Making Life Decisions in the Light of Eternity

So I encourage you in the light of what I've been saying, think about making some serious decisions to follow the Lord. What do you mean serious decisions? Well, maybe you have to say goodbye to the relationship.

Maybe you have to change your plan about your future. Maybe the Lord is calling you to give your life to serve Him somewhere. Whatever it may be, if you follow Christ, there will be sacrifice. There will be suffering in the flesh.

If somebody else tells you otherwise, well, it's nice to hear. But it is not authentic biblical Christianity. May the Lord give you grace and give you understanding and wisdom to follow the Lord, especially in these last days.

And remember, 100 years from now, nothing really matters. We are not here forever. So make your life decisions in the light of eternity and do it every day.

This is The Road to Reality, a ministry of Gospel for Asia. I'm Richard Peers, and I hope very much that you'll join me again next week on The Road to Reality.