Discipleship: Shining Through Formation That Transforms

Introduction

Pastor Malu Bialuta tied his exhortation to that week's youth conference, whose theme was "Destined to Shine." He picks up the idea, but sets it within the discipleship journey the church is currently walking through. The title he lands on is direct: shine through formation that transforms.

His conviction is simple: you're not called to be a shooting star, but a shining star. And that kind of light doesn't happen by accident. It comes through formation, enrollment, submission to a process. The message rests on the great commission of Matthew 28:18-20, on the calling of Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4:18-20, and on the calling to have dominion given as early as Genesis 1:26-28.

Outline of the exhortation

1. The great commission has two movements: go and teach

Jesus begins by affirming that all authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth before sending out his disciples. The mandate of Matthew 28:19-20 contains two movements: go and evangelize, and teach them to observe everything Jesus commanded. Many gladly run toward the first. The second implies a condition: "you cannot teach what you haven't eaten, what you haven't learned yourself." You cannot teach if you're not teachable yourself.

The pastor stresses this: the nation Jesus speaks of is first and foremost an ethnos, a group of people who speak the same language. If you're the only doctor, the only tax specialist, the only geologist in your church, you haven't obeyed the mandate. You have to make disciples within your own "nation." And for that, you need to have been formed yourself.

2. Searching the Scriptures in the age of artificial intelligence

A contemporary aside in the message: "the glory of God is to conceal things, and the glory of kings is to search them out." The more information is a click away, the less genuinely informed people are. God placed in you this desire for conquest, this urge to go and dig. What you gain with difficulty, you take care of. The pastor warns about AI-generated Bible versions and encourages you to go back to printed copies, to nights spent digging deep, to that personal appointment with the Word.

3. Create, form, have dominion: God's original plan

In Genesis 1:26, God says: "Let us make man in our image and likeness, so that he may have dominion." This never means dominion over the wife: that only appears after the fall, as a consequence of sin. You were created to have dominion over the birds, the livestock, the reptiles, over all the earth. Not over your wife.

In Genesis 1:28, God spells out the how of that dominion: be blessed, be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, have dominion. Five steps. The first fruitfulness isn't biological, it's spiritual. Your spirit must be fruitful above all. You're called to raise many spiritual children. Inheritance, real estate, everything people aim for when they hear "dominion," those are only consequences.

4. After sin: following Jesus to regain dominion

Sin caused man to lose his ability to have dominion. Jesus comes, dies, brings us back. You can no longer have dominion if you don't follow Jesus, because it's through him that you receive back the Spirit that makes you able to have dominion. But following Jesus isn't enough: you also need to let yourself be transformed by him, to recover the shape that lets you have dominion.

The Greek word for "follow" in Matthew 4:19 means "come now." When Peter and Andrew immediately leave their nets, they've understood that urgency. It's the same word Jesus uses in Matthew 11:28: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened." Come now. Don't leave church carrying the same burden you walked in with: the church is a place of refuge where a fellow believer can walk you to Jesus' feet.

5. "I will make you": being shaped like a poem

"I will make you fishers of men." The Greek verb is close to poiema, the root of the word poem. Jesus says: I'm going to shape you, you're going to become a poem for me. The definition is rich: to form, to build, to fashion, to produce, to make useful something that was useless, to give the ability to act rightly, to make ready to carry out promises.

Everything you have received prophetically hides inside the act of following. If you follow, he provides for everything; you will never lack. The Christian life is simple at this point: let him make you into whatever he wants to make you. And Matthew 3:8 uses the same verb: "produce fruit in keeping with repentance."

6. No transformation without formation

Transformation implies a deep, lasting, often systemic change. It touches structure, behaviors, ways of thinking. Our thoughts must align with those of Christ, as Romans 12:1-2 reminds us: offer your body as a living sacrifice. No transformation without offering yourself. No transformation without formation. To form is to learn, to develop, to acquire. It's a structured process meant to prepare you for responsibilities.

When you arrive in a church, you need to be formed, because the shape you had was suited to a different church. Discipleship is what gives you the shape that lets you fit together with the brothers and sisters. You can have good intentions: if you don't have the right shape, your bricks won't fit into the wall being built.

7. Formation comes before manifestation

Formation happens in the present, but its benefit arrives in the future. That's the challenge of our generation: the need to be seen, the need to appear right now. Yet "the quality and quantity of what you will have in the future depend on the formation happening in the present." David is anointed at 17 but doesn't reach the throne until 30: thirteen years of formation. God chose to form David in order to prepare an eternal throne for him, rather than rushing things the way it went with Saul.

Formation qualifies you to be presented. Even Jesus was presented twice: at his baptism and on the mount of transfiguration. It also prepares you for the operation: the day you obtain the position you're seeking, if you haven't been teachable, you'll expose your own ignorance. And some opportunities don't come around twice. 1 Peter 5:6 promises you elevation "at the proper time." Formation doesn't last a lifetime; it has an end.

8. A lot of preparation: the TikTok generation facing God's timing

In 1 Chronicles 22:5, David says of Solomon's temple: "I want to make preparations for it." Then the text adds that David made abundant preparations. Abundant preparations take a lot of time. Are you ready to go unseen for a year, two years, three years, while others seem to take up the whole stage?

The pastor gives the example of young prophets who, a few years earlier, filled social media with their prophecies. Today, they've all vanished. A brother who agreed to work in secret is still standing. Exposure that comes too fast without preparation doesn't hold up.

9. Conscious formation, unconscious formation

There are formations where the shepherd tells you where you're headed: I'm preparing you for this. There are others, called unconscious, where God forms you in secret without you knowing what greatness he's destined you for. David didn't know his successive rejections were preparing him for the throne. Joseph didn't know his being sold into slavery was preparing him to become prime minister in Egypt.

What often disqualifies you is wanting to control everything, to know everything. There are things you will know, and others for which you must simply trust. Another principle: "it's not always where you were formed that you will be used." The length and duration of your formation hide the size of your future exposure.

10. Paul and Joseph: when formation doesn't go your way

In Acts 9, Paul, the brilliant student of the great schools, is sent to Ananias, a simple craftsman who nonetheless carried the anointing. Paul stays three days, doesn't run off despite his credentials. This humility is decisive. You have to learn to receive from a shepherd you wouldn't have chosen, sometimes younger, sometimes less educated, but whom God uses.

Formation doesn't always go in the direction you want. Like Peter, whom God asks to eat what he considers unclean, you'll run into orders that clash with your logic. God doesn't operate by human logic. But Joseph, in Genesis 45:5, can say to his brothers: "Do not be distressed that you sold me here, for it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you." Discipleship also means bringing your heart to appreciate trials, to be equipped to suffer, to know that nothing can separate you from God.

Key takeaways

• Teachable above all. You cannot pass on what you haven't eaten. Without a learning posture, the great commission slips out of your reach.
• Your nation matters. Your job, your circle, your ethnos need to be filled inside the church. If you're the only one of your kind, you haven't yet fulfilled the mandate.
• Be fruitful in spirit. Genesis 1:28 begins with spiritual fruitfulness. The rest (multiply, fill, have dominion) flows from that.
• Follow Jesus now, and let yourself be transformed. Jesus' "come" is a "come now"; it comes with the "I will make you" that shapes you like a poem.
• Love the formation. Abundant preparations take a lot of time. Reject the logic of quick exposure; keep a humble posture even under a shepherd you wouldn't have chosen.

Personal application

1. In which field, which job, which "nation" has God placed you, and who are you currently forming there?
2. Are you teachable? Name one specific decision in your church life that you struggle to accept because it doesn't follow your logic.
3. Do you spend time searching the Scriptures yourself, or do you rely on instant summaries that rob you of the effort of digging?
4. Are you ready to work in secret for a year, two years, three years, with no public exposure? What in you resists that silence?
5. Who is that "shepherd after God's own heart" you need to honor today, even if you didn't choose his standing, his age, or his style?

Scriptures cited

• Matthew 28:18-20 · the great commission
• Matthew 4:18-20 · the calling of Peter and Andrew
• Matthew 11:28 · "Come to me"
• Matthew 3:8 · "produce fruit in keeping with repentance"
• Genesis 1:26-28 · creation, blessing, dominion
• Genesis 45:5 · Joseph reinterprets his story
• Romans 12:1-2 · offering yourself as a living sacrifice
• 1 Peter 5:6 · "at the proper time"
• 1 Chronicles 22:5 · David made abundant preparations
• Acts 9 · the conversion and formation of Paul

FAQ

Why talk about "shining through formation" instead of jumping straight into ministry?

Because the Bible consistently links future impact to present formation. David was anointed at 17 but formed for thirteen years before reaching the throne. Exposure without formation exposes your ignorance; a poorly prepared opportunity may never come around again. Shining in a lasting way requires a hidden season first.

How do I know if I'm truly engaged in a discipleship process?

Three signs: you're teachable even when the instruction doesn't match your logic, you're willing to work in secret without seeking immediate exposure, and you accept being formed by a shepherd you didn't choose. If these three marks are missing, you may still be part of the crowd rather than among the disciples.

What should I do when formation doesn't go the way I want?

It's often the most reliable sign that God is truly forming you. Joseph didn't choose being sold to traders, Paul didn't choose Ananias as his instructor, Peter didn't choose the vision of unclean animals. How you respond to these frustrations qualifies or disqualifies you for what comes next. Stay, listen, obey, and trust a plan you can't yet see.