Following Jesus: A Journey Beyond Repentance
Jesus Said: “Follow Me"
Repentance is certainly a key aspect of a faith journey and an essential step for a Jesus follower in pursuit of a deep relationship with Jesus. However, I keep hearing amazing testimonies of people who began their journey of following Jesus by just believing who he is or deciding to worship him. For many people repentance for sins is not the entry point to becoming a Jesus follower.
The One For Israel Ministry web site (https://www.oneforisrael.org/israeli-testimonies) hosts thousands of testimonies of Jewish people who have decided to become followers of Jeshua (Jesus). I like what this group says about sharing the Gospel - "It Starts with a chat." In their setting this is literal because WhatsApp or Facebook is the first contact seekers have with a Jewish person to talk about faith. On their website they also state:
"Discipleship is critical to all the work we are doing."
This got me thinking about evangelism and discipleship and I noticed that when Jesus called his disciples he only said: "Follow Me." That's it. Just "Follow Me"
To the woman caught in adultery he said: "... neither do I condemn you, go now and leave your life of sin.”
Then there is the sinful woman who washed Jesus feet with her tears, wiped his feet with her hair, and anointed him with perfume. She never said a word but she demonstrated her devotion to him by this unusual act of worship. In response to her act of love Jesus says: “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
This has been an interesting journey for me personally. I have moved from trying to get people to pray prayers of repentance and instead now lean toward inviting them on a journey of discovery to learn who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He will yet do. Along the way repentance will be one of the necessary steps. But repentance is not a one and done act. Every believer will need to repent regularly.
"This is My New Life" is the first book in our discipleship series. In the first few lessons participants are invited to consider an exciting faith journey, and they discuss how life is different than they expected before being invited to consider becoming a disciple of Jesus.
