“Before I knew Christ I thought I was a pretty good person. Now I know that apart from Jesus I’m a mess.”

The words of my friend Martin echoed what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7 as he described his own battle with sin: “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out… the evil I do not want to do — this I keep doing… What a wretched man I am!”

Whether you’re Martin in Missouri or Rupinder in Guyana, the problem we face as humans is the same — we are a sin-ruined mess. And from Missouri to Mumbai, the solution is also the same: Jesus. Apart from Jesus we are truly a wretched mess, but with the indwelling Spirit of Jesus there is hope for transformation. 

This is why it is so important that we be committed to disciple-making and not just conversion. Jesus told us to go make disciples of all nations who would learn to obey everything that He had commanded. The Martins and Rupinders of the world will never learn the obedience of faith that is made possible through the indwelling Spirit of Jesus unless we are willing as disciple-makers to pour our lives out for them. As Paul said to the Thessalonians, “We were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives because you had become very dear to us” 
(1 Thessalonians 2:8, NASB).

As wonderful and powerful as the gospel of Christ is, Paul indicated that it’s not the only thing people need. They also need us. They need to see the powerful Word of God poured out through the lives of the people of God. In a very real sense, the Word must become flesh every day, just as it did when Jesus left the perfection of heaven to join us in our mess.

The Son of God spent 33 years pouring out His life in the messiness of our world. And when, after three years of intense investment in His dearest disciples and they messed up, He never gave up! So we don’t either. Like Sam with his disciple Rupinder, we keep investing until Christ is formed in those we’re discipling.