Influencers Weekly Devotional

The Real Deal by

Rocky Fleming

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Jesus said in Luke 6:40:“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Do you see the connection with what Jesus said must happen for someone to be His disciple and what Gandhi said was not happening with the Christians he had observed? It is obvious. To follow Christ and be His disciple we must be like Him, and Gandhi didn’t see it happening in the Christians he had met. What an indictment, and what shallow commitments we make to try and look the part, but in turn only show a “form of godliness,” rather than be the real thing. It is true that Gandhi was not a follower of Christ, and he would not know first hand what the life of a Christian is like. He was a philosopher, a political leader, and a non-violent reformist. He looked at Jesus through the lens of a social change agent rather than the lens of a hopelessly lost soul who had no way of redemption except through Christ. Like many philosophers before and after him, Gandhi looked at Jesus as a social and political reformist, a prophet, but not Lord, God Almighty. Sad to say, even though Gandhi admired Jesus, he missed the boat completely because he did not accept Him as Lord. Truth is, Jesus did not offer us the option of accepting Him only as a reformer or prophet as some would understand Him to be. C. S. Lewis in his book, Mere Christianity, offers a clear argument that smacks in the face of the “only a good man” image of Christ these philosophers put forth: "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God." What happens when we truly understand Who this Jesus is and what it means for Him to be our Lord? Change happens in our life. Dynamic change! When a true follower of Jesus Christ follows His training, he becomes like his Teacher, as Christ said. Following Christ becomes a process of being transformed into the likeness of Christ. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make us “Christ-like,” and He starts this process at our conversion. This change doesn’t happen all at once, for there are many flaws and habits that must be rooted out. It takes time on God’s part, and a real commitment on our part for this transformation to occur. Though it may appear His work is slow, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to thoroughly disciple His man into a man who gives a distinct impression of the characteristics of Christ. It is then that we will become influential representatives of Christianity that needs to be seen by the world, and it was this kind of representation Gandhi never saw. Had he seen a Christian man such as this in action and spent time with him, it could have changed Gandhi’s perspective about Christians, and ultimately about Jesus as Lord. I will not go into how Gandhi’s life might have impacted his world had Jesus been his Lord. But, one could imagine. Can we also imagine that there are more “Gandhi’s” around us looking for the real deal? Will you be this man by submitting yourself to the discipleship of the Holy Spirit? If so, it will take a real commitment. What level of commitment are you making right now, and are you willing to increase it to be a true disciple of Christ? Level One Commitment: If you will read your Bible and concentrate on the life of Jesus, you will find that He had three levels of commitments from the people who followed Him. The first level were those people who followed Him for a quick meal, to watch a show, and to be entertained, much like many church attendees today. However, it is not just in churches that this is seen. It is the way our culture thinks. As an example, during the great Promise Keeper days we saw hundreds of thousands of men who showed up for those events, only to see these men and their new commitments fade away after the rally. I recently asked a pastor friend of mine what percentage of his church attendees would be regarded as those who truly support the church with their time and resources. He said about 10% of his congregation provides 90% of service and financial support. This tells me that Level One commitments (90%) are not disciples, for they are mostly spectators. They attend but do not join in. In Jesus’ day, these people were numbered in the thousands, and as long as He gave them what they wanted, they kept coming. However, when He hung on His cross, where were they? When the Church was being persecuted, where were they? When the going got hard, where were they? They were not disciples of Christ, although they followed Him. Just because you attend a church doesn’t mean you are a disciple either. Level Two Commitment: These were people who were sincere seekers. They wanted to know who this man called Jesus was. They were sick, so they came to Him to be healed. They were concerned about their friends, so they brought them to Jesus for His help. They were men in authority and believed Jesus had authority over things that only God could oversee. They were seekers of wisdom, and they sat at Jesus’ feet to hear wisdom that could come only from heaven. They were the rich, who realized that they were still missing something that money couldn’t buy. But, these same people left Him in the end. When He told them to give away their fortune to the poor and follow Him, they hung their heads in shame and walked away. When He began to preach a message about drinking His blood and eating His flesh, they left Him like they would run from a plague, while never connecting that He was speaking metaphorically about His life as an atonement for theirs. They were like so many followers of Christ today. As long as Jesus operated in their comfort zone, they were for Him. But, when the challenge came to be radical in their faith, and radical in their walk with Christ, they left Him. They were not disciples, and you will not become one either by making only a level two commitment. Level Three Commitment: I asked my pastor friend another question. I asked him, based on a biblical evaluation of what a disciple looked like in the 1stcentury Church, what percentage of his church would be true disciples? He said about 3%. Does this surprise you? It doesn’t me, for some pastors would say less and I would agree with them. The distinguishing fact is that a true disciple of Christ is a person who is absolutely sold out to Him. They are doing what Christ said a disciple does. Like Jesus taught, they are learning how to be like Him. Like Jesus, they are taking up their cross and following Him. Like Jesus, their life is a holy mission wherever they go. Like Jesus, they live in submission to the Father. Like Jesus, their life is impacting their world and the people they come in contact with. Oh how I wish Gandhi could have met and talked to this kind of man or woman, for he would have seen what he needed to see. This is why I pray everyday that God will make me a man after His own heart, one who will not squander any opportunity to influence my world. To be this man requires me to operate differently than 97% of those people who call themselves Christians. I will be in the minority and I know this. But, a true disciple is in the minority for Jesus told us we would be if we take the “narrow path” required to truly follow Him. A true disciple of Christ is a man or woman who reflects Christ’s glory by the way they live, think and act. It is, in fact, when there is more of Christ living in us, than the old man He first came to live with. This requires a surrender of our rights to be in control of our life to Christ, and is why a Level Three Commitment is so difficult. The process of dying to self and being replaced by Christ starts with the level of commitment we are willing to make. The stakes are high, for the world needs to hear and see the real deal to help them come to know this Jesus we love. Gandhi would tell you this if he could. Someone could have made an eternal difference in his life, but did not. However, it could be you today with another person like him. What level of commitment are you willing to make to be the man people need to see, and to be a true disciple of Christ? Your journey to becoming a true disciple depends on a Level Three Commitment. Are you willing to do what is required to join the 3%? Download file