One Another for Another One

By Reid Milliken

“And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Colossians 1:18-20 ESV

Making disciples—lifelong worshipers, servants, and witnesses of Jesus—wasn’t exactly a new idea that Christ brought onto the scene. When Jesus called people to be His disciples, it was a reminder. It was His way of putting new words onto an old concept. It was God’s way of clarifying and reiterating what His people have been called to do and who they have been called to be throughout history.

After Genesis 3, when sin entered the heart of humanity and all of creation came under the curse of death and separation from God, it was God’s goal to reconcile all creation back to Himself. How was He going to do this? God chose an unorthodox approach. He chose to reconcile the world back to Himself by entering into a covenant relationship with human beings, the very ones who screwed the whole thing up in the first place.

In light of God’s undeserved offer of redeeming grace, His covenant was a call for His people to live in a way that exhibited that grace, so that all the world would be blessed through them and invited back into a right relationship with their Creator. From Abraham onward, we see this mission unfold—even with failed attempts by broken people—but always with God remaining faithful and laser-focused on His work of reconciliation.

The operation reached its climax when God Himself put on skin, moved into the neighborhood, and accomplished our redemption at the cross.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus modeled the way that we should live in order to point people to His saving grace. Christ came and lived the perfect life so that we might look to Him alone for the way to make disciples. This is where disciple- making starts: with an understanding of the supremacy, sovereignty, and lordship of Christ. (Colossians 1:18)

LEARNING FROM THE MASTER

For several years, when it came to making disciples of Jesus, I started by looking within myself. This was a fatal mistake. Within me was greed, selfishness, and pride. Those three ingredients make for a bad recipe in disciple-making!

Once I recognized that the power, the motivation, and the skills needed to make disciples come from God alone, I finally was set on a solid foundation. If it is true that the fullness of God dwells in Christ (Colossians 1:19), then it would be wise to look to Him for the embodiment of a Master Disciple-Maker.

As I looked at the life of the Master Disciple-Maker, I began to recognize a pattern in how Jesus lived and spent His time: “One another for another one.” Let me explain.

It was perfectly balanced throughout all of His ministry. Jesus chose His twelve disciples and called them to follow Him. He spent time with these men and taught them how to live with one another. At the same time, He modeled the way of how to care for another one, someone who was not yet following Him.

The four Gospels paint this picture so well. Tired and weary after a long day, ready for some time away with His twelve one-anothers, Jesus would come across yet another one of the needy, broken, overlooked, messy, and forgotten people He so frequently encountered. Whether it was the woman at the well (John 4), the leper (Mark 1), the bleeding woman (Luke 8), the demon-possessed man (Mark 5), or the Roman centurion (Matthew 8), Jesus was never too busy for another one.

The Gospel writers clearly saw this pattern and portrayed it so well in their writing, and the Apostles certainly understood it as well. It is nearly impossible to read any of the letters in the New Testament without seeing both stories and commandments that continue to shape this one-another-for-another-one way of life.

A CALL FOR ALL OF US

In our Elizabethtown Campus Student Ministry, this is what we’re trying to become: a community of one-anothers for another one. Within the church, we live with one another in such a way that those who have not yet joined the family will be blessed and welcomed in. This is the ministry of reconciliation to which each of us is called as we continue to follow Christ (Colossians 1:20).

Since our middle and high school students have begun to adopt this principle, we have seen God do amazing things. In our first four months of Student Ministry at the Elizabethtown Campus, 16 students were baptized, having been reconciled to God through faith in Jesus. They now see Christ as their Lord and know Him as the Master Disciple-Maker. And they live in obedience to Him to continue that disciple-making mission, all by His power. God is faithful!

There are two questions I ask our students and leaders all the time:

• Who are your one-anothers?
• Who is your another one?

I ask the first question because we can’t live a life of disciple- making if we’re trying to do it alone. I ask the second question because we’ll never be disciple-makers until we actually make disciples!

This is a call for all of us. As you follow after Jesus, who are the one-anothers walking beside you? And who is another one God is calling you to reach?