Where is the Love?

In the fourth night of his series, "The Call", Johnson Bowie reviews our highest calling as Christians Matt 28:19-20

Week 1: Becoming a Disciple
Week 2: GO and make Disciples
Week 3: Making a Disciple through other Disciples

"The thing that's going to enable you to do this on a day to day basis...is love." Yesterday, Johnson had a Beef'N Cheddar at Arby's and, on his way out of the restaurant, a guy pulls his car over in the parking lot and looks under the hood. So, Johnson went over to help out. Even though Johnson "is the worst person to ask about cars", it just so happened that Johnson had experienced a leak in his radiator the year before and knew how to advise him on his problem.

"He said something that froze me in my tracks...he said, 'you know, there just aren't people like you anymore.'" Johnson recalls, "It wasn't like I saved his daughter or anything...Why don't people like that exist anymore?....People who just do nice things?...I think we have this wrong idea of Jesus...Jesus made water into wine...doesn't this say something about Him?...He's about loving people."

In John 13:34 Jesus says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Why did He say "a new command"? This wasn't new!! Look in Leviticus 19:18 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."

Remember the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he needed to do to get into heaven? Jesus told him to love his neighbor. The ruler said that he already did that.

The reason this was a NEW command was because Jesus was telling us to love as He has loved us. He was commanding us to love the world with Agape love or love that is self sacrificing. But we just don't do this, do we? We don't allow our love for others to push us to do something like sharing His love and His service. We have to choose to love.

"How many of you know people who just don't deserve to be loved?...But the truth is that, many times, it is us who don't deserve to be loved." Our love for people is a true reflection of how much we love God. An atheist can say they love God. But Jesus says the way we love people is the way we love God. "I get the impression that Jesus wouldn't pull up in His apartment complex, say 'Yo, what's up' and then go inside and play video games." Jesus would get involved in the lives of and interact with His neighbors. He would love them.

The other reason this was a new command is because it is a badge of discipleship. Jesus basically said that others would know we are disciples by the way we love others. "Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love...that's a song, but it's true!" We're not Christians because we go to church twice a week or because we take part in Community Groups. These things are supposed to do something in us that compels us to go out into the world and to love others.

In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus knew what he was about to say, but He also knew that no one would like what they heard. He knew He was about to rock their world. He said that this is what it means to love others as He has loved us:

Love your enemies.

Do good to those who hate you.

Pray for those who hurt you.

Bless those who curse us.

If someone slaps you on one cheek offer the other cheek also.

If someone demands your coat, offer him your shirt also.

Give to anyone who asks.

When things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back.

"What? Jesus obviously didn't have anything valuable!" jokes Johnson. Scriptures are kind of like a flashlight that shines on the darkest part of our lives. This is an area that is absolutely necessary to demonstrate our Christian walk.

Jesus didn't really standout. There was nothing that told people he was the King of the Universe. People knew who He was because of how He loved people. "It's not that we don't know what we are supposed to do...the problem is, we know exactly what we are supposed to do, we just don't do it...so we fill up our schedules so we don't have to do it..."

"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. 'Oh my God', you will say, 'if I do that, my whole life will be ruined. How would I get on in the world? Yes, it is dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.'" Svorin Turkegarde

If we sit down and really start reading the words of Jesus, it would truly change our lives. But we find so many excuses to avoid what it is we know to do. We have to start loving each other.

Johnson has kids and, when he puts his son Jeremiah down to bed, he'll rub his head, then Jeremiah will start rubbing Johnson's head. Johnson will grab his son's hand and his son will then rub his. If Johnson spikes his hair, his son will spike his too. If Johnson says something over and over again, his son will too.

"We went on an "adventure" in our neighborhood...I put on some old ratty camo pants to go down there...he went and put on his Cammie's too...On Monday we were playing tee ball in the neighborhood...I took off my flip flops and when my son noticed I wasn't wearing mine...he ran over to take off his flip flops too...when I hug him, I rub his back and I noticed that when he hugs his friends, he rubs their backs.'" Johnson has simply shown Jeremiah how to love. Jeremiah then imitates him.

This is the same kind of way our Heavenly Father has shown us to love others. If we read the scriptures and learn to accept His love, we can then love others.

"With the guy in the Arby's parking lot, why did I do that?...was it because I have a God who will leave the other 99 to look for the 1...and I know that many times, I have been that 1?...I have held up a sign that says, 'Stay away from me' just so I won't ...I've been the 1 who He came and brought back to restore me..If I can play that role in someone else's life, it would be worth it...That's why I walk around the Home Depot parking lot putting up carts...nobody does that anymore." But Jesus loves us so much more than this! If the love inside of us never finds a way out, then it is useless. What good is our faith, then, in this world?

There's two types of people: 1) Those who say they love people. 2) Those who say they love people and do something about it. We have this idea that Jesus' love for people is just about serving.

1 Corinthians 13 defines love for us: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.



This scripture says we have to love with the love of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit inside of Jesus connected with people as He loved them. If we don't have the Holy Spirit inside of us, we will just sit back.

Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The Holy Spirit gave the disciples power, but it also gave them courage to act out the love that was already inside them. The Holy Spirit will cause us to do things we never thought we could do.

How Do I Start My Calling?

Continuing his "The Call" series with "Going", Johnson Bowie opens with an experience he had 2 years ago. He went to Discover Mills by himself to have lunch. When he walked into the food court, he had this sense that he had to talk to someone. "There goes Satan again...trying to trick me into being like Jesus and sharing my faith" (funny line he often uses). He sat down trying to eat his food while God continued to bug him. So, he started wandering around the food court and he spotted someone who was also by himself. As he walked up, he noticed the guy had a uniform on. He was approaching the "runway" but then he realized the landing wasn't going to be perfect, he pulled away at the last minute and rounded for landing number 3 (he'd already made 2 passes). "I had the conversation all planned out in my mind." But as he approached again, he then saw the guy's nametag and his name was Mike. "Crap, it just blew my whole first line and I had to pull away for landing number 4!" So he once again approached and, this time, Johnson was able to say "Hey" and sit down with Mike. "This is going to sound weird, but can I pray for you?" Mike answered "Sure", so Johnson began to pray for him. He laid out a basic prayer for Mike and his life, his friends and prayed that he would come to know Jesus. "That was it... I just walked away... and that was the perfect example of how NOT to evangelize"

Reminding us that our calling is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, who then goes out to make other disciples of Jesus, Johnson points out that Paul says we have a "high calling" in Jesus. Matthew 28:16-20 states our "Great Commission" which tells us to GO and make disciples of men. At the core of this commission, Johnson reviews from his first message, is dying to ourselves every day. When temptation pops up, we have to root ourselves in trying to make our lives look more like His.

"We're going to be focused this week on the first word of the Great Commission; GO." We can't actually produce disciples if we don't GO. There's the Matthew 28 verse , but in addition, we also have 4 secondary Great Commission texts in the Bible.

Mark 16:15 - (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Luke 24:46-48 - (Jesus) told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

John 20:21 - Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Jesus is saying "Go" and tell people what you hear, what you experience, what you see and what you feel. There was a whole expectation thing that was expected from the original disciples. Their Great Commission was to share about Jesus.




"I just want to identify with you for a minute...we're really good at taking really simple things and making them complex...but here's our (simple) message:

Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins. He died and was buried. He rose again.

That's it! But we get all hung up on all the stuff in between.

There's another misperception that we often have as Christians. Here's how we read Matthew 28; "Invite people to church so they can hear a preacher talk about how to make disciples on the earth." That's not us going out into the world! It's just us huddling up. "I think Jesus probably took the disciples up on a mountain and told the them it's not just about their local communities." Jesus knows that we don't like getting out of our comfort zones. He knows we like to stay where it's safe. But we've gotten so lazy that our highest fulfillment of the Great Commission is inviting someone to church. A church was never meant to be a creator of disciples. Ephesians 4:12 explains the church's purposed, "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up". Matthew 28 is OUR calling, NOT the church's.

"This isn't like some sleezy pyramid scheme." I'll make two disciples and then they'll each make two more disciples and then they'll make disciples and then maybe we can try to get them all to tythe. "That'd be awesome if it was! No, I'm just kidding." (I enjoy Johnson's humor.) It doesn't work like this where we're pushing product. This isn't something we have to be ashamed of. "I gave up the cool thing a long time ago. I gave it up when I bought a home and started the gardening thing." If we can share about our family, why can't we share about the King of the universe? What's really important in this life?

What we believe is that Adam and Eve came into the world and sinned. It got worse and then Jesus was God who came down to earth. He lived with us and experienced life with us and then He died for us. In doing so, He gave us the Good News by preparing a way that we could be connected to Him through eternity in heaven. Every other religion talks about ways to earn our way into heaven, but Jesus brought the good news that He saves us.

In a dark world we hold the light! Johnson asks for all the lights in the room to be turned off and then, in a funny way, demonstrates the different ways that we see light in the dark. Our calling is to shine bright, but many of us hide our light. "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Now, has that ever really happened? People see us and really do think "Praise Jesus"? What happens is that we decide to be followers of Jesus but then we shy away from our purpose outside of our church community.

"Lower the drawbridge!...We let the drawbridge down and then three people from our community group charge out, grab somebody and then rush back in..Whooo, almost got polluted by the world... so glad I have my bible study group to keep me clean."

Matthew 9:36 says,

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

The reason we don't spread the Word is because we don't really care. If we really believed what we hear, we would run to our call! If this is a problem, we have to pray that God would give us His compassion and His heart.

One of Johnson's first exposures to evangelism was in college at UGA. "It was down in the Student Center...there was this street preacher...think of a street preacher; this guy was worse...here's the first words I hear coming out of his mouth...if random girls walked by, he would say "Whhhooorrrressss"...this was his evagelism!!...he'd mash them into the dirt and then try to tell them that Jesus loved them...trying to artificially create conviction in them....we only see this in the bible from the Pharisees." But isn't that what we do in our hearts? Sometimes we sit back like sportscasters and judge the action of others.

We love John 3:16, but many times there's a disconnect because we think that this is just a verse for Christians. But John 3:17 says, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." That's why so many people flocked to Jesus; because He didn't come to condemn the world like the religious leaders, He came to offer people hope. He didn't just stand at a distance. Aren't you glad Jesus didn't do that with you? Are we willing to do the same thing with others?

"I'm a pastor, Okay? If you ever want to go to an unevangelistic work environment, work in the church!... I live in the Christian bubble". Every once in a while Johnson will go into a bar and watch UFC. "I love UFC." But this is one of the places where Johnson says he feels like he needs to pray for a heart of compassion; to reach those in the bar who may need to know about Christ.
When you're on a mission, it's not hard to talk about our mission. "I'm going to give you a list of questions that you should ask people if you want to talk to others about Christ".

1) Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs?

2) Who is Jesus to you?
3) Do you think there's a heaven and a hell?
4) If you died tonight, would you go to heaven or hell and why?
5) If what you believe were not true would you wat to know?

Another way people sometimes share the gospel is by using the "Romans Road" key verses, whish is basically salvation in a nutshell.

Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 10:9 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

An often overlooked and underestimated way of sharing the love of Christ is through service. In Acts, the Jewish widows are being served food while the Greek widows are not. The apostles had this epiphany that they should serve the Greek widows as well. As it turned out, Acts 6:7 happened right after this. Whatever the disciples demonstrated by serving the women, it triggered the growth of the church by nearly 3,000 people! Never underestimate the impact of service. Johnson learned about a couple of other things that people have done to further the Kingdom.

1. Some have taken food to the hospital knowing there are a lot of lonely people in the hospital.
2. Some just handed Cokes out on the sidewalk.

Johnson stops here and explains how a family responded when Cokes were handed out. This led to them coming to the church and then eventually the father making a decision to follow Christ. This man made the decision of spending eternity in heaven because of a can of coke! In summary, Johnson encourages each to think about how we can create disciples from right where we are.

What Is My Calling in This Life?

Beginning the first part of his series, "The Call", Johnson Bowie at http://www.fusionatl.org/p/12081/Default.aspx opens with "Becoming".

Two of the most awkward periods of time in our life is 1) Trying to pick our major in college and 2) Trying to pick a long term career. "If I choose the wrong major, I will be the 14th year senior." It can really mess us up if we don't make the right decision. Right? What in the world are we supposed to do with our life, especially if we want our lives to count for something? If we can figure out what our calling is, it could make a huge difference.

"I walked 30 miles in those shoes..." For Johnson, becoming a speaker at Fusion didn't happen over night. It happened over time. But he asks us to wake up to a bigger calling than our jobs. "This is a calling that no uncertainty is attached to." God has a calling for each of us that is very clear. It's not boring. Our call is huge and exciting!

Jesus had just risen from the dead and he gathered his disciples together on a mountain top. He tells them in Matthew 28 that all authority in Heaven has been given to Him and with that authority, He charges each one of us to go out into the world and make disciples of men.

"These days, it isn't the Great Commission to us, it's our Great Omission." We say we don't have money or we say we don't have time. We say we don't want to convert people. In Matthew, Jesus didn't say, "Super Christians, Go!! Missionaries, Go!! Pastors, Go!! People who are out of debt, Go!! People who are out of college, Go!!....No, there were no qualifiers." Jesus just said "Go". Nor did Jesus say to convince people to put a fish on their car or a cross around their neck. No, Jesus just said to make disciples of men.

As a child, Johnson remembers things like people being brought to the front of the church and it being announced that they were going to fulfill the "Great Commission" by becoming missionaries in China. It was like the rest of the congregation could not fulfill the commission, so they had to pay these people to do it for them. Those memories incorrectly taught Johnson that this commission was reserved for "those" people.

"It's very simple." If we would go to the source of life, the Word, we would learn our call. But we can't make disciples if we, ourselves, aren't disciples of the Living God. It doesn't work like that. Becoming a disciple isn't easy. We're used to Jesus saying happy things, but He didn't always say those things. Our #1 calling is to be disciples making disciples.

In Biblical times, Stephen and Paul didn't constantly ask what they should do, it just happened. They were carpenters who became disciples, who then went to make other disciples of Jesus. But somewhere in this thing, it became about us. Yet we were called to glorify God, not ourselves. Remove whatever excuses or doubts we have and put God first. All we have to do is become a disciple of Jesus who then makes other disciples. This is the ONE calling for us wherever we are.

What is a disciple and how can we become one? Do we really want to be one? You know, the word "disciple" has these horrible connotations, right? A "disciple" probably enters scripture memorization contests. He probably goes to "fasting parties" and reads scriptures. Also, he probably takes vacations so he can pray. Isn't this what we think?

But in the time of Christ, being a disciple was a huge honor that few had the opportunity to have. In Luke 6:40 it says, "Everyone who is fully trained will be just like his teacher". These disciples would follow around a rabbi, like a "disciple posse". 24/7, the disciples were there with the rabbi. What's interesting is that, when someone wanted to bless a disciple, they would say, "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi." Remember when Peter walked on water? He went on the water because he wanted to be like Jesus. He wanted to do what he did and experience what Jesus experienced.

So, the evaluation we have to do is, "Who do we look like?" Who are we following or who are we seeking to become? Why is it that we follow society and begin to accept things of society like abortion or ignoring the homeless guy? This has to be a reality check. At the end of the day, if we add up all our hours of who is discipling us, we find that Jesus is not who we follow. Add up the number of hours we watch TV, screw around on the Internet, enter Facebook or talk on the phone! Who are our teachers? How often do we read scripture? Maybe today, something needs to change.

Jesus wasn't like any other teacher. We can't just "copy" the perception of Jesus. We can't just try to look like Jesus. God isn't concerned about the outside, He is concerned about the inside and what is happening with our heart. Who is our teacher? Lots of us feel like liars and hypocrites. But it doesn't end here. We START this thing by faith, but then we make the decision to be disciple.

Being a disciple really boils down to one word, "Death". Many of us might balk at this because it's about waking up every single morning and dying to who we are. Jesus' thoughts are not ours and His ways are not ours. We die every single day. 2 Corinthians 5:14 says, "Christ's love compels us." Because Christ died for us, we die for him. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily..."

We might feel like the bar is being set too high as a disciple. Believing in Him is one thing, right? Jesus isn't interested in numbers; He's interested in disciples. We've fallen into this "consumer Christianity" thing. We go to church and wait to be entertained. We show up for the sex talk at church, but skip out on the services on grace, right? The call of God is not to go to a church service for our self gratification. "I think that should be on the billboard, 'Come to Victory World Church and Die.'" Jesus is not interested in the number of people who just hear. He wants to see disciples who die to themselves.

Johnson reads "The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases and songs he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, but he renounces nothing and he will not reconstruct his life and he will not be what he admires and he will not let his life express what it is that he supposedly admires."


We look at a church and we see people who are followers and admirers. We see people who love Jesus, but they continue life without change. "If you don't pick up your cross every day, you are not worthy to be called my disciple." Do we listen to all the words of Christ or just some of the words? We've bought into carrying this little bitty cross (the one around our neck). We "hang out" with Jesus in that sense. But for those in Christ's time, for those who had actually witnessed a crucifixion, this was a huge commitment. It was fearful!

"You can't hide the giant cross like the little cross." (Though this is an audio of Johnson, you can hear a funny presentation by him, obviously carrying around a big cross on the stage and illustrating how the cross is there when we are tempted.) Dying to ourselves every day is discipleship.

"Love is the birthplace of death and death is the birthplace of discipleship"

The only way we can truly follow ourselves is if we die to our own desires every day. It is a conscious choice. Only we can know what wars against us. If we say we are "strong" in our relationship with Jesus, then we are not in a relationship. We think we have self control, but many of us are one night from backsliding. That is how important it is to make the daily decision!

What about lust? How do we die to that? It's not easy, but it requires picking up the cross every day. The other day, Johnson was in the store buying a Coke, minding his own business when he looked over and saw someone was attractive and who caught his attention. Immediately, he had to die to it. Carrying the cross is not easy. How about pride? If you're always the first person in line, something has to change. If you are always comparing yourself to others, something has to change. We have to honor and value others before ourselves. What about tithing? We have to die to the love of money. What are we giving our heart to? What about drugs? Drinking or cigarettes are forms of putting substance before God.



What about reading the Bible? 2 Timothy 2:15 talks about "correctly handling the Word of Truth". If the Word of God isn't in us, we are warned that we will get blown away by every doctrine. We have to be rooted and grounded in the gospel or there is simply nothing in us to share. What about not praying? This is also what God calls us to do. Prayer isn't boring because God wants to get to know us. What about isolation? What if we are not in community?

John Wesley, in the 1700's listed reasons why his community group, called "the Enthusiasts", met:

1) Because we are ignorant and shortsighted and often unable to discern things that are excellent. But God reveals to one what is good for another so that in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom.

2) Because we are lovers of ourselves and we're unwilling to see our own errors and therefore unlikely to fix them whereas our friends will, with a meek and impartial spirit show us our faults.

3) Because we are weak and irresolute and let go of our integrity upon any opposition but a band of friends that are like-minded inspire us with courage and confidence.

4) Because we are lukewarm in religious duties but a holy fellowship will kindle and keep alive a holy fire.

"Please do not fool yourself in to thinking that you can truly be a disciple of Christ if you are not in a Community Group." We need accountability or the clock is just ticking and we will never see it coming. If we want to die to ourselves, we need to surround ourselves with others who are doing the same, right? We need someone who can call us up and say, "Hey dude, are you dead?" "As one man sharpens another, iron sharpens iron."

What about low self esteem? If we hate ourselves, we need to grab on to what God says about us. We have to know that God loves us. We have to know that God smiles when He thinks about us. What about unforgiveness in our hearts? Not to be insensitive about things that have happened, but if our life is about being like Christ. He died for the people who crucified Him. He asked, "Father forgive them." We have to be willing to die for the people who hurt us, abuse us, use us or betray us. We have to die to the ball and chain of unforgiveness.

Instead of asking ourselves whether we believe or not, we have to ask ourselves whether or not we are willing to answer the high calling of Christ. This is where it starts. Will we die?