“It’s easy to hit anything when you aim at nothing…”
The concept of hitting anything or everything by aiming at nothing has been stated time and again by many a motivational speaker. Really, it’s a simple idea. When your aim is not established, then you will always hit the mark–the mark however may or may not be what you want in the long run. While this may sound appealing to some–and even somewhat romantic–its outcome is hardly desired. The bigger the picture and the bigger the responsibility the more challenges we face when our aim is not established. What’s more, is that if we’re not careful we’ll find ourselves–by default–living this out in our myriad spheres of influence. It could be at work, it could be at home, or it could even be at church. The urgent somehow seems to find a clever way of positioning itself in the center of our attention.
While I’d like to think I’m immune to living an aimless life the reality is I’m not. My life gets just as busy, just as urgent, and just as capable of pointless pursuits as anyone. We’re all susceptible.
It reminds me of a time I took an archery class at college. Ever since I was young I enjoyed shooting the recurve bow. My uncle introduced me to shooting the bow, and then it continued to develop until I was able to take a class at Texas A&M. I realized two things very quickly: (1) that I will not be a competitive archery shooter and (2) to focus on one point on the target if I want to get high marks. Even though my shooting skills didn’t advance me in the sport, I learned several principles that apply to us today. One in particular: It didn’t matter how far back we–shooters–moved, we still had to keep our eye on the one point situated in the middle of the target. As we did this, we would give ourselves the best opportunity to hit the bullseye. As we let our eyes wonder, we would unevenly distribute our shot patterns resulting in low marks due to both inaccuracy and imprecision. Both outcomes would be detrimental.
This principle also applies to the Christian. As I mentioned in the first article of this series, the aim of discipleship is Christlikeness.
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…”
Romans 8:29a
When I first came to Denton Bible Church, I heard the story of the man–Mel Sumrall–who had started the church. The details of his story is for another day, but suffice it to say that I was more than intrigued. From the outset of the founding of Denton Bible, Mel saw the vision for discipleship. His words were essentially that they wanted to build a church not on programs, but on discipleship. His heart hasn’t changed since DBC was founded over 45 years ago.
In fact, the picture above is Mel talking with me at Rudy’s BBQ just before we all left for the DBC Men’s Conference on Friday, April 9, 2021. As soon as I sat down, Mel began to share with me about his new discipleship group…all that they were studying…and the lives that were being changed. I sat there and just soaked it in. His heart for discipleship has never wavered, and it was his discipleship that taught me that the aim of discipleship is Christlikeness.
That is the aim of discipleship–to be like Christ…to be conformed into His image (Romans 8:29).
What does that mean?
Thanks to Mel’s investment into discipleship, we are able to see that it means–as Christians–we…
- Lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16)
- Follow Christ’s example of living (1 Peter 2:21)
- Do as He has done (John 13:15)
- Walk even as He has walked (1 John 2:6)
- Love like Christ (Mark 12:30-31 and John 3:16)
- Act like Christ (Salt & Light–Sermon on the Mount–Matthew 5-7)
- Think like Christ (Romans 12:2)
- Forgive like Christ (Ephesians 4:32)
- Have Christ’s compassion (Mark 1:41, 9:36-37)
- Serve like Christ (Mark 10:45)
- Exhibit fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
Stay tuned…as we continue our examination of discipleship…
— May 4, 2021