The 5 Activations of Jesus

A lot of people call themselves Christians and they think that God is most interested in the quality of their belief system. Jesus asks us to believe in him – that is to trust him. And that’s a great place to start. But Jesus also says If you love me, keep my commands.

Jesus made it clear that faith requires activation. He called the religious leaders to task for their hypocrisy – the gap between what they preached and what they did. As James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

But how many of us define our faith by our belief, not our actions?

To go from belief to action, you need activation. You need the chance to do what you say you believe. We need the opportunity to move in our spirits from learning about to trying it out.

For much of my life I’ve sought to give people the chance to do just that – to activate or practice their faith by doing what Jesus did. The ministry I’m a part of, adventures.org, takes people on faith-stretching journeys, visiting widows and orphans in their distress (James 1:27).

As we look at Jesus in the gospels, we see ways in which he sought to activate his disciples. We can follow his example. Here are five:

Activating Compassion

Jesus brought his disciples into proximity with people in need. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matt 9:35

Then he asked his disciples to pray about what they were seeing (Matt. 9:38). And then he sent them out to minister to their needs (Matt. 10).

And he wants to do the same thing with us. He wants us to have our hearts broken. Bob Pierce founded World Vision. He prayed, “Lord, break my heart with the things that break your heart.” It’s a great prayer to pray. Our hearts tend to dwell on the things that make us comfortable or entertained. They don’t beat like Jesus’s heart does. He offers us a heart transplant, but first our hearts need to break.

Going on a Journey

Jesus didn’t send his disciples to seminary. He took them away from their hometowns and their comforts. They followed him and watched him model a way of living. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.” Matt. 9:35

Journeys into strange places put us in liminal space where we have the chance to see the world and ourselves in it from a different perspective. We become available to change.

Jesus’s journey took three years and even then, his best disciple (Peter) was still failing. Our journeys need to take at least three years.

Activating Intimacy

The third activation moves us toward intimacy as we realize that we can’t make it without him. As Jesus sent out his disciples, he told them “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals.” Matt. 10:9

Jesus wanted his disciples to depend on him and he wants to do the same with us. He wants us to trust him to heal and provide what’s needed when we minister. When he shows up and meets that need, he knows we’ll love him more.

Activating Disciple Making

The last thing Jesus says is, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Matt. 28:19

If has changed us, we have good news to share with others. And we have a way of life to train them in. We train leaders through active learning and relationship. (2 Tim. 2:2)

We can’t rush the disciple-making process. We need to continue to pour into disciples until they are reliable and able to pour into others. People want to be shown how to live. Some are hungry and want to learn from you. I call this process of investing in them “going with the goers.”

Mission & Story

Jesus calls us to live a good story. And we need to tell that story. Jesus had a strategy for bringing hope to the world, beginning in our own backyard, and progressing to the ends of the earth.  Sustainable faith requires church-planting and missions. (Acts 1:8)

Paul was activated by Jesus. Jesus appeared to him in a vision and told him to share with others the ways that he had changed Paul and was going to continue to change the world through him. (Acts 26:16)

James tells us “faith without works is dead.” (James 2:17)  Belief must find its way into action or it has no courage attached to it. To move to a life of integrity, embrace the activations that Jesus gave his original disciples and has continued to offer to the rest of us for 2000 years.