Jordan Lin
Most importantly, the discipleship training taught me how to practice the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.
This year, God has used the MasterLife class to grow me in the application of my faith. Being raised by my loving parents, who are disciples of Christ, I have always taken my belief and relationship with God seriously. However, a major hindrance to my spiritual growth has been the lack of living out God’s will in my daily life. One of the main goals of MasterLife is to “develop a deeper relationship with Christ as you practice the disciplines of a disciple” (Willis, MasterLife).
In fact, the very decision to take on this journey resulted from a test of faith. I am a member of a youth orchestra that I have played with for 3 years. We always had rehearsals on Sunday afternoons, right after worship and Sunday school. When my mom asked if I wanted to join MasterLife, I realized that I had to give up an entire season of orchestra. I felt conflicted and very disappointed that I could only pick one, so I prayed to God to give me discernment and trust in Him. After praying, the answer was clear: I needed to prioritize my spiritual life over my worldly life. The journey of becoming a disciple of Christ is priceless. Jesus often described a life of discipleship as costly and precious. From this experience, I understood that to follow Jesus, I needed to be ready to lay down my own desires.
One aspect of the Christian faith that is often overlooked or misunderstood is the Holy Spirit. MasterLife clarifies the identity of the Holy Spirit and teaches the correct responses to His working. It is often mistakenly believed that the Holy Spirit is a force, feeling, or something that only appears when you are being “spiritual.” In reality, the Scriptures show us that He is a real and living person of the Trinity that helps us, guides us, and walks alongside believers at all times (John 14:16-17). To live a fruitful life with God, it is imperative to recognize the voice of the Spirit, and to respond accordingly. Although the Spirit can inspire us and stir our emotions, it is dangerous to blindly follow your feelings. One way MasterLife has taught me to perceive the Spirit’s message is through His Word. When the Holy Spirit speaks to you, it is always in concordance with God’s will that can be discerned through Scripture. Many times, He can convict you during your daily Bible reading. This is why a habit of devotional time in the Word is a crucial part of spiritual health that cannot be neglected. How would you expect to know God’s will if you refuse to seek the clearest and most direct source of it? Early on, MasterLife aimed to establish a daily habit of reading the Bible, or “Living in the Word.” To facilitate this, God has blessed me with Pastor Wang’s Bible Reading Class, a three year journey through the entirety of God’s Word. Many times, the Scripture has directly convicted me of specific sins during my devotion time. Like water to a plant, the absence of the Word has severe implications to spiritual vigor. On occasional days or weeks I failed to keep up with my devotionals, yielding noticeable consequences . Each time, I grew further from Christ, and struggled in other areas of my life. I had decreased work ethic, increased temptation, and became more bitter to others. Not only do I see this in myself, my parents often noticed and asked me about my relationship with God. Through this journey, I have been through many trials, but each time, I am reminded of my need for spiritual sustenance provided by the Bible and guidance provided by the Spirit.
Most importantly, MasterLife taught me how to follow the Great Commission, something I had always wanted to do, but I was not confident in my ability. Toward the end of the training, all of the students were required to share the Gospel with someone and to document our experience. As the deadline grew closer, I still didn’t have anyone I could think of, as many of my friends have either rejected the message in the past, or were already believers. One Friday, I asked my fellowship group to pray for me, that I would know how and to whom I would share the Gospel. As soon as the prayer ended, I somehow knew exactly who I would talk to: my friend from school, Isaac. I planned to talk to him the following week at school, but I was met with opposition. Every day, I was busy with tests, or had club meetings at lunch. It felt like the enemy was trying to prevent me from doing God’s work. Eventually, I scheduled a discussion with him on the weekend, which worked out. Like many of my friends, Isaac is Jewish, which means I needed to be strategic when sharing the Gospel. As a believer in the Old Testament, he too was well-versed in Scripture, had strong beliefs about God, and had his own religious life. Drawing inspiration from biblical evangelists like Paul, Matthew, I used passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Leviticus, and Ezekiel to point to Jesus as the Messiah and Perfect Sacrifice. We both agreed on the destruction that sin had wreaked on this world, and he admitted that logically, there was no way for sinful people (everyone) to stand in the presence of God. By pointing to the sacrificial system, I explained how Jesus was the ultimate sin offering before God for the sins of humanity, reconciling us and God. I also talked about the various messianic prophecies throughout Scripture, including Isaiah 52-53, the Suffering Servant. We read the passage together, and amazingly, Isaac said himself that Jesus was the closest match for the description, despite many rabbinic interpretations of the Suffering Servant being Israel as a nation. After the two-hour long conversation, I asked Isaac if he was willing to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He said that even though he said he couldn’t “just snap [his] fingers and believe”, he told me that he really enjoyed the talk, which prompted him to contemplate realities he hadn’t thought about before. Isaac also expressed his desire to learn more about Jesus and Christianity, at which I was overjoyed. Through MasterLife, I not only learned to grow myself as a disciple of Christ, I also learned to bear fruit and make disciples of others for God’s kingdom.
I cannot express the gratitude I have for my coach, Eric, and my peers in the class for keeping me accountable and helping me to improve. Embarking on the journey of discipleship changed me and refreshed my Spirit. Above all, I recognize that this is only the beginning of the mission as a servant of Jesus, and the lessons and experiences I have learned and gained will be critical to my development as a disciple-maker. It is my desire that God may use this testimony to inspire you to keep growing in the Lord.