Impact of Discipleship: Micah Sanders
“No one told me the importance of reading my Bible”
I never had a male figure in my life invest in me, especially not the Word of God. My father wasn’t the church going type. My mother, brother, and I would go but I don’t remember a time when we were all in service together. Then, around the age of seven, my father left my mother, brother, and I, and ever since then it was just the three of us. I couldn’t really explain how I felt back then. I wasn’t happy or angry. I was kind of apathetic.
We went to a few churches, but none of them were churches that were big on reaching souls. They were either small churches that had a small group of regular goers or mega churches you could find yourself lost in. No one at these churches ever came up to me and told me about Jesus and why I needed him. No one told me the importance of reading my Bible. No one took that step my way to make sure I was going in the right direction. Without any direction, I continued to go to church just because my mother went. I had no desire to know God, though. My mother was the only person who tried to invest in me and get me to read my Bible, but she didn’t have much time being a single mother and having to work a lot to provide for her children. Eventually, the things of the world started to get my attention, and I followed after them. That led to many years of clashing with my mother as she grew more in her faith and I grew in wanting to be in the world.
Eventually, I got to the end of myself and I realized what the world really had to offer me was depression, terrible relationships, confidence issues, insecurities about myself, pridefulness, and a lot more hurt. I was a mess. One day I’d be super prideful thinking I was the man and the next I would feel like I had no one and would give in to my loneliness. I then started attending church with the intent to know God, ending up at Midtown and with a relationship with God.
“I started to actually think of God as being my Father and treat Him that way”
Months later, I took the Cost of Discipleship and signed up for discipleship with serving God in my mind. I had no idea what God had in mind for me. I met Mark, we hung out, got to know each other a little bit (I thought he was a pretty cool guy) and started discipleship. Then I started to see how bad I actually was. The pride, the insecurities, the lack of confidence, the hurt. I still had these problems with me. I tried tucking them away because I didn’t want to deal with them and I didn’t want Mark to know how imperfect I was. I acted as if everything was fine, which it wasn’t. There were times in the beginning of discipleship when he would ask me questions from the lessons and I would respond with vague answers. There were times where I could’ve opened up about my life and chose not to. That didn’t stop him from asking how I was doing with my walk every time we saw each other. Mark kept at it. There were even times when he opened up to me about things. Eventually I started to realize that this man truly wanted nothing but the best for me and I was holding back on him. Even more, I was holding back on God.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
After realizing this, I started to open up and that led to areas in my life and insecurities coming to light where I needed God’s help to overcome so that I could better serve Him. This wouldn’t have happened without Mark being consistent. Having someone ask me about things and being real about wanting to know was huge.
One Sunday, I decided to go to Kenny’s fellowship (Mark being a part of it) and the topic of the sermon was about fathers and how important they are, how they need to be to their children, and the effects of not having a godly father in a child’s life. It wrecked me. It was at that moment when I realized that I needed my father in my life. I started thinking about how things could’ve been different if he stayed, if he started going to church, how different my family would be if both my parents truly followed the Lord. I also realized how much my mother sacrificed and how she played both the mother and father roles. I was a terrible son to a woman who gave her all for children.
I started to actually think of God as being my Father and treat Him that way.
1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
“Thanks to discipleship, I've learned to deal with things in a biblical manner for myself”
What followed (with the help of being in discipleship) was a period of being in the Word, praying and trusting God to change me over time. The lessons started becoming more valuable to me as I took my growth more seriously. This led to a change in praise and how I worship God, a change in my prayers, loving the people around me, and opening up to people (still working on this one).
This period of growth was tough, having its ups and downs, but it was worth it, and I had Mark beside me praying. Even after I completed discipleship, things from the past still popped up, and Mark kindly sacrificed his time to talk, give biblical advice, and pray about things. A beautiful thing about discipleship is that not only was it a precious time between my discipler and me, it still is! Thanks to discipleship, though, I've learned to deal with things in a biblical manner for myself. A problem comes up and I can open my Bible and trust God for an answer.
Psalm 40:1-4 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. 4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
My time with Mark helped me realize how blessed I am to have God as my Father. Where my biological father fell short, where others in my life fell short, even where Mark fell short (even though he was great), God hasn’t. God has been by my side, through the good and through the bad. Wanting the best for me. Wanting me to come to Him with my problems. Answering my prayers. There to get me back on track when I get off. The love God has for us is astonishing. This love that I came across needs to be expressed back in my life. To the lost, to disciples, to the guys in bible study, to the body of Christ. I learned all of this because of how I was treated in discipleship.
“Trust your discipler, trust the process, and above all trust the Lord”
Discipleship was such a precious time between my discipler and myself. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to be discipled by Mark Rhodes. This is a man that loves God and His Word and shows it in his life. Love just seems to radiate out of him. I believe that he genuinely cared about investing his time and his knowledge of God's Word In me. I thank God for our pairing and time spent together learning about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I realized something after my time with Mark, and Brandon said it best. You are screwed after you’ve started discipleship. Learning how we should be living our lives according to the Word and the guidelines of being a disciple leaves you with one question. Are you truly going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? You’re either going to grow in your walk as a disciple, stay still as just a believer but not fully submit yourself to Christ, or revert back to your past life. The last two options aren’t wise. Discipleship has changed me for the best, to the point where I have surrendered my life and my cares to be about what my Father cares about, so for me, that only leaves one real option. I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Discipleship is more than a time for you to just learn information that’s in the Bible. It's a time for you to get that information, search yourself, and let the Lord reveal areas in your life where you fall short, in the end trusting and letting God mold you so that He can use you. Trust your discipler, trust the process, and above all trust the Lord.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
The patience, investment, knowledge, and overall love that Mark showed with me is going to be reciprocated with future disciples of my own, praying that they answer the call in their lives, deciding to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
Micah Sanders is a member of Midtown Baptist Temple and is a part of C&YA. He is a part of the security team and Kidtown. He is also a part of a men’s Rockhurst University Bible study.
