3. Discipleship Principles of Paul - Part Three

Kent Crockett tells an interesting story…

“One day my wife Cindy refueled our car at a filling station in a Texas town. Instead of driving up to the self-service pump, she accidentally pulled up to full service. She didn’t realize the luxury service cost an extra fifty cents a gallon until she paid for the gas. Later she told me how the station had hiked the prices on full service.

‘That extra fifty cents per gallon surely has to be a violation of some federal law,’ I thought. I quickly calculated that the extra seven dollars she spent on full service would have taken our vehicle 128.33 miles farther down the road if she had bought self-service gas. The “full-service gas station robbery” had me fuming for several hours.

As I was mulling over this terrible injustice, God showed me what I had done. I had sold my joy for seven dollars! I never realized how cheaply I would surrender something so valuable. Just as Esau exchanged his birthright for a bowl of soup, I exchanged my joy for seven dollars’ worth of gas.

At what price are you willing to sell your joy?”

We have mentioned the “church-split” level conflict that was taking place as Paul began his new life as a follower of Jesus Christ, and the part he played. The fact that he so quickly moved into a position of authority, power, importance, and maturity no doubt is based on numerous factors such as upbringing, education, age, and so forth; but more than any of those it simply speaks to the level of commitment and subsequent work that God did in his life shortly after his conversion.

Once we grasp that truth, and the resulting information on discipleship that he gives us, under the supervision of the Holy Spirit, we can move forward. The next principle flows from the ongoing ministry that Paul and his co-workers had in the years that followed.

The Jerusalem Council is over, the crisis averted! Everyone appears happy and we have some wonderful information on our freedom in Christ. It hadn’t been exactly easy. If you follow the passage in Acts fifteen you find some interesting reading. In some ways it reminds a person of the type of church conflicts we experience on a consistent basis today – legalism versus grace.

But things haven’t settled down. Preparing for their next trip, a sharp division arises…

Acts 15:36-40 tells us about this new conflict between Paul and Barnabas. We hear about the break-up of this effective company and are tempted to choose sides; but nothing is said about one being wrong and the other being right. Probably the case could be made for either! It appears that God was preparing for a greater outreach with the formation of two teams. We know that the team of Barnabas and John Mark leave the scene; we also know that Silas joins Paul and they work their way north revisiting some of the same churches, in keeping with Luke’s chronicle of Paul’s journeys. Could we not agree that the break-up of the one team was for the best, so that the ministry could be doubled? Conflict does not have to be negative, if it is handled properly.

Acts 15:41 introduces us to the first part of this new mission’s trip. If you trace their journey on a bible map you’ll notice that Paul’s team eventually reaches the furthest outposts of the earlier journey when they come to Lystra and Derbe. After visiting the city of Thessalonica, the missionary team continue on to the south. It appears that Paul begins a custom at this point that would continue for the rest of his life; writing back to the churches they had visited. On the occasion of our next biblical book, it would be the letter to Thessalonica sent from the area of Corinth and Athens.

I Thes. 1:6-8 says, “6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.”[1] Then, in chapter two we run into these words in verses seven and eight, “But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”[2] These two passages prepare us for the next principle of the committed disciple.

That principle is, simply, Serving With Joy

So far we have:

1. A Passion for Obedience

2. A Commitment to Love

3. And now, Serving with Joy

But to understand that concept we need to really pull apart these verses, and consider what is being said about joy there. There are two things about serving with joy that we need to understand.

A. The disciple must have joy despite affliction 1:6-8

One of the major ways to determine the devotion of a follower of Christ has always been to watch how they respond to adversity.

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Rest assured, if you are a child of God, you will be no stranger to the rod. Sooner or later every bar of gold must pass through the fire. Fear not, but rather rejoice that such fruitful times are in store for you, for in them you will be weaned from earth and made meet for heaven; you will be delivered from clinging to the present, and made to long for those eternal things which are so soon to be revealed to you. When you feel that as regards the present you do serve God for nought, you will then rejoice in the infinite reward of the future.”

The response of joy amid trials, confidence amidst conflict is at the heart of this next principle. So, let’s think about something: “How should we respond to someone when they become discouraged due to affliction and tough times?

We need to convey to the learner, that the way in which they respond to adversity tells us the level of their devotion to Christ, and we will need to convey that message BEFORE the disciple is in a tough time. It is quite certain that joy is not something a person can “conjure up”. We can “put on a happy face,” “keep a stiff upper lip,” or “laugh through the tears” but we can’t pretend joy.

Did you know that there are sixteen words for “joy” in Scripture? We can “make a joyful noise,” “jump for joy,” “shout joyfully,” and “sing for Joy.” We are told that the “earth is joyful” and that “everlasting joy” can be placed upon our heads, even islands can be “joyful”. The various words contain a myriad of meaning, from cheerfulness and exultation, to rejoicing and more. So why is there so little joy in serving Jesus?

Charles Spurgeon goes on to address that, “Delight in divine service is a token of acceptance. Those who serve God with a sad countenance, because they do what is unpleasant to them, are not serving him at all; they bring the form of homage, but the life is absent. Out God requires no slaves to grace his throne; He is the Lord of the empire of love and would have his servants dressed in the livery of joy.”

Our response to difficulty is a true indication of the depth of our faith in God’s providence. Joy is an amazing thing; we can’t produce it, but usually are aware that we need it. We cannot create it; it must be created in us. It isn’t based on circumstances but is either affected by them or is affecting them. For that reason, we can’t supply joy for another disciple, but we should be watching to see how much they have – and how we can help them gain more.

Bobby McFerrin wrote a song several years ago named, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”

Listen to the words

“Here’s a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note by note, don’t worry, be happy.”

It made a catchy song, but is it the type of thing that the disciple of Jesus Christ should espouse? Obviously, this would be a perfect example of “putting on a stiff upper lip,” of “just toughing it out,” and “smiling through the pain”. The problem is it only works on a very surface level. There is nothing about happiness that allows us to succeed or carry on during the really hard times.

Joy, on the other hand, is defined by Kay Warren as, “…the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”

So, joy is possible regardless of the circumstance because we realize that God is in control of those circumstances – whether good or bad.

So, what do we need to know about joy for the disciple?

We’ve already looked at the fact that joy must take place regardless of what is happening around us, and we addressed the question; “How should we respond to someone when they become discouraged due to affliction and tough times?”

But now we come to I Thes. 2:7-8 and a second part of the principle of Serving with Joy

B. The discipler must have joy without pride

Paul tells us that they acted as “a nursing mother” toward those in Thessalonica. The depth of understanding that comes from that word causes one to catch their breath. The vulnerability amidst great courage, strength mixed with compassion, and – yeah, the sleepless nights. To think of the bountiful depths of the word picture that Paul uses is to grasp the wonder of the relationship between rabbi and disciple, between teacher and learner. A nursing mother has become consumed with serving someone else.

A willingness to serve those around us is an essential of discipleship, and – more than that – we must come to have a nursing mother’s joy in that service. We must come to see the importance of this truth if we are going to make any great strides in moving forward and maturing in our Christian life. The issue of serving with joy is that important.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 1 Th 1:6–8.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 1 Th 2:7–8.