More Than Good Intentions
Good intentions vs intentionality.
- Good intentions reflect a person’s desires, beliefs, and objectives.
- Intentionality requires action, its intentional living.
- Our vision, our goal, our good intentions are to be a church full of disciples of Jesus who are making disciples of Jesus.
- But, me saying that numerous times every Sunday, and you all agreeing with me every Sunday does us no good if there is not intentionality, intentional living, action.
2 Timothy 2:1–7
“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 ESV
This verse gives us a good picture of disciple-making. Disciple-making is personal attention and guidance from one spiritual generation to the next. It’s essentially spiritual parenting. We see four generations here: Paul to Timothy, Timothy to faithful men, faithful men to others also, and on and on. Intentionally and relationally investing oneself in the spiritual growth and maturity of a few disciples — part of which is training those disciples to then disciple others who disciple others.
This passage helps us see three basic components of disciple-making: content, intent, and context.
The content is the gospel. This is what we center on and aim to pass to the next generation. Not our quirks and hobbyhorses, but the main things. “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses;” the heart of the faith. The intent is multiplication. It’s not merely addition. It’s making disciples who make disciples. Part of the disciple-making process is training up disciples who will then turn and themselves make disciples. The context is relationship. It is personal and time-consuming. Books and sermons and conferences and articles play a wonderful supplementary part in the discipleship process, but disciple-making is not a long-distance relationship, it is a personal relationship.
“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:3 ESV
Once Paul gives Timothy the charge to make disciples who make disciples, the very next thing he says is “Share in suffering.” If we are going to follow Jesus and go where Jesus goes and do what Jesus does it will involve suffering. When we go on mission with Jesus and lay down our lives and pick up our cross we are sharing in suffering.
The Soldier (verse 4)
“No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Timothy 2:4 ESV) Don’t get distracted. We live in the age of distraction. We are bombarded not just by obvious time-wasters, but good initiatives that, if we’re not careful, will not supplement disciple-making, but become an obstacle to it.
What are distractions to a church? What could get a church entangled so that they are not intentionally on mission making disciples of Jesus? Could it be that one of the greatest distractions in the church is business with programs and ministries that keep us from actually developing close relationships with a few?
Our aim is “to please the one who enlisted” us, not anyone who walks through the door or joins the church or anyone who considers themselves worthy of our investment. In disciple-making, we must remember our aim is to please Jesus.
What is it that may be entangling you? Are there any distractions in your life that keep you from making disciples like Jesus made disciples? We must eliminate distractions if we are going to become a church full of disciples of Jesus who are making disciples of Jesus.
The Athlete (verse 5)
“An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” (2 Timothy 2:5 ESV) There are written rules and there’s unwritten rules. To be a crowned athlete it takes training, hard work, a plan, strategy, practice, perseverance, coaching, intentionality, action. There is great temptation to cut corners by constructing mechanism after mechanism, and program after program, for mass-producing disciples. But disciples who make disciples can’t be mass-produced. Disciple-making according to the rules takes a lot of time and energy. It takes being trained, training others, effort, strategy, perseverance, intentionality.
The Farmer (verse 6)
“It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.” )2 Timothy 2:6 ESV) Law of sowing and reaping. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7 ESV) If you want corn you intentionally plant corn seeds. You intentionally prepare the field. If you want to produce church attenders than do a whole lot of church stuff; make great Sunday morning services, mens and women’s ministries, kids ministry and youth ministry; make all of that the main thing, and you will get a lot of church attenders. If you want to produce disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus than invest in a few and help them grow and mature, teach them who God is, who they are in Christ, model to them how to pray and read and apply the Word of God, live life with them, spend time with them, train them how to share their faith in Jesus, equip them to help others grow and mature in Jesus.
Disciple-making, like raising crops, is time-consuming. It take time to plow the field, time to plant, time to water, time to fertilize, then time to harvest. So, with disciple-making. It’s not one meeting, but often a year’s worth of regular meetings. It’s not one conversation, but sometime difficult conversation after conversation. Which requires patience. Like with crops, we don’t typically see the progress all at once, but over the course of months, it’s amazing what kind of harvest can happen.
God gives the growth.
There is an unavoidable awareness of self in being a disciple-maker. I’m saying to another person, as Paul did, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV) “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” (Philippians 3:17 ESV) What has been helping me is remembering that God does the work that matters most. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 ESV. Yes, we work hard, we give of our time, we plan, but God gives the growth.
Intention action-gap
- The intention-action gap is a psychological idea highlighting the disconnect between what we intend to do and what we end up doing.
- Essentially, it’s that annoying divide between what you want to do and what you end up doing.
- So, what can we do about this intention action-gap?
- I came across a few practical principles from behavioral science that I believe can help us overcome this intention action-gap.
- Goal Setting and Planning: Create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals. Break them down into smaller tasks and make a detailed action plan.
- Visualization: Visualizing our goals can boost motivation and help you see the path to success in your mind.
- Accountability: Share your goals with friends, family, or a mentor who can keep you on track. Regular check-ins can motivate you and help you stay committed to your goals.
- Cultivate a Growth Mindset: Embrace failures as opportunities to learn and grow. A growth mindset helps you become more resilient and open to improving yourself.
- Minimize Distractions: Identify and eliminate anything that distracts you from making progress. Create an environment that encourages productivity.
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