Tally
Ho, The Fox!
Chapter
5
Essentials For Making Disciples Or “The Doctor's Cure for the
Great Omission” (Luke 1:1-4)
“Forasmuch as many have taken
in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most
surely believed among us, Even as they
delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and
ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect
understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order,
most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those
things, wherein thou hast been instructed.” (King James Version) * “Since (as is well known)
many have undertaken to put in order and draw up a (thorough) narrative of
the surely established deeds which have been accomplished and fulfilled in
and among us, Exactly as they were handed down to us by those who from the
(official) beginning (of Jesus’ ministry) were eyewitnesses and ministers of
the Word (that is, of the doctrine concerning the attainment through Christ
of salvation in the kingdom of God), It seeming good and desirable to me, (I
have determined) also after having searched out diligently and followed all
things closely and traced accurately the course from the highest to the
minutest detail from the very first, to write an orderly account for you,
most excellent Theophilus, (My purpose is) that you may know the full truth,
and understand with certainty and security against error the accounts
(histories) and doctrines of the faith of which you have been informed and in
which you have been orally instructed.” (Amplified Bible) “Since many writers have undertaken
to compose narratives about the facts established among us, just as the
original eye-witnesses who became ministers of the message have handed them
down to us, I too, most excellent Theophilus, because I have carefully
investigated them all from the start, have felt impressed to write them out
in order for you, that you may better know the certainty of those things that
you have been taught.” (Williams translation) * “The author to
Theophilus: Many writers have undertaken to draw up an account of the events
that have happened among us, following the traditions handed down to us by
the original eyewitnesses and servants of the Gospel. And so I in my turn, your Excellency, as
one who has gone over the whole course of these events in detail, have decided
to write a connected narrative for you, so as to give you authentic knowledge
about the matters of which you have been informed.” (New English Bible) * * Since this text is so technical and full, it
would be wise to read and re-read these printed texts several times, seeking
to catch every word and every inflection of the phrases. The text is limitless and fathomless, and
needs and deserves maximum attention. Psalm 119:18 records this
prayer: “Open Thou mine eyes, that I might behold wondrous things out of Thy
law.” Let me urge you to pray this
prayer continually for yourself as you read and study this message. Psalm 119:130 says, “The entrance of Thy
Word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” May this be so as we study together. Let’s begin our study by
looking meditatively at the progression of this line: WORD > FLESH > WORD > FLESH > WORD > (put your name here) > WORD > FLESH This progression
represents the manner of Gospel advance among men throughout the history of
the Christian movement (Romans 10:14). It began with the “Word,” the
“Logos,.” becoming flesh and dwelling among men (John 1:14). Every advance thereafter is a modified form
of the same formula, the Word becoming flesh.
In process of time, by a miracle of God’s grace and power, His
salvation was “in-fleshed” in you. At that point, your name went into the
progression as suggested in the line above — and both your destiny and your vocation changed forever.
Now a practical question arises.
Since your name has been entered into the progression, will the
progression from the past to the future continue through you? O will the link break with you at the time
of your death? Will it look like this:
FLESH > WORD > FLESH .......? Will the intended progression end with you? Face the question again:
Will the progression continue through history because of the role you played
in your slot while you were alive? If
the progression is to continue with you, there is a vocation which you must
learn, and it is already prescribed for you in the Word of God. If you only
win another person to Christ, the link will probably break with the
person you win. If you win someone and
train him without a full awareness and implementation of “the standard” (of
world-visionary, world-impacting multiplicative disciple-making), the
progression will probably break with the person you win and train. Indeed, you will only make him a “better
Christian.” It is only when you win
and train someone according to the revealed Biblical standard that God will
guarantee that the chain will not break, and you yourself will guarantee its
continuation by laying the foundation for many generations. The Gospel of Luke,
written by the only Gentile writer of Scripture, is a monumental text which
breathes through and through with world-impacting disciple-making. World-visionary, world-impacting
disciple-making is the standard of
Gospel advance in the New Testament.
Keep in mind that Luke was not an apostle, not a preacher, not an
evangelist, not even an ordained deacon.
Luke was a Gentile, a scientist, a medical doctor and an amateur
historian made infallible by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Pause over the word “amateur” in the
preceding sentence. The word certainly
fits Luke as an historian. The word
describes a person who engages in an activity for the sheer love of it. Dr. Luke stands forever as one of the
greatest examples of the WORD TO FLESH
TO WORD standard of the New Testament.
The first four verses of the Gospel according to Luke form an
introduction to the document, and seem (by the grammatical wording of the
text) to have been written after the body of the document was completed. In these verses, we may see one of greatest
examples of disciple-making in the Bible. In his remarkable
introduction, Dr. Luke demonstrates four essential characteristics of a
world-visionary, world-impacting, multiplying disciple-maker. Any disciple who is to experience the
reality of God’s big vision for himself, his generation and future
generations must incarnate these four characteristics in his own life and
must, in turn, build them into any disciple God gives to him. Dr. Luke accepted personal responsibility for building
Theophilus, engaged in painstaking
research on behalf of Theophilus, developed precise resources to equip Theophilus, and did everything humanly
possible to generate persistent
reproduction of other world-visionary, world-impacting, multiplying
disciples through Theophilus. Read
this last sentence with great care, giving it much thought. “Consider what I say, and the Lord give
thee understanding in all things” (II Timothy 2:7). I. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY If you are to follow the
New Testament standard, YOU MUST TAKE PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY FOR BUILDING PEOPLE INTO NEW TESTAMENT DISCIPLES. Luke began by
acknowledging the commendable efforts of others to compose an account of
Jesus’ life and ministry. Though
others had put forth extreme effort and hard work to draw up a narrative of
Jesus, Luke said, “It seemed good to me
also....” The Holy Spirit was working through Luke to do much more than Luke
could imagine. Luke saw one man —
Theophilus. God saw many generations, including us! Luke wrote one document to one man. God
prepared an incredible Gospel for all future generations! We may only see a disciple, but God
sees the masses the disciple will impact.
The history of the
Christian church proves that this Divine concept is tragically easy for human
minds to miss. If you do not make
disciples, you disagree with the standard of Jesus and disobey the command of
Jesus. If you do not build your
disciples to the point of world-visionary, world-impacting, consummate,
reproducing disciple-making, you have not agreed with nor conformed to the
standard of Jesus — regardless of whatever else may be true of your
life! The Gospel itself is predicated
upon agreement with God (Romans 10:9; Matthew 10:32, where “confession” means
agreement with) concerning our complete lack
of conformity to His standard.
Then, we are brought by the Holy Spirit to agree with God’s assessment
of His Son, Jesus. Our entire life
thereafter is to be an agreement with God and His will. When we examine His command and His
standard for making disciples, we see that it isn’t enough for an individual
Christian to just start ministering to people, being nice to people, seeking
to meet people’s needs, or just be a good, faithful church-goer. We must choose against ourselves (“deny
ourselves”, Matthew 16:24) and fully agree with God. And since we are told to fulfill the
Commission of Jesus “as we are going,” we must not take one more step without
implementing both His Mandate and His Method for fulfilling it. Consider the words of our
Master in John 15:16: “You (major emphasis) did not choose Me, but I (major
emphasis) chose you, and appointed you, that you (major emphasis) should go
and bear (continuous action) fruit (major emphasis) and that your fruit
should remain (present infinitive), that whatever you ask of the Father in My
name, He may give to you.” What is the
practical use of fruit? A tree which
bears fruit never eats its own fruit; it is for someone else. One part of
the fruit is for food, but the other part is for reproduction. The seed in the fruit perpetuates the
process of the production of food and the reproduction of fruit. How many seeds are there in a mango? Only one!
How many mangos are in one mango seed?
Only God knows! You have been brought
into the May I remind you that the
question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” was addressed to God from the
self-defensive and hate-filled heart of the world’s first murderer! If I do not join Jesus in assuming personal
responsible for building the next available man for world impact, I
necessarily side with the sentiment of a murderer. The Divine answer to Cain’s question is,
“Yes, you are your brother’s keeper.
More importantly, you are your brother’s brother!” So how are you
doing with your Abel? May you say with
Luke, “It seemed good to me,
also. I assume personal responsibility
for the man God has given me.” II. PAINSTAKING RESEARCH If you are to follow the
New Testament standard, YOU MUST
ENGAGE IN PAINSTAKING RESEARCH OF THE WORD FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR
DISCIPLE. Jesus said, “For their
sakes, I sanctify Myself,” and your life must echo His. It is not enough to simply study the
Bible. There are people everywhere
involved in Bible studies who will never build one reproducing disciple-maker
who will impact the world. Why? The reason is simple: neither the
perception of the teacher of the Bible nor the student of the Bible
accommodates a vision for world impact.
Those involved in the Bible study do not see it as a means for world
impact nor do they form curriculum from the Bible study to intentionally build
world impacters. Instead, they study
the Bible to merely “learn more” and to be “better Christians.” It is even questionable as to whether those
are worthy motives for a Christian.
They smack too much of the “consumer friendly” Christianity , or the “tupperware
mentality,” of the western church.
Most tragic of all, this produces terminal
intake of the Gospel, instead of germinal
planting which will reproduce vast spiritual harvests to the ends of the
earth until the end of time. Anyone
can read the Bible for himself.
However, world impact only emerges from the lives of those who
intentionally engage in diligent research for the purpose of truly knowing
and following Christ and making Him known to others. Look at verse three and
notice the word “investigated” (NIV/NAS).
This word carries the same intensity as “rightly dividing” in II
Timothy 2:15 and is the same word as “fully known” in II Timothy 3:10, where
Paul said to Timothy, “You have fully known my doctrine, manner of life,
purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience ... ” The Greek word in Luke
1:3 and in II Timothy 3:10 is parakolutheo,
which means “to accompany side by side, to follow closely, to attend to
carefully.” Metaphorically, parakolutheo means to follow closely a mental trail clearly
set forth by one who has frequently traveled the terrain, investigating every
detail and leaving no stone unturned.
Let the reader meditate at length on this last sentence. Again, “consider what I say, and the Lord
give you understanding in all things” (II Timothy 2:7). The mental trail or course in the text is
comprised of the actual events involving Jesus Christ from eternity to
eternity. When Jesus left Heaven and
entered time and space, He blazed a trail in the hard and fast terrain of history. Each Christian is to mentally and
spiritually follow that trail, investigating every detail so that he can
reproduce the details in his own life and build from these details both a
course and a curriculum for his own disciples. This will require painstaking research. The word parakolutheo carries another shade of
meaning. It means “to trace.” The idea is conveyed in the tracing of an
outline or a picture by a child. The
child overlays the picture he wants to reproduce with a thin sheet of paper
and methodically and meticulously traces every line, every stroke, every
shade. The finished product is then a
carbon copy bearing the image of the original — down to the minutest detail. So Luke sets out to trace the character and
reproduce the heart and passion of Jesus of Nazareth. When Luke removed the writing instrument
from the last page of his Gospel, the beauty of Jesus, His humanity and His
compassion for mankind stood revealed in radiant splendor. Luke’s finished product is unlike that of
any other Gospel writer. It was the
Holy Spirit Who guided each movement of Luke’s pen to trace out the image of
God in the humanity of Jesus. We, too,
are to follow Luke’s guidance in tracing out the character of Jesus, the
course He followed, and the curriculum He used in impacting men — and we are
to go and do likewise! Earlier, we mentioned II
Timothy 2:15. The Greek word used
there and translated, “rightly dividing” in the King James Version, is
closely related to parakolutheo. It is the word orthotomeo. Ponder this
word for a moment. Think of the other
words you know that begin with the prefix, ortho. Orthodontics means,
“straight teeth,” or “right teeth.”
Orthopedics means “straight bones,” or “right bones.” The term orthotomeo is a compound Greek word, orthos meaning “right,” and “temno” meaning “to cut, to divide,
to handle skillfully.” Luke was
surely a very competent and skilled medical doctor, one who had been made
acutely aware of the crucial importance of technical details through his
vocation. Luke understood that if one
sign or symptom went undetected, it could mean death to his patient. He was a responsible steward of skills and
information and applications in dealing with life-and-death matters. And he knew that his present subject was a
life-and-death, heaven-and-hell matter! The best historical
research indicates that Luke was scientifically trained at the medical school
at Luke was the only Gospel writer
who was professionally trained in the art of medical science. Now Luke turns all of his scientific
training and expertise to advantage in gathering the facts of the story of
Christ from those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus. Through his travels with Paul, and surely
through some independent traveling of his own, he met these eyewitnesses in
Asia Minor, in various parts of Now, with scientific
precision, the skilled physician set forth an orderly account of the Master’s
life. He gives an extensive and
detailed report of His birth, His life and teachings, His death, His
resurrection, some events of the forty days after His resurrection, and His
ascension. Luke clearly made great
effort to research the Person, teaching, deeds and accomplishments of
Jesus. In Luke 1:3, the word “perfect”
is the Greek word akribos, which
means “diligent,” “careful,” or “circumspect.” Luke researched Jesus from the top ( The four Gospels of the
New Testament were not written in a sterile vacuum, but in the rough and
tumble of life. Though each Gospel is
inspired of the Holy Spirit, it nonetheless has upon it the distinctive
earmarks and eccentricities of its human writer. John still sounds like John, Mark sounds
like Mark, Matthew sounds like Matthew — even if each is writing a document
that is perfect, and even if each document concerns a perfect Subject. In Luke 1:1, the Doctor said that his
account contained things concerning Jesus that were totally and completely
accomplished right before the eyes of those he interviewed. Another Gospel writer, the Apostle John,
said in his first general letter that these eyewitnesses had seen, heard, and touched Jesus. Thus, they
presented the evidence of visible,
audible and tangible
testimony. The Greek word for
“eyewitnesses” in Luke 1:1 is autoptes,
a compound word which means “self-see.”
It’s the same root word from which we get the word “autopsy,” which
means that the examiner sees for himself the real cause of a person’s
death. The accounts that Luke heard
from these eyewitnesses were so powerfully persuasive to him that he was
confident they would persuade, convince, and satisfy anyone who would
investigate them fully. In the Book of
Acts, he refers to them as “many infallible proofs,” or “unanswerable
evidences” (Acts 1:3). He writes his
Gospel to present the compelling evidence of these accounts. Furthermore, Luke tells
us that he had solicited information and testimony from the original ministers of Christ, many who had
given their lives or would give their lives soon thereafter, sealing their
testimony concerning Jesus with their life’s blood. The word “ministers” in verse two is the
Greek word huperetes, which means
“an under-rower.” This word was used
for a galley slave on board a ship, one who occupied the lowest place to deliver someone else to his desired
destination. A galley slave was
carried to the bottom of the ship and chained there with only one
vocation. His only assignment was to
behold the cadence captain and row in unison by the captain’s command with
the other slaves. These “ministers”
were so convinced concerning the Person and majesty of Jesus Christ that they
became galley slaves on the “good ship of Grace,” living to behold and obey
the Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their only purpose was to
deliver someone else to his final destination. Luke powerfully demonstrates this vocation
and lifestyle when he researched the story of Jesus and wrote this incredible (incredible!) document to deliver one man,
Theophilus, to a desirable destiny in this life and a desirable destination
in the life to come. Both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts bleed
through and through with the disciple-maker’s paradigm — somebody else, somebody else, somebody else ... Every Christian should see himself as a
locked-in galley slave, doing whatever is necessary to master this Gospel,
follow its directions, develop a curriculum, and build disciples, all in
order to get somebody else to his
final destination. III. PRECISE RESOURCES If you are to follow the
New Testament standard, YOU MUST
DEVELOP PRECISE RESOURCES TO BUILD OTHER DISCIPLES. Luke had promised to give Theophilus an
orderly, detailed written account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here in verse one Luke uses a military
term, anatassomai, which means a
placing of soldiers, or things, or facts, into their proper order. Luke sought to place the truths
concerning Jesus in proper order like an army of soldiers arrayed and
arranged for total world conquest.
Luke reminded Theophilus that he had researched Jesus from top to
bottom and placed his findings in “consecutive order.” No thinking disciple can escape Luke’s
clear purpose to precisely systematize curriculum for maximum efficiency in
the life of another. Luke, like Paul his
discipler, set out to build men who could rightly divide the Scriptures — orthoscripturists, if you please (II
Tim. 2:15). Paul told Timothy in II
Timothy 3:10 that “you have fully known my doctrine.” Paul had systematically arranged the great
truths of the Gospel so Timothy could fully grasp them and be anchored firmly
to them, and correctly reproduce them in somebody else. Luke was discipled by Paul and now Luke
provides a perfect example of the rule of Jesus, who said, “When the process
is completed, the disciple will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Also, Luke profiles in these verses the
perfect example of a disciple building a curriculum to make other disciples. He had “compiled an accurate account” and
“in consecutive order” of the facts about Jesus for the sake of
indoctrinating, enlisting, building, and deploying one man to world impact.
F. F. Bruce states that “this expression points to a connected series
of narratives in order, topical or chronological, rather than mere isolated
narratives.” Prior to this letter,
Luke (or some other Christian) had
“instructed” (verse 4) Theophilus by verbal witness concerning Jesus. The word katecheo is the Greek word from which we derive the word
“catechize,” or the word “catechism,” which means to instruct systematically, especially by questions, answers,
explanations and corrections. Luke
demonstrates the absolute necessity for both a systematic verbal presentation
of the Gospel to win the disciple to Christ and a systematic written
curriculum for building the disciple in the faith and the Christian vocation. Luke did all this in
order that Theophilus would come to a full, complete understanding of Jesus
Christ resulting in an unshakeable certainty concerning Him. Alfred Plummer commented on the word
“certainty” in verse four, “Theophilus will know that the Gospel has an
impregnable historical foundation.”
We, too, should begin formulating a curriculum and forming an illustration
file (compare the parables of Jesus which Luke records in his Gospel), using
every Scripturally sound item we can find to build our disciples upon the
unshakeable foundation of the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are many good,
well-meaning, knowledgeable Christians who will not intentionally build one
world-visionary, world-impacting, reproducing disciple. Why?
They will never take seriously their responsibility to build (or find)
a systematic, precise curriculum for the purpose of getting someone else to his final
destination. Lest a “layman” should
seek to dodge this truth, F. F. Bruce reminds us that Luke was “a Gentile
layman, not a preacher.” Luke was an
excellent medical practitioner with a very demanding schedule! Yet he found time (no, he made time) to “set forth in order” a
“consecutive” account of our Lord’s life, ministry, teachings,
accomplishments, and assignment — for
one man. IV. PERSISTENT REPRODUCTION If you are to follow the
New Testament standard, YOU MUST DO
ALL THAT IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO PROCURE PERSISTENT REPRODUCTION OF
DISCIPLES. Every visionary
disciple-maker must do all that is humanly possible, with full dependence
upon God, to facilitate and perpetuate the reproduction of disciples. These disciples must clearly see the world
as their field of operation, and must intentionally live to impact that
world. Any visionary disciple knows
that he cannot make anyone else see the standard or pursue the object without
God’s miracle power, but he also knows that unless he himself runs to the
limit of his light in pursuing the standard, God will not cause anyone else
to run with him. Augustine’s rule
holds, “Without God, we cannot; without us, God will not.” Luke has given us an
unforgettable example of a consummate disciple-maker. He perfectly understood the importance of
what he was doing. Luke made diligent
inquiry into the life of Jesus of Nazareth, sought for perfect accuracy in
his accounts, and knew the importance of a systematic order. Luke devoted himself to the task, assembled
all available facts (written and oral) and wrote this document to one lost man — Theophilus. What did Theophilus do
with the document? He became so
convinced of its truth that he received it fully, trusted the Person and
message which it presented, and sought
to preserve it and pass it on to others.
Though this document was written to only one man, you hold a copy of it in your hand today! What an incredible example of the
disciple-making, world-impacting standard of Jesus — a standard which He
commands each of His followers to pursue.
We call His command “the Great Commission.” Luke won Theophilus to
Jesus Christ by writing to him what we now call “the Gospel According to
Luke.” When Theophilus responded in
personal faith in Christ, Luke immediately set out to disciple Theophilus by writing another document, twenty-eight
chapters in length, which we call the Book of Acts, to introduce
Theophilus to the world-impacting mandate and method of Jesus. What an amazing
and awesome example of God’s word
to flesh standard! Remember that
this standard was practiced by a layman who practiced medicine to pay the
bills but whose whole vocation was “turning people into disciples.” A pastor friend named Jim
Davidson shared this illustration with me, which I shall quote in entirety:
“My great, great grandfather Isaac Kilgore enlisted in the Confederate Army
in 1862 at the age of eighteen. His
first major battle was at “Ike went on to fight at “After Ike mustered out
at the end of the war, he walked from “The key for you is this:
If you receive the proper training as a good soldier must, and if you do not
succumb in the war — and it is a war — you will reproduce persistently,
generation upon generation, for Jesus Christ.
But you must consider this as well: You will reproduce those
generations for Jesus Christ only if
you do die to self. Jesus said,
‘Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a
single seed. But if it dies, it
produces many seeds and many harvests.”
Will you assume personal responsibility for this, engage in
painstaking research to accomplish it, develop and use precise resources to
build New Testament disciples, and devote yourself to God to generate persistent
reproduction through coming generations?
Both God and the world of men are waiting for you!* *I express my deepest thanks to my dear
Timothy/brother in Christ, Clint Davis, for his great work in getting this
study into writing and ready for publication.
Clint, may God graciously give you world impact for many generations!
|
|
Copyright © 2005, by ToBeLikeHim Ministries