One simple verse, Matthew 8:23. It reads, “And when He [Jesus] got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.” This means they, the disciples, got into the boat with Jesus.
Maybe a decade later, Paul tells believers in the church at Corinth to imitate him as he imitates Christ.
The early church understood its mission was to think like, be like, and do like Christ, and to also proclaim Him. Colossians 1:28 reads, “Him we proclaim.” The Him is Christ. Proclaiming Christ is not a slogan; it is what we, Bereans, do. We don’t have a Baptist religion; we don’t have a theistic therapeutic deity, we don’t have a system of moralism—We proclaim the eternal Logos—the Christ—the Son of God, His Person and His Work.
Last Sunday night, Berean unanimously voted to approve a mission statement that will stand for years to come, because it would require a 75% vote of the church to change. Our mission is on the walls of the church, and now it is in Article 2 of our Church Constitution. We, the members of Berean, unanimously (note, unanimously!) said this is what we need to be all about until Christ returns. Everyone can learn the mission statement; it is simple: We proclaim Christ to make disciples who make disciples. Berean—when Jesus gets into the boat, we follow Him into the same boat. And we are all about getting others to make the same commitment. When Jesus gets into the boat, they also get into the boat.
The boat is thinking like, being like, doing like, and proclaiming like our Lord and Savior—Jesus.
After the “go,” and “baptize them,” the third part of “make disciples,” within the Matthew 28 Great Commission, is the most neglected, in my opinion. It reads, “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (CSB). It is not enough to get them “saved” and baptized. We have an ongoing mission. We are to make disciples who observe all that Christ taught. “Observe” in this case is defined as “to conform one’s action or practice to (as a law, rite, or condition): comply with.” Conform. Read that again, “to conform one’s action or practice” to all that Christ taught.
Romans 8:29 reads, “For those whom He [Yahweh] foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” I am conforming myself; He is conforming me to the image of His Son. That’s what it means to be a disciple. The entire church must embrace this! Not a select few—not the elders, not the deacons—everyone. Everyone. If you are a believer, you are a disciple.
Thinking, being, doing, and proclaiming are four pegs, hooks, or points of reference. Memorize those categories so that you can know at any given time if you are in the boat with Christ.
Philippians 2:5, “Have this way of thinking in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Luke 6:36, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
2 Thessalonians 3:13, “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.”
Colossians 1:28, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”
Of course, we could list 100s of verses like this, all communicating a similar message. Imitate Christ.
