Lynnsie: Impact of Discipleship
/“ I knew I was in darkness and didn’t know how to fix that.”
It has only been about two years since God saved me from a life of sin. I was saved at age 19 while attending school in Springfield, MO. My older sister Hailee led me to Christ by completely loving me and laying her life down for me. I was at the darkest spot I had been in my life so far. Drugs, drinking, and sinful relationships were a part of my everyday life. I started to question a variety of things: what the purpose of life was and why humans could retain knowledge and communicate with one another if one day everything I was would be nothing. I soon found out that what I assumed death would be like was far from the truth.
During my fall and Thanksgiving breaks, I agreed to go to Bible study hangouts with my sister. I saw how the girls my sister surrounded herself with were so full of life and joy, even in the midst of struggles they had. They still had an anchor to rest in and that was intriguing to me. I started to go to the actual Bible study and was lucky enough to start the book of John with the girls. I understood nothing. I knew there had to be a “greater power” but I just wasn’t 100% sure what that was. The first chapter in John establishes that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit have always been from the beginning of creation. All things were created by God. It tells us that God is light and in him there is no darkness; the darkness cannot comprehend God. I knew I was in darkness and didn’t know how to fix that. Luckily, during the Christmas Eve service I began to truly understand all that Jesus was born on earth to do: to bear my sins by defeating death and save me from the hell I deserved.
Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” I reflected on that for a few weeks and finally recognized that I was a sinner and needed saving from the life I was living in my own will. So, I prayed and cried out for Christ to save me. Shortly after this, I returned to school and struggled a lot with knowing what God’s direction for my life was. I realized I had no idea how to study the word of God or even where to start. I would go back home to Kansas City almost every weekend to attend MBT and eventually, I decided to move back home in my Spring semester. I wanted to learn how to study God’s word for myself and that is what led me to sign up for discipleship.
“I had a mindset that I could only be fed by certain people, but it pleases God to use all of his disciples.”
I finished my semester and got paired the week before I moved home. I was excited but also hesitant because I had been paired with someone I didn’t know; I had never met Cori before being paired with her. Everyone I knew in C&YA was paired with other people in C&YA, so why was I paired with someone 18 years older than me who I knew nothing about? I had so many doubts in my head, including some that Satan still tries to use to cause me to compare my walk with Christ to others. 2 Corinthians 10:12 reminds us to not compare: “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” Comparison was a huge thing I had to ask God for help with every day. God humbled me so much through discipleship. I had a mindset that I could only be fed by certain people, but it pleases God to use all of his disciples. I would not be in ministry today if it wasn't for Cori’s impact on my walk with the Lord. I needed Cori to lead me in learning God's word because I had no idea how to study it. Unfortunately, I had a hard time admitting that.
In the second lesson of eternal security, 2 Timothy 2:15-19 was a study question I struggled to understand for a while. I wanted to grow fast, so I didn’t spend the time I should have spent when it came to meditating on God's word. I wasn’t soaking up what he was teaching me in the early lessons. The verses are about studying the word of God to show yourself approved to Him, not by head knowledge but by a heart change, which comes from the ability to know and apply God's word to your life.
If I was going to name Christ as apart of my life —the biggest part— I needed to know what His Word said. The only way to do that was to READ it and KNOW it. If I was going to try to minister to the lost but didn’t know how God’s word said how to do that, no one was going to get saved. This would lead to my salvation being in vain. I wanted to be used by God and to be used by God meant getting equipped in his truth.
“God didn’t save me so I could live the rest of my life pleasing the world. He saved me to sanctify me and use me to expand his Kingdom.”
Following after Cori in the lessons not only taught me what it looks like to live in God’s will but taught me that it is important to remember my liberty in Christ. We are called to use our liberty for the love of others not to abuse it. Galatians 5:13 reminds us of this liberty: “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” Seeing how Cori laid her life down for her family and for me showed me the importance of living out this verse. Cori is not only a wife and a mother of her own children but a loving and faithful mother to her stepdaughters, as well as a friend and spiritual mom to me. There were so many times when I would join her family for dinner or movie nights and always left feeling loved and included in their lives. Getting to see her boys grow and growing closer to Stylee and Ciaran has been one of the greatest blessings of discipleship. My initial insecurities at the beginning of discipleship were trying to get in the way of what God was showing me. The biggest blessing is continuing to grow in relationship and ministry with Cori. Even after finishing the lessons in discipleship, discipleship didn’t end. Cori is a best friend, a colaborer, and a mighty woman of God who continues to impact my walk every day.
The lessons I went through in discipleship each impacted my faith in ways I never expected. They are huge steps in building up faith and sanctification in the Lord. I can only imagine how quickly I would have gone back to my old ways if it wasn’t for the accountability and edifying of faith that is taught in the word of God. God saves us, and he has a purpose for us. Our purpose is to go forth and teach all people the love of God. How can we do that without knowing the way God loves so perfectly? How do we present ourselves in a godly manner to convey that love lived out?
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I don’t want to waste the gift that God has bestowed on me. The world needs hope, and Christ is that hope. I currently attend a college full of broken people just like me who need something to cling to. Something that has actual eternal value and something that gives them hope and peace: a reason for living. Who am I that I would keep that from them? Boldness is not something that comes easy for me; I am fearful in my flesh to share the good news of Christ. But God didn’t save me so I could live the rest of my life pleasing the world. He saved me to sanctify me and use me to expand his Kingdom. He is not willing that any would perish. I am praying that God would continue to break my heart for the lost people around me so that I would be steadfast in the faith he has called me to. I have been called to teach others what I have been taught through his word and the body of Christ. I hope to make disciples who make disciples.
Romans 10:14-15 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Lynnsie Hudson is a member at Midtown Baptist Temple. She serves in Kidtown and is a part of hospitality for worship nights. She is also involved in the Oak Street ladies’ Bible study.