Disciples of Jesus cannot be “undercover” agents. I have met people before who claimed to know Christ but also explained that their religion was a private matter. Strangely, Jesus never instructed His followers to live a private faith. In Acts, the first disciples of Jesus lived their faith in Him so publicly that all endured persecution and most faced death.
Something amazing happened in the early Church when Christ’s followers were beaten, crucified, stoned, and ruthlessly murdered. The Church grew in faithfulness to the mission and in number. It almost seems that the greater the persecution, the more that God added to their number.
In training His disciples about the mission, the Lord Jesus offered this truth to them (John 15:8), “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” At Level Three Followship, the disciple of Jesus relentlessly seeks to glorify God with every word and produces Christ-honoring fruit by his or her deeds. Jesus said this would be proof of discipleship. But proof for whom? The Lord knows the heart of every person. The proof is not evidence for God to see, but for other people, especially non-Christians.
[Editorial Note- If you have not read the previous posts, the Level Three Followship is going to make less sense until you understand the concepts of the first two levels. Here is the link back to the main page for this series: Four Levels of Followship.)
So to give practical illustration to this level, I will use the same three examples as the previous posts.
Temptation to Sin: At a Level Three Followship, the disciple of Jesus is very concerned about the testimony of his or her life before others. This disciple is concerned about more than sin, but also the edification of less mature believers. This was the attitude of the Apostle Paul when he stated, “ But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” (1 Corinthians 8:9-13, ESV)
Devotional Time: The Level Three follower of Jesus recognizes the correlation between worship and serving. Their goal is for Christ to work through their actions, words, and attitudes. These disciples seek to walk in the Spirit each moment of the day and display genuine “fruit” of the Spirit (“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”). Devotional time is viewed as the training and equipping for a life that glorifies God.
Evangelism: At Level Three Followship, the disciple is motivated to share the Gospel by more than obeying the command and the personal exhilaration of seeing someone trust Christ. The disciple at this level is working toward a lifestyle alignment with the Gospel. Evangelism is less of an activity and more of a defining attribute.
Last Note of Clarity:
The Level Three follower of Christ does not serve to be seen or personally recognized. He or she serves others and uses the gifts, talents, and abilities the Lord has provided to bring glory to God. With this heart of selflessness and sacrificial giving, the Holy Spirit produces a result (“fruit”) that makes the Gospel attractive to people who are perishing.
Shepherding Well 