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The Obstacles You're Up Against (and the Often-Overlooked Help)
Making disciples means dealing with 7 uncomfortable and persistent realities
Nathan Harrison
October 13th, 2022
If you're serious about what Jesus asked of his disciples - to go and make disciples - the odds are stacked against you.
The reality of making disciples means contending with the obstacles to making them.
Jesus' encounter with a man in dire straits reveals obstacles that still today get in our way:
When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
“What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
1) Arguments
NBA fans likely remember November 19, 2004, when "The Malice at the Palace" resulted in professional basketball players entering the stands at a game in Detroit and exchanging punches with fans.
The nature of being on a team together lends itself to disagreement and arguing over the best way to get things done. What happened in Detroit in 2004 is really a picture of what can happen in any endeavor. It happens often in Christianity - and the world notices.
A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid.
I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
2) Failures of Jesus' followers
One of the favorite positions for the critics of Christians to take is pointing at the failures of his followers. After all, if he's that powerful, why can't he 'steer' his followers to "success" and perfect Christ-likeness?
While this is a gross misunderstanding, it's nonetheless a reality we contend with.
“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
3) Unbelief of this day and age
Note the word "generation" Jesus uses here.
In every age, there is a spirit of unbelief. It's not a reference to the absence of belief. People place belief in something - whether themselves, others, objects, or something/someone beyond themselves. This unbelief was unbelief in Jesus.
We don't have to look hard to see it in our generation today.
So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him.
4) Prolonged struggle
Every so often, we need the reminder that we have an enemy that has been defeated, but isn't done trying.
The weapons of preference for that enemy?
Deception
Distraction
Discouragement
When someone lives in/with any of these long enough, and there's a real attrition of the soul that can take place in any situation.
But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
5) Uncertainty about Jesus
You don't have to look hard to see we live in a world that is increasingly unfamiliar with Jesus.
News headlines are now delivered to our mobile devices without us having to look for them. Social media has become one of our main sources of information. Culture is now considered 'post-Christian.'
This man's first century "if you can" statement about Jesus is still echoed by a world unfamiliar with him today.
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out.
The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.”
6) Opinion of the crowd
Scripture reminds us we can live by faith or live by sight.
The crowd opinion always has been, is, and will be one based on sight.
These first 6 obstacles - arguments, failures, unbelief, struggles, uncertainty, crowd opinion - are not exactly encouraging to have in our way.
There's little aside from awareness of them that we can do about them. We can recognize the tendency of our human nature to get mired in them. But you and I don't actually grow someone else's faith.
What sets this 7th obstacle apart is that it points us to what we can do about obstacles to faith.
Pay attention to what Jesus says is an obstacle we actually play a part in doing something about:
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
7) Prayerless disciples
Of all the aforementioned obstacles, this is the one we can eliminate.
The next time you think, "all I can do is pray," remember all God does when we pray.
Until next week,
Nathan