DISCIPLESHIP,
IMPACT OF

PERHAPS you don’t know what fifth columnists are. It goes all the way back to when the Spanish army would invade a nation and they would march the soldiers in four columns. The soldiers would march in four columns and do a frontal assault on whatever nation or city they were going to attack. The nation being attacked felt pretty secure, because they could see the four columns coming. But what they didn’t know about were the fifth columnists.

The fifth columnists had moved into the city a year beforehand as covert operatives. They had become doctors and lawyers, politicians and businesspeople, and they infiltrated the land that would be attacked a year later. In other words, they were saboteurs. What they did was to set things up for the army invasions. When the four columns marched, the fifth columnists would have already caused havoc on the inside. The four columns could do what they needed to do, because there were subversives internally.

God expects every Christian who is functioning in a secular, non-Christian society, business, or school to be a fifth columnist. He expects you to be part of His army that works behind enemy lines. He wants you to represent the interests of heaven in the locality of earth where He has placed you. Fifth columnists don’t become part of the culture, they just function at the level they need to in order to bring about the bigger plan of the nation that they are a part of.212

[World, Impacting the]

Matt. 5:13–14; 1 Cor. 9:19–23

9/11 HAS changed our world. It’s not only changed America, even though we were the ones directly affected. The reverberation is worldwide. A whole new system was set up because of 9/11 called Homeland Security. You have to wait in long lines now at the airport because of 9/11. You got different color codes indicating the seriousness of a potential threat, all because of 9/11.

Folks halfway around the world infiltrated our culture because of their belief system. They had a belief system that created an action and they infiltrated the culture. Even though we don’t buy their belief system, we are affected by it. Their actions were wrong and the belief system that inspired the actions is illegitimate and evil, but it was effective. Their belief system acted. It didn’t just talk. It made its presence here. Those men on 9/11 were disciples of their system. They didn’t just believe it. They risked everything to advance it.

To be a disciple is to be a visible, verbal follower of Jesus Christ. It is to be clearly a representative of Him. There should be no question that you’re a Christian in your world.213

[World, Impacting the; Witnessing]

2 Tim. 1:7–9

IN THE movies, there are previews of coming attractions. This is where the hot clips of the upcoming movies are shown. The cuts of the movies are always of the most exciting scenes: the fight scenes, the love scenes, or the chase scenes. The moviemakers show you the best clips because they want you to tune in to the whole show. Now, the movie itself may actually be terrible, but you’ll never know it by the clips!

One day there is a big show coming to town. God is the Producer, the Holy Spirit is the Director, and Jesus is the Superstar. It will be a worldwide production. In the meantime, God has left you and me here as previews of the coming attractions. As disciples of Christ, we’re supposed to be the hot clips of the upcoming show, so that when people see our clips, they conclude the show must be hot. From watching our previews, people should raise the question, “Where can I buy a ticket to the show?” It is then that we can tell them, “You don’t have to buy a ticket; the price has already been paid.”214

[World, Impacting the; Spiritual Identity, in Christ; Witnessing]

1 Peter 2:11–12