And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Matthew 28:18-20

Empty Chairs             

If you are reading this, there is likely an empty chair nearby. Perhaps you are in your living room gazing upon a lonely armchair, or at a table with a wooden chair tucked neatly underneath. If you aren’t around an empty chair go find one or wait to read this until you have one handy. Okay, now that we all have our empty chair nearby, I want you to look at the chair and imagine the word disciple is engraved along the back. I know, I know, engraving looks funny on cloth, for those looking at the upholstered chairs, but just stay with me here. Imagine this chair represents the people you are making into disciples of Jesus Christ.

              Who is sitting in that chair? Jesus command to make disciples in the end of Matthew 28 is not hypothetical, it is not impossible, nor is it simply a suggestion. It is a great commission from the greatest commissioner of all time. Jesus begins the great commission saying, “all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me”. Now, I don’t know what you think about it, but when the Bible says, “all authority” I think it means authority greater than any coach I have ever had, authority greater than my boss, authority greater than a general or even the President.

              Jesus has all authority and He has looked to us and said, “Go therefore and make disciples”. If there isn’t anyone sitting in your chair right now, you have no greater responsibility than to remedy that problem. Now you don’t have to get fancy about making disciples, discipleship starts in our families. You don’t need to find a complete stranger, share the Gospel, and disciple them; though that wouldn’t be a bad thing. You need to start with the people God has placed most closely to you and start showing them what it means to follow Jesus.

              We also can make discipleship into something much more intimidating than it has to be. You don’t have to have special knowledge or intensive training to make disciples for Jesus. You simply have to love Jesus, follow Him, and bring someone along with you as you do it. Do you attend church, who are you bringing along with you? Are you serving in a ministry? Who are you showing how to do what you do? Are you reading the Bible daily or doing a daily devotion? Who can you encourage to read along with you?

              If you don’t have someone sitting in your discipleship chair you need to change that today. And when you arrive at church this Sunday I want you to look at all the empty chairs around. Each of these empty chairs out to remind us of the great commission Jesus has given. Let us pray and work together to fill all our empty chairs with disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Pray

Father, fill me with a passion to make disciples. May my chair never be empty, but constantly filled with those I am bringing along as I follow you.