Discipleship: Recipe for the Christian Life

When I was a brand new bride, my husband and I believed that love made the world go around. It didn’t matter to us that we were poor. It didn’t matter that all of our furniture was hand-me-downs. It didn’t matter that we only had one car, but worked different schedules in different places. We would do whatever it took to make life work. And since we had each other, we knew it would all be fine.

That is, until we realized that I couldn’t cook.

I don’t mean that I was just not good at cooking. I really didn’t know how to cook—at all. I didn’t know the difference between a boiled egg and a poached egg or the difference between baking a pan of brownies and roasting a piece of meat. I didn’t know anything! I could make a salad, microwave a couple of vegetables (Corn and peas were the extent of my repertoire—and yes, I know those aren’t really vegetables.), and burn toast. That was it. The first meal I made for my dear husband was hot dogs (heated in the microwave) and macaroni and cheese (with dry, chalky cheese powder that didn’t get mixed well with the milk and butter). It was terrible.

Not one to worry too much, my husband gave me advice from his vast knowledge: No matter what you are cooking, just put it in a frying pan and leave it there until it’s done.

Eggs? Fried.

Chicken? Fried.

Hot dogs? Fried.

Roast beef? Potatoes or rice? Vegetables?

Fried. Fried. FRIED!

And that’s how we ate. No seasonings. No sauces. No flavor. And certainly no enjoyment. Just fried—everything.

Finally, I grew tired of the fried food and became desperate for help. I begged my mother-in-law, who lived close by, to teach me how to cook. She graciously obliged. We would descend on her every weekend, and she would demonstrate how to bake, boil, roast, tenderize, season, mix, and combine. Finally, we had good food! And for Christmas, she typed up her best-loved recipes onto personalized cards and gave them to me in a special box. It was a treasure worth more than gold! I still use those recipes frequently, and I take them with me wherever we go—which is a lot of places.

Being a newlywed and learning to cook is a lot like becoming a Christian. We start out knowing that everything will be ok because God loves us and Jesus died for us—and we choose to accept Him as Savior, making Him the Lord of our lives. And that is true. It will work out, and the security, peace, forgiveness, and hope He provides is worth whatever cost we might pay to follow Him. But we don’t automatically know how to live like a Christian—in the world or in the Church. We need help.

God has given us His Holy Spirit and His written Word, the Bible. These are the tools we must have to grow in our Christian walk. But sometimes, having the written Word is like having a cook book. We know the instructions are there, but we struggle to understand terminology, and we don’t always know where to start. Therefore, God, in His wisdom, has also given us other Christians, more mature, experienced, and wise than us. And they can teach us so much.

That is what the process of discipleship—this Recipe for the Christian Life—is all about. It is learning how to follow God’s guidelines and live within the boundaries He has established for us in His Word. Those are not to harm us or rob us of anything good. Rather, they are to protect us and show us the freedom we have to live in Him. And a wise, older Christian can show us the way, demonstrating from her experience and wisdom what we need to know to start on this journey that will last for the rest of our lives. We all need that instructor who will help us learn how to pray, how to read the Bible and study it for ourselves, how to share the gospel with others, how to relate to one another within the church, how to please God, and so on.

But few new believers find this support within their local church, or anywhere, for that matter. It’s like those newlyweds. People think, “Oh, they’ll figure it out.” And they likely will. But many frustrations and hardships could be avoided if proper counsel was given from the beginning.

That is what I hope to do over the next several weeks. I know that many of our readers and listeners have never been discipled in the fundamentals of Christian living, and I think this will be a great start to the new year. So we are going to cover topics that relate to new believers. The Word of God, the Bible, will be our instruction book—or our recipe cards, if you will. And if you have been discipled or have walked with the Lord for many years, these reminders will refresh your relationship with Him and renew your commitment to obeying His Word.

Join us for the journey of discipleship. This is how we grow up in Christ, from a newborn who “desires the sincere milk of the Word” to a spiritually mature adult who is ready for “strong meat.” The good news is that God wants us to take these steps, and He has already equipped us with everything we need to do so.

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” (Eph. 4:14-15)