We’re done with this book, and I’m glad. Though I’m also glad I read it.
I think.
It was hard and uncomfortable. It’s made me question my faith and my following.
Basically, I understand Platt to say that if I’m not making disciples, I “may not actually be a Christian, for these features are the fruit of followers of Christ.” ~p. 209
He quotes Dawson Trotman, “How many persons do you know by name today who were won to Christ by you and are now living for Him?” ~p. 201-202
Ummm… none. At least that I know of.
My circumstances and financial situation don’t allow me to realize my childhood missions dreams–to travel to far countries to love people and touch them and ask them if they know Jesus. I have a hard enough time just getting out of the house.
But Platt does say this:
We e-mail, Facebook, tweet, and text with people who are going to spend eternity in either heaven or hell . . . Just as you and I have no guarantee that we will live through the day, the people around us are not guaranteed tomorrow either. So let’s be intentional about sewing threads of the gospel into the fabric of our conversations every day . . .” ~p. 187
And. That. Is. Why. I. Blog.
And ‘book and tweet.
Thank you, David, for reminding me. Because I’d gotten confused about even that after reading this post.
Tami Heim and Toni Birdsong affirm this in @stickyJesus: How to Live Out Your Faith Online–that the mission field is right at my fingertips. That social media and blogging can be super efficient ways to share the gospel story. They remind me that I’m a digital scribe, a social media missionary. That I’ve been born for such a time as this.
You stand here as a Christ follower in a definitive moment in time; you are an ordinary person called to usher a holy Kingdom into an increasingly fragmented world . . . He now calls you to log on and upload what’s critical to today’s conversations. ~@stickyJesus, p. 10
I can take a blog break, but I can’t brake from my blog. At least in this season.
This week I got an email from someone “across the ocean” who wanted to share some of my writing with others in her country. If I can believe my stats, my words have been read this month in 47 countries plus every state in the United States.
Can I touch more this way than face-to-face and skin-to-skin? Or even in a published book?
(That’s not to say I don’t want to publish a book, you who have ears to hear and ways to make it happen.)
Maybe I’m just a “seed planter?”
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. ~1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Platt goes on to say:
In the great commission, Jesus tells all of his disciples to go, baptize, and teach people to obey everything he has commanded them. This kind of teaching doesn’t require a special gifting or a specific setting. This kind of teaching happens all over the place–in homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, on car rides, in meetings, and over meals–in the context of where we live, work, and play every day. ~p. 192
And in airports?
Here is where Beth Moore enters the picture. I stumbled on this video today and thought, That’s it! That’s what following Him is all about. That’s what dying and living is in our every-ordinary-go-about-our-work day.
Note to self: Carry a brush.
Today we finish our discussion of David Platt’s book, Follow Me: A Call to Die. A Call to Live. Follow this link over to The High Calling as Marcus Goodyear sums it all up from his perspective and others add their comments.
Still blogging,
Sandy
Good morning and AMEN! Thank you for sharing your literary journey through Platt’s book, your insights and that video. I love that what we need to do is Be Still and Listen for His Lead! Hairbrush, blog, hug,…it’s always Him at work in us and through us for sure. And if God called you to put a brake on your blog I would surely understand, but until He does, I will gladly continue to be blessed by your words and your community!
Listen, hear, and follow. I’m not sure I would have even offered to brush someone’s hair if I didn’t have a brush. Now I might have run down to Brookstone to see if they had one before I asked and missed the opportunity.
I’m so blessed by your faithful presence here, Michelle. xo
I’ve had the same conversation with myself about blogging. I’m just learning {again} that I need to limit what conversations I enter into, because it’s so easy to be misunderstood. Just look at how Platt is misunderstood to be arrogant, unloving, and fundamentalist, when in reality his love for Christ and the salvation of souls is so huge that he cares not for himself. I’m also learning that it’s better for my soul if I also limit what I read online, because much of it only grieves me. I realized once that my readership is equal to that of the number of people most pastors reach on Sunday morning, and that was a wake-up call. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly. It is, as you’ve said here, an opportunity to do my part to be a disciple and make disciples. May God keep us faithful to our callings where ever He places us and may Christ alone be glorified in our lives.
I love you, Sandy. You are a gift.
I’m sure it grieves Platt to know that some folks are seeing him as you describe, because I believe he’s very passionate for Christ and obviously has a gift for evangelism. He’s also still young, and it may be that age might soften future writing–or not.
Yes, I found this book hard, but I also think it’s good for us to be challenged in our faith or else we tend to become too comfortable with it. I know this last month has been hard but good for me–even in my old age.
There are billions of people across the world spending billions of minutes online. More are online than are in church. And as long as we’re powered up before we’re powered up, T and T say, “We live in one of the most exciting windows for sharing the gospel since the Gutenberg press was invented in 1440, making Bibles accessible to the masses.”
Love you more.
(Oh, my! Monday flew by me and I didn’t head over to read Marcus’ wrap. I’ll do that next.)
I have told, and tell myself, the same thing. One plants the seed, one waters, another harvests, yes? Seed planters, we’ll be, then.
Though I think we’re to keep an eye out for withered-looking seedlings and ripened heads of grain, too.
Ha! And we’ll watch out for those long-haired guys, too, cuz you never know what might happen when you pick up a brush.
Never.
xoxo
I love this, Sandy, and have been having some thoughts along these lines. I was just thinking about the man from whom Jesus cast demons (into pigs). That man wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus instructed him to go tell others what Jesus had done for him. I write down things I want my children to know, and at the top of my list is simply this: what Jesus has done for me. I hope I’m touching others along the way. It is an opportunity. Thank you so much for this post.
I like how you see, Brandee. You’re leaving a legacy, and I know your telling is touching.
Have you read @stickyJesus?
I haven’t read David’s new book, but I read Radical and found it compelling. God put a thought into my head one morning as I was meditating on making disciples. I must say it stunned me–“You will make disciples when you become one.” What conviction fell on me to think that I wasn’t really taking God seriously, not receiving his revelation as a revelation to me. Is that not what makes some squirm at David’s radical message? I first heard the Hair Brush story the first time I facilitated a Beth Moore study. Never forgot it.
I am going through a process of loss right now and I think often of your journey with your mom. Can I thank you again for sharing it? You presence here on the www is a blessing that’s impact will only known on the other side of the divide.
Yes, it’s hard when someone starts waving that flashlight around. Makes me want to cringe back into the shadows.
Praying for you as you walk this walk–with you grandmother, right? I’m so glad we don’t grieve as those with no hope. That hope holds us on the journey.
Love to you, friend.
That article made me think about my own purpose for blogging, too. And I came to the realization that I blog because I can’t not. I can’t not build community. I can’t not be authentic. I can’t not write my heart.
And because I believe in a God who does not waste anything, I know that my time and my heart will not be wasted, either.
It’s good to be made to think, right? He is using you, Jen, in a beautiful way. And His word never comes back void.
Loved this! I’ve read David Platt and I’ve seen Beth Moore’s airport story many times. There have been times I thought I would quit facebook, but I keep hearing that still small voice saying to share, and what bigger media to share HIM than through FB. BUT, I also believe we are meant to share in person, skin to skin. This used to SO intimidate me, but I stepped out of that comfort zone shaking like a leaf and it has been SUCH a blessing! I still shake at times, but it is so worth it to share our Lord with others.
Keep blogging please! You have much to say and say it all so beautifully:)
Thank you, Kristin. My skin-to-skin time these days seems to be mostly with the grandgirls. But, oh yes… then there was Haiti. And there will be Haiti 🙂
And I can’t believe I’d never heard Beth’s story. I don’t know where I’ve been.
…isn’t funny? because that is why I’m not blogging! Because God has me busy doing things elsewhere…and it hurt like your moving to Florida and having to experience palms rather than pines. But His grace is here as well, in the midst of the unfamiliar, the now I never saw coming…I have to bow my knee to His plan for my disciple making/disciple becoming experience….yes, even if it means that I. Can. Not. Blog.
It has a lot to do with the season. You are doing good, good work, Kim. And I miss you. But I know you are touching skin-to-skin and heart-to-heart, and you are following Him in the becoming and in the making.
Well, I’m certainly glad you haven’t stopped blogging. I don’t think blogging is going away any time soon, though it is no longer the only way to be social online.
I have found that I struggle to maintain more than one site. So I devote most of my time to The High Calling these days, and that is fine. I still keep my own blog and post there occasionally.
One thing struck me here, though. You quote Platt saying that making disciples is the fruit of followers of Christ. I’m not sure about that, actually. I would say the fruits of the Spirit are the fruits of followers of Christ–love, joy, peace, patience, etc. How we interact with others is more important than our agenda for our interactions.
I’m loving the chances to write for THC and BibleDude, and I think that’s part of what Laura was pointing to in her post–increasing reach through higher profile places. So I guess I’m following some of her advice, but it doesn’t really feel like it since I post teases here. 🙂
I’m guessing Platt is talking more of a soul harvest when he talks about fruit in this context. But I’m also thinking that as our spiritual fruit matures, we’ll be better sowers and reapers.
Thanks for coming by, Marcus! Is it time to meet up at LL again? It must be time. I’m so ready.
Don’t you love that video? I can’t remember when I first saw; it’s been a long time. I’m glad you posted it. Love seeing it again. Beautiful! As is your post. Easter blessings to you, sweetie!
I’ve watched this video several times (and made my husband watch it), and I can so see it. And I’m pretty sure now the day will come when God’s going to present something similar to me just because I’ve watched it. 😉 I hope I’m as obedient as Beth.
Blessings to you, too, beautiful Lynn.
Sandra,
Thanks so much for sharing the video of Beth Moore. It really shows that when we are in tune with God amazing things can happen.
Discouragement comes from Satan – don’t listen to him.
Encouragement comes from God – listen to Him.
I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts.
Blessings,
Janis
Let us mutually encourage one another.