Why Making Disciples Doesn’t Matter

It doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t! There is no purpose behind behind teaching, mentoring, consistently loving or setting a real life example to anyone

If…

• Children do not need adult influences

• People’s lives do not matter

• There is no value in being taught right from wrong

• There is no hope in the Lord

• No product of obedience

• No peace found in righteousness

• If God doesn’t matter

• If Jesus’ words mean nothing

Then everything that I do here is meaningless!

But it is not so. The truth is we are all disciples of something. Every day we willingly subject ourselves to being under the teachings of something or someone. If there is no anchor point, no foundation, we are susceptible to the influence of whatever the wind blows in.  Friends, music, media, movies, co-workers, classmates and teachers have a constant feed into our lives. If we were lucky, growing up, we had an authority figure (be it a youth leader, parent, family member) that was consistently injecting our lives with positive and meaningful influence.

At the orphanage there are no positive role models for the children. No one to correct their false ideologies, fallacies about life or help lead them in the ways of Jesus. They are children raised by children.

Our Father God knows this too in Isaiah 1:17 we are charged to, “Learn to do what is good. Seek justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.”

Charles Spurgeon said:

“I have heard of one man who said that he did not like to prejudice his boy, so he would not say anything to him about religion. The devil, however, was quite willing to prejudice the lad, so very early in life he learnt to swear, although his father had a foolish and wicked objection to teaching him to pray. If you ever feel it incumbent upon you not to prejudice a piece of ground by sowing good seed in it, you may rest assured that the weeds will not imitate your impartiality, but they will take possession of the land in a very sad and shocking manner. Where the plough does not go, and the seed is not sown, the weeds are quite sure to multiply; and if children are left untutored and untrained, all sorts of evils will spring up in their hearts and lives.”

There are many children all over the world that have the same roadblock… No one that is willing to step up and care for them!  As disciples of Jesus we are called to care not only for our personal children’s spiritual wellbeing, but for the spiritual well being of all God’s children.

When we bring up children in the Word of God, we bring them up in the knowledge of  righteousness. We break down the barriers of seclusion, exclusion and cultural norms into a life that is focused around the only thing that really matters, Jesus. Only through walking with Jesus do we find peace that surpasses all understanding and a life that gives us more meaning and purpose than this world can offer.

That my friend, is why we do what we do. We feel called to help those children whose families, friends, and culture has decided that there is no need to take a personal interest in them. For the children we minister to, there is no one, there is only Satan that comes in to plant weeds and no one to plant the seeds of the gospel.

Wanting to start discipleship but don’t know where to start? Check out this blog post on  Recommended Reading.