Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. – John 1:40

One of the most startling things about Jesus, and his entire life was his ordinariness. While in many ways his life was startling beyond compare, in another way he was so removed from the religion and elite of his day.

His disciples were ordinary in every way as well. In Matthew’s gospel, we see that most were fishermen, coupled with a bailiff (tax collector) and an activist plus a few others. None were lettered or well educated and none would have died of note had it not been for Christ. He frequently scolded them for being dullards, yet patiently watched them transformed, knowing eventually they would be the ones to kickstart an entire movement that has lasted to this day. Along with Paul (the only truly educated one) what they achieved transformed history and ushered in a new age.

Doesn’t it seem strange that Jesus‘ only real battles were with those who over-complicated God, and as Jesus pointed out, actually kept people further from him; they were the religious leaders of the day. The truth is, that the religious leaders had favoured positions in society, and were taking huge incomes out of the temple, by cajoling people with offers of ‘reward and punishment’ if they didn’t comply. The last thing they wanted was a renegade who threatened their position and status, lucrative as it was.

But history will show that such people are in fact further from God than almost anyone, and while they continued their practice of religion, ordinary people were being transformed from night to day under Jesus‘ simple teaching and loving touch. The ordinary, the sick and the despised, those who thought they never measure up – these were the ones who flocked to Jesus. From these ordinary people, the message of salvation and hope to all mankind because of a loving God, went out into the world.

Not much has changed really. Around the world, religion still competes with people for their money at least, and their forced allegiance through threats and promises of what God may or may not do to those who won’t comply. This elite has remained throughout history. But the real work is done by ordinary people, amongst ordinary people, gently reaching into lives with the same message of hope and salvation through Jesus Christ, the only way to God.

This week I read of an inmate, with a 27 page CV (aka a rap sheet) who has so far brought over 500 inmates to faith in Jesus Christ. I read and hear of such stories every week. Rarely do such stories come from churches, with big programmes, money or leaders of note.

So what about me and you? If you are an ordinary person, or if for whatever reason you consider that God will never use you because you simply ‘dont have it’, then rest assured you are the very one he is looking for. He will achieve his best work through you, though you might never receive the accolades you deserve – at least yet. Around the world today, God is transforming people through simple folk, with seemingly little to offer. The transformation occurring through people with limited means, limited education and even limited expectation, is simply staggering.

It is often said that God does most of his best work away from prying eyes in the dark corners of the earth. That is certainly what happened in a tiny corner of Palestine 2,000 years ago. But nothing has changed. We the ordinary, can partner with God to achieve the extraordinary in the lives of unbelievers. The only thing more remarkable, is that he actually won’t do it any other way.

Shall we follow Jesus, take him at his word and see what he does? We may be surprised as those ordinary disciples were all those years ago. Come, faithful servants, let us follow him.

“the next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him “follow me”. John 1:43

You can read this passage about the first disciples, from v 35 to 51. It is the story of the start of a movement – read carefully and you will see how many times Jesus moved around from town to town just in these short verses. In fact, starting at the beginning of the entire Bible, you will see a God who is on the move, and the same God moving his people constantly until he brought them to a place of rest, the Promised Land.

When Wesley founded the Methodist movement, it was done so from the saddle of his donkey as he travelled around Britain preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every town and village (it was said that the preaching of Wesley saved Britain from the same revolution that occurred in much of Europe). The same movement grew, when other preachers travelled around on horseback, founding small movements, which themselves became small movements that set about founding other small movements. Methodism was a movement, like Jesus originally founded.

The Methodist movement spread to the US, and pushed the Gospel through the frontiers, and in many instances lead the pushing back of frontiers. They were called the ‘mobile circuit riders’ men who had been touched by Christ and decided to take him at his word and follow him. Church was never mentioned at the time, because to almost everyone, church meant sombre Latin mass in a big building.

Interestingly enough, you can almost pick the start of the decline of Methodism to the point where the mobile circuit riders decided to stop riding around and got off their horses and became educated clergy that founded parishes and built churches. If you go to Britain today, the legacy of the Methodist movement is barely seen as the last of the church buildings struggle to keep their doors open. Few would comprehend the enormous influence and impact such a few men had on the current state of their country. In many senses, God has moved on, and we didn’t.

What can we take from these lessons about the Methodists? Does it mean that we need to travel from town to town to have any impact with the Gospel on the people? No, of course not, although some are definitely called to that life.

An important lesson to be learned is that Jesus commanded us to ‘Go’ into the world. Far too many believers today assume that call now means ‘come into my church’. This week I read something that has been playing around and around in my mind – Jesus Christ did not come to make bad people better, he came to make dead people alive. Isn’t that incredible – we are alive, and only alive, in Christ Jesus. Yet, with him, we really do live! Too often with conventional attitudes, the purpose seems to be to make bad people better. Those who really need Christ – the dead, wouldn’t be seen in church if they were. We need to go out and find them.

The second lesson is that being a disciple of Christ is work. It is intentional, and it requires effort on our behalf. We don’t make people alive, but we do persistently call people towards the one who does. I have to remind myself continually that my discipleship training requires constant effort, and God won’t do my part of the work for me.

We cannot ignore Jesus‘ call. It is an enormous privilege.

For encouragement this week, read Philippians 3:17-21. In it Paul explains why he did all that he did for Christ – he knew that the time was coming, when he would be with this Jesus for all eternity. Then, the work will stop and the rest will start.

Let’s look forward to that day.

The next day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look here is the Lamb of God!” When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. – John 1: 35

I’m reading a book at the moment, ‘Miraculous Movements’ by Jerry Trousdale. It’s remarkable, as it tells the stories of Muslims coming to Christ quite literally in the millions and tens of millions across Africa and the Arab and Asia world, all in the past decade or so. Why now and not before you may ask?

I don’t want to present a simplistic solution to a situation engineered by God, but by their own admission those pioneering in this world show clearly when they began to adopt ‘hidden Biblical principles that are plainly in sight’ everything changed. What does that mean really? It means that God’s model for growing his Kingdom is plainly detailed in the pages of Scripture, but has been largely ignored for millennia. Jesus instigated and revealed the model that works in the pages of the Gospels and later in the New Testament. None it, just by the by, involved founding churches. Jerry Trousdale testifies to the fact that when they began obeying simply (and simply obeying) whatJesus instructed, the whole movement across the Muslim world began.

I’d like to focus on this a little over the next few weeks, as I believe we are in an age where finally God has brought us around to the truth about what he really intended for believers. Given the Gospels deal alot with the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, and it is also his final command to us, surely it deserves more attention.

A disciple means apprentice colloquially at least, and that perhaps best describes Jesus‘ disciples relationship to him. An apprenticeship is a mix of being taught, but also learning by doing. They listened to Jesus, but also did what he did (see Luke 10 as a classic example). His disciples were obedient to his calling.

One of the great reasons for the demise of the church in the West, has to be based around this issue – we have built Christendom on a doctrinal base, not an obedient base, and so we have set out to ensure people ‘know Christ’ (or know about him) rather than actually ‘follow him’ as he called us to do. We have chosen to teach people week in week out, without ever asking them to live out their lives.

The consequence of that, is that we have many professing Christians living a totally in-congruent lifestyle to their belief. If they were challenged to actually align their beliefs to their lifestyle, many would consider forsaking their faith. Over the coming weeks I would like to discuss this in greater depth, what it really means for us to follow Jesus as he has a calling on all our lives.

Before then, let me leave you with two things: firstly, none of our lives live up to the challenge of Christ, we are all sinful. This is not intended to leave us feeling guilty about our failings, and if that is the case I want to encourage you to read Ephesians (eg 5:1-2) where we are repeatedly told that God deeply loves us, as does the Son. His grace is sufficient.

But secondly, let us each ask ourselves this year, am I living as a disciple of Christ, in the sense of being an apprentice? Will I commit this year, to learning what that means, and trying to follow him – of which he (not me) will be the source of all strength needed to fulfill that task.

If you get a chance to read Jerry’s book please do – it will take your breath away.