8.October.2026
An All-Inclusive Departure From “Normal”
Everything in this series has been leading to one question. If salvation is serious, if the cost has to be counted. If the result belongs to Him and Jesus has to be Lord and not only Savior, then what are we actually supposed to be doing? Jesus answered that before He left.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
Notice the verb. The command is not to collect decisions, and it is not even to make converts. It is to make disciples, and the rest of the sentence says what that means: baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all things that He commanded. A disciple is someone who has been shown how to live it, not someone who heard it once. The promise at the end is what makes it possible. The going is ours, the result is His, and He is in us and with us the whole way.
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:2
Look at how this is meant to travel. Paul to Timothy, Timothy to faithful men, faithful men to others also. That is four generations of discipled believers in one verse, and not one of them is a crowd. It is one life invested in another, who invests in another, which is the exact opposite of a tally. It is also why the going is personal. Nobody can hand off someone else’s life to a stranger. It passes from one life to another.
That raises a question, which is why me?
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
Prepared beforehand means the assignment was made with each of us in mind, skills and history and all, and no one else can carry it out quite the way we can. Our identity in Christ is not a nice thought. It is the reason someone is waiting for what we were made to carry, and part of walking in it is believing that God valued us enough to prepare it.
Some people read this and are already moving, because getting out and being with others comes naturally and they want to. Others hold back, and the reasons are usually quiet ones. Staying in has become comfortable, getting out feels risky, or it has been put off so long that leaving it alone is easier than starting. For some the barriers are real and heavy, and that is a different conversation. For many, though, it is a quiet decision made over and over, and it is worth asking whether we are talking ourselves out of the very thing that would free us. If the call to make disciples is reason enough, then that is all it needs to be. If it is not quite enough, here is something else to hold on to.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Being with people is not only an assignment. It is protection and reward. When we fall, someone is there, and the freedom to step out is already ours.
I challenge all of us to ask ourselves this question. Who am I pouring into, and Who is pouring into me?
Make today count and see you tomorrow.
Leave a comment