Discipleship – Where to begin?

I will never forget when Dr. John Maxwell, my evangelism professor in college, said, “Leadership is influence.” Everyone influences others, whether it is family members, fellow workers, or whomever. You are influencing someone’s life.

Your Sphere of Influence

A sphere is a three-dimensional, geometric object with all its points equal distance from a given point. In layman’s terms, a sphere is simply a ball where every point on the surface is the same distance from the center.

Imagine yourself inside a large, hollow, glass ball. From where you stand you can reach down, up, or out to touch every point inside the sphere. The entire area you can touch would be known as your sphere of influence. The illustration may sound a bit strange but when we look at life, every person has a sphere of influence, people you may touch that no one else can reach. In your sphere of influence, as a Christian, you have the opportunity to make a difference for the cause of Christ.

From Jerusalem to the Ends of the Earth

Many are familiar with Acts 1:8, where Jesus gave the blueprint for discipleship. They were to begin in their immediate area and then move out into ever-widening spheres of influence: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation).

Even though Jerusalem was not the disciples’ home, it was where they were told to start. It was where they were. They were to start closest to where they were. From Jerusalem, they would increase their witness outward to the rest of Judea, Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth.

Many get dazed by the enormity of the task of sharing the gospel. Because it seems so huge, we become overwhelmed and end up doing little or nothing. Instead, each of us needs to ask ourselves, “What is my Jerusalem? Where is my immediate sphere of influence? Who in my circle of family, friends, or coworkers can I reach for Christ? How can I do it? Who seems open to my friendship and might be interested in spiritual things?”

Bloom Where You are Planted

Have you heard the phrase “bloom where you are planted”? As Christians, we need to build relationships with our friends, neighbors, and those in our immediate sphere of influence with hopes of eventually widening their focus. Here are some practical ways to start:

• be a true friend when someone is going through a difficult time
• send an encouraging card to an unsaved friend
• be a good listener
• invite those noisy neighbors to your house for a cook-out
• be the nicest, most caring person in your neighborhood

Once a relationship is built, people are more open to an invitation to church or simply to talk about spiritual things. Please hear me—we don’t build relationships for the sole purpose of getting to add another notch to our spiritual belt. We build relationships and care about people because people are important to God. People don’t care what you believe until they know you care about them.

We each have a unique, God-chosen sphere of influence. God has chosen to give us the grand privilege of building relationships in order to lead others to Him.

The question is, how are we doing in both areas; building relationships and sharing Jesus?