Can’t we let someone else think about discipleship for us?
Gavin at “Simple Church Alliance” has written a very good post called “What is a Disciple and How Do We Make Them?”
He focuses on the two questions in the title of his post: 1) What is a disciple? 2) How does someone make a disciple?
Obviously, Gavin is not saying that we are supposed to create disciples. Only God can do that through his Holy Spirit. However, we do see examples and instructions in Scripture that indicate that we should be able the business of helping one another grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
But, what does this mean? Isn’t that what the church is for? I mean, don’t we have leaders (pastors, elders, bishops, teachers, etc.) to take care of making disciples so the rest of us can go on about our normal lives?
Gavin says:
It is surprising to me how long I was able to go on as a Christian without ever really taking time to address these two important questions. For most of my life walking with Jesus, I’ve ended up doing a bunch of spiritual stuff (meetings, programs, etc) with the hope that some of it sticks on the wall of discipleship. I do believe that, despite me, God has probably used some of my frenzied activity to make disciples. As of late, however, I have been under the conviction to allow the answers I find in Scripture about the Great Commission (What is a disciple and how am I supposed to make them?) to dictate my time and activities.
Ah, yes. Filling our lives with “spiritual stuff”… I’ve been there, done that, and I have the embroidered polo shirt to prove it. In fact, if I’m not careful, I can easily wander into that way of life again.
While Gavin doesn’t answer the two questions that he asks in this post, he does promise to do so in later posts.
So, I’ll post those questions to you: 1) What is a disciple? 2) How does one go about discipling others?
Apostles, Church Gatherings, and the Great Commission
Okay, so this is not a post about hose apostles relate to either church gatherings or the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Instead, I want to point out three very good posts on the three topics in the title: apostles, church gatherings, and the great commission.
First, Josh at “Called to Rebuild” talks about the different apostles found in Scripture in his post “What is an apostle?”
Second, Craig at “New Covenant Bible Fellowship of Las Vegas” asks and answers the question “Why Does the Church Meet?”
Finally, Christopher at “A New Testament Student” writes a post called “Observance: Matthew 28:20,” starting a series on the commands of Jesus in the Gospels.
These are all great posts, and I would encourage you to read them. I’m glad that I continually find more and more people writing about (and living) the examples and instructions concerning church that we find in the New Testament.
When the Gospel is not the Gospel
There is alot of discussion these days about the gospel – the good news. A few books have been written lately which seek to help explain what is and what is not included in “the gospel.” There have been blog posts and articles written about the gospel.
But could we still be missing “the gospel” for the most part? One blogger thinks so…
Arthur at “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia” writes about this in his post “Are We Too Gospel Focused?” While he admits that this is a strange question to ask, Arthur explains what he means:
One can spend a lifetime reading about theology, digging deep into the ordo salutis, studying the great thinkers and preachers and writers of the church and miss the significance of the Gospel. It is spiritually unhealthy to spend all of our time talking about, thinking about and reading about the Gospel while not actually living as the Gospel commands us. We end up with spiritual bodies that have giant brains and bodies withered away from atrophy.
Think about that: Facts about Jesus Christ or about the gospel (even true facts) are NOT the gospel.
Or, as Arthur emphasizes later in his post, “We can get so caught up in studying the Gospel that we forget to live out the Gospel.”
I like the way that Paul put it when he wrote a letter to the believers in Colossae: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6 ESV)
Apparently, “walking in Christ” was part of the gospel that Paul (and others) taught. I say “and others” because Paul had never been to Colossae. But he knew the gospel that Epaphras had brought to them.
This is something that I’ve been thinking about alot lately.
As you proclaim and teach the gospel, how are you including this “active” part of the gospel? How are you helping people understand that the gospel is not a set of facts, but a new way of life?
We just got a letter
No, this is not an episode of Blue’s Clues… and only those with young children during the last 10 years or so will understand that reference…
Instead, this is about a post written by Josh over at “Reconstructing the First Century Story.” His post is called “Knowing the historical context of the NT.”
In the post, Josh reminds us what it would have been like to receive one of Paul’s letters in the first century. That’s right… the New Testament was not a collection at first. Instead, individual “books” within the New Testament were sent to different groups or individuals scattered around the Roman empire.
What would it have been like to receive one of those letters? Josh writes:
Imagine yourself as a brother or sister in one of the churches of Galatia during the summer of A.D. 50. Everyone is abuzz, for you’ve just received a letter from Paul in Antioch. Rumor has it this letter is no holds barred. They’re saying that it has to do with the men who have come into the assembly of late who are teaching things that contradict the message Paul brought you when he and Barnabas were here.
When you first received this letter you heard it read aloud in the assembly. You may or may not be able to read yourself, so maybe all you ever did was hear it read to you. Eventually, copies of this historic letter were made. Some leading brothers in the church intended to spread its liberating message to all the saints in other cities and regions. These were words that everyone had to hear.
The point is, when you read the letter you read it as just that, a letter. It was not a “book” to you. It was not divided into chapter and verse. Nothing about it resembled a textbook, or a manual on “how to be free from the law and live the Christian life.” Never once was it suggested to you in any way that you had to dissect it, analyze it, and cross reference it with other of Paul’s letters in order to find the “key” to a victorious life. In fact, looking back on the first century from our present-day vantage point, such a thought is ridiculous.
You should definitely jump over to Josh’s post and read the rest.
But, for now, think about these questions: Is it possible to read the New Testament today more like those original recipients would have read it? What are the benefits or dangers of reading it in this way?
Replay: I will build my charitable organization
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “I will build my charitable organization.” The post was a response to another very good post that I had read.
I wrote this post to encourage people to think about what Jesus meant when he said, “I will build my church.” Did he have in mind the things that we think about when we think about “church”? Some would say, “Yes,” but many would say, “No.”
So, what did Jesus mean? What do we mean today?
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“I will build my charitable organization”
Bill at “The Thin Edge” has written a very good post called “So Which 501(c)3 do you Attend?” The article is fairly short:
A sprawling campus is being developed on a hundred acres at the edge of a large suburban area, near the front entrance of a popular housing development with prices “starting in the low $300,000” bracket according to a sign erected by the property development company. Everyone’s wondering about this beautifully landscaped campus with its winding driveway, small lake, and ultra-modern structure of concrete and glass toward the rear of the property: is it a medical clinic? a health club? an exclusive restaurant? an advertising agency? an animal hospital? a bank? Whoever it was, they obviously had deep pockets and seemed to be sparing no expense to impress their upscale neighbors next door.
Finally, a sign appeared that read, “Coming Soon! Mountain View Church. Offering fresh perspectives on the timeless principles of Jesus Christ!” A church? They must have spent a small fortune on their logo-really cool-portraying mountains, a rushing mountain stream, and a cross. In small print at the bottom, it gave a little more information: “Mountain View Church, Inc. is a 501(c)3 corporation and a member of the Green Valley Baptist Association and the Southern Baptist Convention.” Looking up their founding documents online (through the state department’s searchable database), one will discover, sure enough, they are a bona fide company with officers, trustees, and articles of incorporation.
So is this really a “church” or just another corporation with a cool logo and trendy name? How are we supposed to know the difference? Are we trying to cross-pollinate a living organism with an organizational chart and marketing plan? Is that even desirable? When Jesus declared, “I will build My church,” is this what He had in mind? Or did we misinterpret the statement as “We will build His 501(c)3 ministry organization?”
Bill brings out some good points, but I’d like to use his post to ask a few other questions.
When we decided that we would have multiple elders (pastors) and that we would not choose one of those to be a “senior pastor” or “head elder”, several people asked, “So, who will I say is my pastor?”
When we decided to meet in a rented space on Sunday and in homes during the week, some people asked, “So, where will I say my church is?”
When we decided that we would not focus on programs but on relationships, some people asked, “But how will I serve or how will I be discipled?”
When we decided that individuals will be responsible for giving to those in need instead of giving to the church so that the church could do everything, some people asked, “So, will we still get a tax deduction?”
These are all very important questions, and I’m not trying to belittle anyone who has asked those questions. However, I would like to suggest that the questions indicate that we’re not thinking biblically about the church. Instead, we’re thinking organizationally and programmatically about the church.
Jesus is building his church – which is, his assembly of people – a group of people. When we begin to think of the church as more than or different than a group of Jesus followers, then we are thinking less and less about the church as described by Scripture.
It may be pragmatic and efficient and logical to have a human leader, and a set of programs, and a specific meeting place, and tax-deductible status. But, these things do not define the church. We could argue the benefits or the detriments of having these things, but they would be outside the scope of defining what (or WHO) the church is.
Jesus said that he would build his church… not his charitable organization. We would do well to remember that Jesus cares about his church, not our organizations and programs.
The attractive gospel of Christ’s love in action
Dave Black is back home in the farmlands of southern Virginia after spending a few days at the seminary here in North Carolina. And, since he’s back home, he’s blogging. And, since he’s blogging, he’s challenging me (and others) to follow Jesus Christ “in word and deed” (to quote Paul, James, and John).
This time, Dave is talking about his New Testament class’s discussion of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Specifically, he wrote about the “descent-ascent” (down is up) motif found in Philippians 2:5-11 (and Philippians 2:1-4?).
This is what he said (on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 5:50 p.m.):
I obviously don’t have all the answers, but I am blown away by the patterns we find in this passage. When Jesus poured Himself out He founded a radical new community. He didn’t set up a new program but modeled a new way of living that showed us what the kingdom looks like. If you look at the early church you cannot help but be struck by the impact made by the Holy Spirit as He transformed the apostles and their followers into other-centered servants. Little wonder their churches had such an impact. Their mutual interaction showed Christian love in action, and there is nothing more attractive for the Gospel than that. Each year I have the privilege of traveling to countries where the church is truly salt in the midst of a disintegrating society, not (as in the U.S.) a pious subculture of conformity. Everything — every single thing! — we do should reflect Christ’s self-abnegating spirit.
In a nutshell, reading Philippians is downright dangerous. It can easily get you into trouble. You will no longer be able to depersonalize the poor or needy of this world or shift your responsibility for global evangelization onto someone else’s shoulders. Your lives will begin to shout the Gospel. And, as Phil. 2:5-11 shows, it’s definitely a story worth telling.
I keep being struck by the image of those early Christians, changed by the Holy Spirit and demonstrating the love of Christ in action to their family, friends, neighbors, strangers, foreigners, even their enemies. This “love in action” is what first attracted people to the gospel. This “love in action” was a demonstration that what these people were saying was true.
Our lives should be a demonstration that the gospel (we say) we believe in is, in fact, true.
Formal Education and Spiritual Maturity
Yesterday, Christopher at “A New Testament Student” published a very good post called “Education.” His post was a response and continuation of a post that I wrote three years ago called “Maturity and Education.”
Christopher is writing about a topic that is very important to me for several reasons. In his post, he says (among other things):
The idea of education in the Church is one that has often perplexed me. The apostles were fishermen, tax collectors, and were even called “uneducated men” (Acts 4:13). They were men filled with the Holy Spirit, walking in faith and trust in God. On the other hand, they did spend three years under Jesus teaching prior to his crucifixion and also received teaching during Christ’s short stay on earth after His resurrection. As with most ideas in our faith, it comes down to the heart.
How you approach Christian education makes all the difference. If you go into seminary or bible school with the intent to gain a degree just so you can pursue a career in ministry and keep that mentality throughout your studies, you will gain quite a bit of knowledge. However, that knowledge may not result in exponential growth in spiritual maturity. If you enter into seminary with the intent to seek the heart of God, the self discipline, amount of study, and time needed to complete any degree in Christian higher education will undoubtedly result in greater maturity upon graduation.
Because of my original post, I’m often accused of being against formal education. I don’t understand this accusation, especially since I currently have three degrees (one bachelors and two masters), and I’m working on a PhD. In fact, I would love to one day teach in a formal education environment. I am not opposed to formal education.
However, formal education is not the same thing as spiritual maturity. In fact, at times, formal education can be a detriment to spiritual maturity, especially if the studies hinder the student’s life in community with other believers and in serving others. (In the seminary context, I’ve heard some students state that going to school is their service for that time period. This is a dangerous attitude in relation to a person’s spiritual maturity.)
In relation to leaders among the church (that is, whose example do we follow?), we should consider spiritual maturity first. Some can be highly educated (even in the subjects of Bible, Christian theology, missions, ministry, etc.) and still be very immature when it comes to living a life that demonstrates the gospel of Jesus Christ. Having a formal education does not indicate that that person’s example should be followed.
Yes, formal education has its place. But, we must never confuse formal education with spiritual maturity.
We share in his sufferings, and he shares in ours
Josh at “Called to Rebuild” has written an excellent post called “In all our affliction He too is afflicted.” It’s a beautiful story and commentary on a father’s love for his child… both a human father and God our father.
He begins by telling us about a time he saw his son bang his head on a table. He describes how his son reached for the sore spot on his head, trying to decide whether or not to cry. Who can’t identify with this:
Immediately my heart leapt in his direction. It was all I could do to not cry myself. I quickly went over to him and rubbed his head, telling him to do the same whenever he bumped it like that and it would feel better. He smiled at me through his pain. It was such a heartwarming moment.
But, Josh doesn’t stop there. God used that incident to teach him a lesson about God himself:
Unexpectedly, I received a wonderful insight into the Lord in that same moment. It came like a flash as I felt my own heart’s reaction toward my son’s pain. I saw the heart of the Father towards humanity, so willing to rush out and embrace us in our pain.
Josh continues discussing this point from Scripture as well as from this experience.
But, think about that for a moment: As much as a human parent’s heart breaks over pain inflicted to a child, how much more does God’s heart break when one of his children are hurt?
I don’t know about you, but this is very comforting for me… even though my “afflictions” (the physical kind at least) are quite mild compared to the sufferings of many of my brothers and sisters around the world.
Building up the body of Christ… together
I love Philippians 2:1-4 and Ephesians 4:11-16. Both passages are so rich and challenging when it comes to our life together as children of God. So, I was excited to see that Bobby at “Deconstructing Neverland” referred to both passages in his post “I’m a dreamer.”
In his post, Bobby is encouraging believers to gather together in a way that allows the whole church to work together to help one another grow in maturity in Jesus Christ. God has equipped and gifted all of his children for this work, and it will not take place if only one or two are serving everyone else.
Bobby shares these thoughts concerning a discussion he and another brother had about Philippians 2:1-4:
In two hours of discussion we couldn’t move past these verses. We were locked in to sharing all the riches that are ours in Christ and how those riches empower us to follow Paul’s exhortation to the church in Phillipi. For the first time ever when reading this passage I could see God’s purpose in building the church very clearly. That purpose is for all of the redeemed to be built up into Christ. So we are to have the same mind, same passion, and with the same goal to build others up into Christ. Can you imagine how buff Christ’s body would be if every member had this mind and goal? We cannot even begin to imagine the impact God’s kingdom would have if every believer everywhere was devoted to building others up in Christ.
He asks, “Can you imagine how buff Christ’s body would be?” Isn’t that an awesome questions?
The entire post is excellent, and you definitely don’t want to miss the last paragraph. He makes a great distinction between “tweaking” existing programs/activities and the type of gatherings that he’s talking about. You can read my comment there as well.
By the way, Bobby, you may be a dreamer… but you’re not the only one.
In loving others we know love
Dave Black does not blog as much as he once did. Of course, at times like this when he’s in the middle of teaching at Southeastern, he’s on campus several days per week, and his “blogging platform” (if you can call something from the 1950’s a blogging platform) does not allow him to blog unless he’s at home.
But, when he does blog, his comments and thoughts are always compelling and challenging – academic and practical.
For example, last week, he said this (Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 8:50 p.m.):
Recently I was speaking with a friend who confessed to me that he felt lonely. This, despite the fact that he is happily married and has a family. (Yes, there is loneliness even when one is married, and even when one has children. How silly to think that another human being could ever satisfy our deepest need for companionship.) Referring to Phil. 2:5-11, I told him that I thought the answer to loneliness is love. It is not in our finding someone to love us, but in our finding in God someone who loves us perfectly. We then express our gratitude to Him by a happy and joyful pouring out of our lives in love to others, without expecting anything in return. Fortunately, I think my friend understood this. I’m glad he did, because I myself am still panting to catch up in my emotions to what I know to be true in my mind. In dying, we live. That’s the only way to experience true joy, writes Paul in Philippians. So let’s pour out God’s love on the undeserving, for this is the mind of Christ!
This seems backwards to our human intuition! If I understand what he is saying, then the way for us to “feel” the love of God is by expressing or demonstrating the love of God. Or, to put it another way, by dying to our self (and living for God and others), we find that we are truly living.
This reminds me of something that John wrote in his first letter:
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (i.e., does not love) his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:19-21 ESV)
By the way, when John writes about loving your brother or sister, he’s not talking about feelings or emotions; he’s talking about action! Don’t believe me? Check out 1 John 3:17-18.
Do you feel unloved? Then love others. Do you feel lonely? Then love others. Do you feel dissatisfied or unfulfilled? Then love others.
We know the love of God when we love others who do not deserve our love.