I love to fish. And what makes fishing so enjoyable to me is hard to put into one sentence. But a lot of the pleasure that I get from fishing has to do with learning and success. I love learning new details about fishing and as I engage with those new concepts and techniques and experience success, I grow as a fisherman. And the same principles apply not only to other sports and hobbies and vocations, but also to our spiritual growth as a follower of Jesus.
As I connect with God and others about my faith journey and as I engage in loving God and others, I begin to be shaped and molded as a disciple of Jesus. That’s really what discipleship is all about. It’s about learning. A disciple of Jesus is someone who submits their life to be a learner and a follower of the most amazing Rabbi who has ever walked the earth - the God-man Jesus.
We believe that as you connect with God and others and as you engage with Him in the stuff that He’s doing around you, you will grow to become more like Him. And when it’s all said and done - we can say that God’s will for you is just that - He wants to make you more like His Son, Jesus.
Here are a few tangible ways for you to engage with Jesus and the work of God around you:
Look for ways to serve people. Serve your family and friends that you know, and serve people that you don’t know as well.
Look for ways to tangibly love people. This might seem redundant - loving and serving people is the same thing, right? Sometimes. Loving someone might be leaning in and listening. It might mean giving - being generous. Jesus said that we should do to others as we would have them do to us. So we could start by loving the people around us the way we feel and experience love.
Learn the art of engaging in relationship and conversation. This is huge and scary stuff for many people. But there’s no better day than today to start the process of learning how to engage in relationship and conversation. Start by simply taking an interest in the people around you. Look for opportunities to listen to them and learn about the things that they are interested in. That’s how you build relationship.
The most important step of engagement - gospel dialogue. Maybe it’s too overwhelming to begin with something connected with the gospel…that’s OK. Start by asking your friends and family this question: Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs? What’s your perspective about the Christian faith? To you, who is Jesus? And become a great listener. Learn to draw others out - how did you come to that conclusion? What do you mean by that?
And as you engage, you will grow. My wife and I have always said that engaging in the ministry and mission of God is what caused us to grow up in our faith. I would nudge you to move out and see what God does!