Can we trust God for growth?
As I mentioned previously, I am reading Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), edited by Robert Webber. One of the interesting things about this book is that it finally shows that there is no “Emerging Church” (as a monolithic organization or movement) and there is not a certain “Emerging Church” doctrine. Each of the five authors present their own view of God and Scripture.
Here is another quote from John Burke’s chapter “The Emerging Church and Incarnational Theology”:
Paul said, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Stop and ask yourself whether you really believe the words of Scripture you just read, that God alone makes people grow. That no amount of teaching, Bible study, classes, disciplines, or condemnation-engineering can change people. God alone changes people, and only when they are willing. If this is true, what implications does this have on the role of the church? Our job primarily is to create the right soil, the right culture, which helps people connect and stay connected to God. Does your theology and practice create the soil where people really change and grow?” (author’s emphasis)
Once again, I think that Burke has made a point that the church needs to consider. We cannot change people; only God can change people. We give “lip service” to this, but do we live as if we really believe it? Or, do we think that if we have a little better teaching, more professional classes, etc. that we can cause people to grow? This applies to evangelism and discipleship.
So, can we trust God for conversion? Can we trust him to bring our family and friends and neighbors into his new people, or do we think he still needs us?
Can we trust God for personal, spiritual growth – sanctification? Do we think we have to be a little better, do a little more, try a little harder? Do we have to change our hearts, our desires, our passions, our hopes, our attitudes?
Can we trust God to build his church? Or does he need us and our degrees and our programs and our methods?
Can we trust God for growth?
Discipleship and media distractions…
Dan Edelen at “Cerulean Sanctum” has encouraged and challenged me again in his post “Fumbling the Torch“. He recognizes a loss of discipleship since the blossoming of the entertainment industry:
Media stole the passed torch. It distracted those who came before us from their primary duty of ensuring the wisdom of the ages survived into the next generation. Whatever that wisdom may have been, that generation preferred the dull gray light of a cathode ray tube, or the voice of a box of transistors, to passing on the only things worth saving…
I look around today and can’t help but think it’s infinitely worse. Cruise the Godblogosphere long enough and it seems like everyone’s glued to a 50″ plasma display OR an iPod OR a PS3 OR the two dozen flicks at the multiplex OR some pointless Internet distraction. Meanwhile, the next generation’s holding out their hands, dying for what little got passed on to us.
As Dan points out, there is little to nothing that we can do about what has been passed to us. (And, I realize this is a generalization. There are great disciplers today.) The question is: Do we allow this trend to continue? Can we break out of the “entertain me” mode and seek to pour our lives into others?
Using your own fork…
Brian Mayfield wrote an aritcle for “Relevant” called “On Using Your Own Fork“. In this article, Brian reminds us that we should expect believers to seek God for themselves and to serve others themselves. Consider this snippet:
Most often, it seems that those who feel they are not “being fed†are the ones who have failed to feed anyone else. After all, Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist, washed His disciples feet and told them, “This is what it looks like to follow me.â€
We should not lead people to be dependent on us. (Also, see Dr. Black’s essay “Codependent No More!“)
(HT: Brad)
Disciple making 3: Paul and his disciples…
In the first two posts of this series (“Disciple making 1: The command” and “Disciple making 2: Pupils or Disciples“), I suggested that Jesus intended for his followers to make disciples, not pupils or students. According to a standard Greek lexicon (BDAG), the noun μαθητής (“disciple”, from the verb that is translated “make disciples” in Matt 28:19-20) means “one who is rather constantly associated with someone” instead of simply “one who engages in learning through instruction from another”. Jesus made disciples by both teaching and also spending time with people. Similarly, when Jesus sent out the twelve and the seventy, he expected them to spend time with people as well as teach them.
But what about Paul? Paul is the author of a major portion of the New Testament. How did Paul make disciples, and how did he expect others to make disciples? Does Paul’s method of making disciples align with Jesus’ method?
First, Paul was certainly interested in teaching truth to those around him. This should not be denied, nor should it be avoided. Teaching God’s truth was important to Paul, just as it was important to Jesus. But, did Paul stop with “teaching” as instruction, that is, a mental exercise of transferring information?
Here are a few scriptural passages to help us think through this question:
And when they [the elders from Ephesus] came to him [Paul], he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:18-21 ESV)
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9 ESV)
But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 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. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 ESV)
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra- which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. (2 Timothy 3:10-11 ESV)
When Paul carried out his “disciple making” task, he did so with both words (teaching) and conduct. He spent time with people. It seems that the Book of Acts describes Paul as staying in one city, with one group of believers, until the Spirit moved him on to another area, or until he was thrown out by angry citizens. But, Paul’s heart remained with the believers in each city, and he both returned to spend more time with them, and he wrote to them.
For Paul, disciple making included both teaching believers and “being rather constantly associated” with them. Did you notice how (almost seamlessly) Paul would mention teaching and conduct in the passages above? Both of these were necessary ingredients of disciple making for Paul. Paul would not attempt to make disciples apart from teaching the truth of the Gospel and the Scriptures. Similarly, Paul would not attempt to make disciples apart from living his life as an example before those disciples.
Discipleship includes instruction in the words of Jesus. But, it must not stop there. Otherwise, we are not making disciples, we are instructing students. We must spend time with people, sharing our lives with them, if we intend to make disciples as Jesus commanded, and as Paul both modeled. There is a time for “Bible study” but there must also be a time for “Bible living”.
(Addendum: Recently, my friend Lew at “The Pursuit” made a very insightful suggestion in the comments of his post “What is Discipling?” In this comment, Lew suggested that “teaching” is not the same as “lecturing”. Instead, “teaching” includes the “life-sharing” aspect.)
In the next article in this series, I am going to examine some further implications of disciple making.
Series:
1. Disciple making 1: The command…
2. Disciple making 2: Pupils or disciples…
3. Disciple making 3: Paul and his disciples…
4. Disciple making 4: Implications…
My daughter, the disciple…
(This post is for my two Valentines: my wife and my daughter.)
My daughter is only 9 years old, but she already loves being a young woman. Last Christmas, she asked for a bread making machine and a sewing machine. Now, my wife is a great wife, but she does not make fresh bread (well, she does now), nor does she sew. But, my daughter loves these things. She also loves to knit and make cards for people (she did learn this from my wife).
A couple of evenings ago, we had the privelege of hosting some new friends in our home. Two of them were a young couple, only married for a short time. My daughter latched onto the young wife. She was very gracious and kind to my daughter, listening to her stories and looking at everything my daughter brought her.
I loved this image! Here was my daughter, “sitting at the feet” of an “older woman”. Whether my daughter realized it or not, she was seeking discipleship. She was seeking the friendship of an older woman, someone who could teach her what it means to be a young woman and a wife. This is not something that we have discussed with our daughter. I believe that this is something that the Spirit of God normally works in the hearts of his children: a desire to grow and to be nurtured by a more mature saint; to learn to follow Jesus from someone who is a few steps farther down the road; to listen to the voice of wisdom that comes from Scripture and experience.
My daughter has also had the chance to “sit at the feet” of another young woman: Leah. You may have seen comments by Leah on my blog. She blogs at “Our Payneful Memories“. Besides spending time with my wife, Leah has also spends time with my daughter, even picking her up from our house and sharing her life as a new wife and mother.
I pray that God will provide our daughter with many, many more opportunities to learn from his saints. She is already learning from the best disciple-maker that I know: her mother. From her mother she has learned what it means to care about people more than schedules or agendas.
I thank God for disciple makers like my wife and Leah and the other young woman I mentioned earlier. I also thank God for the work he is doing in my daughter’s life through these godly women.
Has God birthed in your heart a desire to learn from one of his children who may be more mature than you? If so, then seek to grow with them by sharing their life with them. Has God surrounded you with people who are less mature? Then share your life with them and teach them how to follow God by example as well as by word.
What God is doing…
This is from Dave Black’s blog from 6:23 AM on Tuesday, February 23:
It’s a special joy for me to witness congregations in which something dynamic and exciting is happening. (A good example is Highland Christian Fellowship.) These churches are refocusing their priorities, especially on missions. Don’t be deceived into thinking that church renewal is primary organizational, or that devising new programs will bring about new life in the church. Church renewal happens when we get beyond the surfacy and superficial, when the external becomes internal, when what was secondary becomes firsthand. And what is firsthand? Read Matt. 28:18-20. Or Mark 16:15. God wants to make us radical, life-long disciples of Jesus, people who have met God at the core of their being and whose lives and priorities match His own. For such men and women, being the people of God means more than “going to church,” or “believing in Jesus,” or “being good.” It means becoming a part of what God is doing worldwide to bring man back into a vital relationship with Himself. They are “on mission” 24/7. This mission is both personal and social. It is always redemptive. And every Christian — young or old, educated or uneducated — is called into this ministry. I’m seeing this new set of priorities in more and more churches, and I’m glad for it. “Working for God” no longer means just contributing money to pay for salaries or teaching Sunday School or working with youth. It means giving our lives to God in behalf of the world He is seeking to redeem. It means that we join with Him in that work.
It seems that for Dr. Black, “dynamic and exciting” happenings within a group of believers naturally (supernaturally?) expresses itself as “becoming a part of what God is doing worldwide to bring man back into a vital relationship”. Are you seeing this in your community of faith? How can you continue to grow in your life with other believers and in your life in the lost world?
Pain and God’s Lovingkindness…
Have you ever thought about what God uses in your life to remind you that He is with you? Has God ever used pain to remind you of his lovingkindness? Well, God did just that for my friend, Renata, who blogs at “Nurturing Notes“. In a post called “Everlasting Lovingkindness“, she writes about how God used a painful finger to remind her of his faithfulness while she lives through a painful time in her life. Here is part of what she wrote:
Right now, because I am in the midst of such intense pain, it can be hard to ever imagine that it ever will end. So right after I asked God if the pain was ever going to stop, I bit my finger. It hurt much more and for much longer than I would have liked, but it did stop. I realized at that moment that God, in His lovingkindness, was telling me, “Renata, do not grow weary, this too shall pass. Put your hope in Me.â€
So, God used a “slight” pain in her life to remind her that he is faithful during the more difficult time. Has God ever used one event in your life to teach you something that you needed in a more difficult time?
Disciple making 2: Pupils or Disciples…
In my previous post on discipleship, “Disciple making 1: The Command“, I ended by making a distinction between the two possible definitions of the noun μαθητής (from Matt 28:19-20): “pupil” or “disciple”. The distinction is clear: a “pupil” engages in learning, while a “disciple” is constantly associated with someone. Which did Jesus intend for his followers to make? Were they to make “pupils” / “students” by filling them with information about Jesus? Or, were they to make “disciples” who would constantly associate themselves with someone? The only way to determine which definition Jesus had in mind is to study Jesus’ method of disciple making in context.
First, we should recognize that Jesus does expect people to learn. Even in the Great Commission passage, we see that one of the ways that we “make disciples” is by “teaching”. Jesus places much emphasis on knowing his words. So, teaching is important and necessary. But, can we say that Jesus expects his followers to make “pupils” because of this? I think the answer would be, “No.” Jesus does not stop at simply teaching and knowing his words. He continues beyond knowing.
Consider this passage:
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matt 7:24-27 ESV)
As Jesus says here, there is more to being a follower of Jesus than “knowing”, there is also the “doing”. “Knowing” requires being taught. “Doing” requires more. “Doing” requires a model.
So, when Jesus called a μαθητής, he did not call that person to simply learn. He called that person to follow Jesus as Jesus lived his life. He expected his “disciples” to learn from his words and to learn from his life. Thus, in Jesus’ use of the word, “disciple” includes being a “pupil”, but it does not stop there. Learning information is only one part of being a disciple. To state this another way, being a “disciple” includes being a “pupil” by defintion. However, this does not work the other way around. Being a “pupil” does not necessarily include being a “disciple”.
Jesus wanted his disciples to learn from him, but he also wanted them to be “rather constantly associated with” him (to use BDAG’s definition). Thus, he taught them and the crowds, then he would further explain things to his disciples, but he would not stop there. He walked with them and ate with them; or, more appropriately, they walked with him and ate with him. For Jesus, discipleship was more than an educational exercise; it was a life experience.
But, what did Jesus expect of his disciples? Did he expect them to do the same thing with his followers? I believe he did. And, one clue to this is found in Jesus’ instructions when he sent his disciples out in pairs (both the twelve and the seventy). He told them to find a house that would welcome them, and then to remain in that house (Matt 10:11; Mark 6:10; Luke 10:7). It would seem more effective (using modern pragmatics at least) for Jesus’ followers to spread their activities around to as many people as possible. But Jesus wanted them to focus on one family, one household. He wanted them to live as a part of that household while they were in a particular city. This is discipleship. When the disciples are being in “relatively constant association” with the members of one household, they were modeling what it means to be in “relatively constant assocation” with Jesus.
As I continue to study disciple making, I am going to examine how Paul made disciples, and how he encouraged others to make disciples.
Series:
1. Disciple making 1: The command…
2. Disciple making 2: Pupils or disciples…
3. Disciple making 3: Paul and his disciples…
4. Disciple making 4: Implications…
Jesus is Lord
History tells us that early Christians were occasionally called to stand trial. They were told that they would be released if they would simply say, “Caesar is Lord,” and burn incense to the Roman gods. If they refused, then they would be punished.
Consider these two portions of a letter sent from Pliny to Tacitus sometime around 96 AD:
In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have been brought before me as Christians is this: I asked them whether they were Christians; if they admitted it, I repeated the question twice, and threatened them with punishment; if they persisted, I ordered them to be at once punished…
An anonymous information was laid before me containing a charge against several persons, who upon examination denied they were Christians, or had ever been so. They repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered religious rites with wine and incense before your statue (which for that purpose I had ordered to be brought, together with those of the gods), and even reviled the name of Christ: whereas there is no forcing, it is said, those who are really Christians into any of these compliances: I thought it proper, therefore, to discharge them.
It seems the name of Jesus and submission to him as Lord carried more significance / implications for these early Christians than we typically see in America today. But, what about in other parts of the world?
Almost one year ago, Becky Lynn Black reported the story of a young Ethiopian believer who was shot in the head for speaking the words, “Jesus is Lord.”
Now, another missionary tells of two more young believers – modern day “Friends of Daniel” – who boldly and publicly confessed their faith in Jesus Christ, despite possible persecution.
But, these stories seem to highlight the differences between the persecuted church and the church in America. It does not cost us anything to say, “Jesus is Lord.” Have we forgotten what this phrase means? Has the lack of ramifications caused the phrase “Jesus is Lord” to become just another slogan or marketing gimmick?
So, I ask you, what does “Jesus is Lord” mean to you personally? What does “Jesus is Lord” mean corporately as you gather with other believers?
The Importance of Mentoring…
Dave Black’s latest essay is called “The Importance of Mentoring“. As you read through this essay, ask yourself this question: Who am I mentoring (discipling)? This is not the same as the question, “Who am I teaching?” Who are you sharing your life with on a “rather constant” basis? If you are not making disciples, when will you begin to obey Christ in this?