Post by LDM on Sept 7, 2010 7:39:50 GMT -5
Ever thought about how to disciple others in the faith? I happen to agree with this individual's assessment in that it means much more than casual meetings. This is certainly how I came to the faith. My pastor and his wife opened up their home to me...indeed they opened their lives to me. The literally took me in as part of their family and it is through this fellowship and the example they provided that I became a disciple of Jesus Christ.
We must keep our lives on the altar as sacrifices so that God can use them to reach others. The best pattern for discipleship is the example of our lives as it is shared with others.
www.illuminate-us.com/#/latest-note-to-the-church
I hope this message finds you doing well. For the last several weeks, I have been traveling the U.S. on an incredible coast to coast journey from Florida, to North Carolina, and then across the country to California where I stayed for the remainder of my time before driving home. There were several reasons that I embarked on this trip, but the main reason was to hear from the Lord. For me, getting in the car and on the road is a recipe for personal revival and is also a sure way for me to hear the clear and direct voice of God. He certainly knows how to speak our language! I have been sensing a need to hear from Him recently for clarity and direction regarding the ministry that I direct, and also for a renewed hearing of what the Spirit is saying to the American church as well. (In case you are wondering, the Spirit does speak very specific things to the church today as this principle is a very Biblical concept)
As I return from this trip, I can tell you with great joy that both goals for this trip have been accomplished! I feel that I have been blindsided on this trip because the Lord opened my eyes to a ‘blind spot’ in my life that I never knew existed. What I’m going to discuss with you may be a bit challenging. This article may take a little more time for you to read than normal, but I would strongly urge you not to ignore what I am about to share with you. Please do not put this article off in a ‘to be read’ file. Let me encourage you to take just a few minutes to digest and ponder what I am about to share with you here. I am not overstating when I say that your whole life and ministry may begin to shift as a result of what you are about to read. I do not say that in an arrogant way, I simply am confident that what I am going to share with you in this article is exactly what the Lord has put on my heart to share. Some of you will be glad that you took a few minutes to digest this.
Very soon after my trip began, I was blindsided with this re-occurring thought:
“JESUS STARTED THE ONLY CHURCH THAT EXISTS, AND THAT IS WHY HE NEVER ASKED HIS FOLLOWERS TO BE THE HEAD OF THEIR OWN CHURCHES. JESUS DID COMMAND HIS FOLLOWERS TO MAKE DISCIPLES HOWEVER. THIS IS THE ESSENSE OF THE GREATEST COMMAND THAT JESUS GAVE TO HIS DISCIPLES AFTER HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD IN MATTHEW 28:18-20. HE HAS EXPECTED ME, AS A PASTOR & CHURCH LEADER, TO DEMONSTRATE THIS BY EXAMPLE. WE HAVE NOT DONE THIS BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN PREOCCUPIED BUILDING INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS, SOMETHING HE HAS NOT COMMANDED PASTORS & CHURCH LEADERS TO DO.”
To be a Christian is to live like Jesus. He is our model. The essence of His command to us is all about making disciples. Simply put, this is the essence of the Christian life. It is impossible to live the Christian life, and not do the central thing that Jesus commanded us to do. On this trip, the Lord opened my eyes to the fact that I have spent most of my life as a Christian not living like a Christian! My blind spot is that I gave lip service to the concept of discipleship, but never truly understood it. My good friend and fellow illuminate board member, Ken Dillman, has been harping on this for a long time, but I never knew that I never knew what he was truly saying until I took this trip. God was bringing back Ken’s words to me in a whole new way.
Coming away from this trip I am convinced, now more than ever, that a significant part of reforming and purifying the bride of Christ (the church) will be because there will be a reformation of our understanding regarding the nature and function of discipleship. As a graduate of a Christian university with a ministry -theological degree (and as a former pastor of an institutional church) I speak with experience when I say that the western institutional church has no concept, and therefore largely no experience, regarding what it means to truly make disciples as Jesus commanded us to. This problem is rampant in every branch of the church from the conservative evangelical stream to the charismatic stream of the church. I have seen it everywhere. Simply put, our misunderstanding of discipleship is an institutional problem, and it is a big one at that!
Personally speaking, in the past I was too busy building and trying to maintain control of an institution or ministry to adequately understand and pursue what Jesus truly meant by discipleship and His command to make disciples. It is not enough to just give lip service to this concept of discipleship, and then spend the bulk of our time doing something else in the name of ministry. Making disciples is something that I am commanded to do and I must take it seriously. I am convinced that this ‘blind spot’ in my life is not only a problem in my life, but is a problem with most pastors and church leaders as well.
So, are pastors and church leaders the only ones tasked with making disciples?
No! This is a command that Jesus gave to all those who would follow in His footsteps and emulate His life. Hence, this is a command given to all Christians. While pastors and church leaders are not the only ones given this command, they should certainly be the first ones demonstrating what this command could and should look like by their lifestyles, not just words. The best form of communication is demonstration, not just information. This is where most of us have fallen short. Preaching exegetically verse by verse from the Bible means nothing if it is not demonstrated! I am afraid that in our attempt to lead and perform within the institution, many of us have missed out on actually living the Christian life.
Because many of us have been indoctrinated by an institutional mindset, there is a tendency to look at our faith, the scriptures, the church, and Jesus’ commands to us from an institutional vantage point. I believe this is a major reason why we have had a wrong definition of discipleship. Jesus said when a disciple is fully trained; he will be like his master. Not only does Jesus want us to be His disciples (be like Jesus), He has commanded us to make other disciples by teaching others about Himself and His commands (Matthew 28-18-20). We need a picture of what this could look like in our context however. Before I give you a non-institutional picture of discipleship, (which we badly need), I must share with you some things that discipleship is certainly NOT.
Please click link to read the rest of the article.
We must keep our lives on the altar as sacrifices so that God can use them to reach others. The best pattern for discipleship is the example of our lives as it is shared with others.
www.illuminate-us.com/#/latest-note-to-the-church
I hope this message finds you doing well. For the last several weeks, I have been traveling the U.S. on an incredible coast to coast journey from Florida, to North Carolina, and then across the country to California where I stayed for the remainder of my time before driving home. There were several reasons that I embarked on this trip, but the main reason was to hear from the Lord. For me, getting in the car and on the road is a recipe for personal revival and is also a sure way for me to hear the clear and direct voice of God. He certainly knows how to speak our language! I have been sensing a need to hear from Him recently for clarity and direction regarding the ministry that I direct, and also for a renewed hearing of what the Spirit is saying to the American church as well. (In case you are wondering, the Spirit does speak very specific things to the church today as this principle is a very Biblical concept)
As I return from this trip, I can tell you with great joy that both goals for this trip have been accomplished! I feel that I have been blindsided on this trip because the Lord opened my eyes to a ‘blind spot’ in my life that I never knew existed. What I’m going to discuss with you may be a bit challenging. This article may take a little more time for you to read than normal, but I would strongly urge you not to ignore what I am about to share with you. Please do not put this article off in a ‘to be read’ file. Let me encourage you to take just a few minutes to digest and ponder what I am about to share with you here. I am not overstating when I say that your whole life and ministry may begin to shift as a result of what you are about to read. I do not say that in an arrogant way, I simply am confident that what I am going to share with you in this article is exactly what the Lord has put on my heart to share. Some of you will be glad that you took a few minutes to digest this.
Very soon after my trip began, I was blindsided with this re-occurring thought:
“JESUS STARTED THE ONLY CHURCH THAT EXISTS, AND THAT IS WHY HE NEVER ASKED HIS FOLLOWERS TO BE THE HEAD OF THEIR OWN CHURCHES. JESUS DID COMMAND HIS FOLLOWERS TO MAKE DISCIPLES HOWEVER. THIS IS THE ESSENSE OF THE GREATEST COMMAND THAT JESUS GAVE TO HIS DISCIPLES AFTER HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD IN MATTHEW 28:18-20. HE HAS EXPECTED ME, AS A PASTOR & CHURCH LEADER, TO DEMONSTRATE THIS BY EXAMPLE. WE HAVE NOT DONE THIS BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN PREOCCUPIED BUILDING INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS, SOMETHING HE HAS NOT COMMANDED PASTORS & CHURCH LEADERS TO DO.”
To be a Christian is to live like Jesus. He is our model. The essence of His command to us is all about making disciples. Simply put, this is the essence of the Christian life. It is impossible to live the Christian life, and not do the central thing that Jesus commanded us to do. On this trip, the Lord opened my eyes to the fact that I have spent most of my life as a Christian not living like a Christian! My blind spot is that I gave lip service to the concept of discipleship, but never truly understood it. My good friend and fellow illuminate board member, Ken Dillman, has been harping on this for a long time, but I never knew that I never knew what he was truly saying until I took this trip. God was bringing back Ken’s words to me in a whole new way.
Coming away from this trip I am convinced, now more than ever, that a significant part of reforming and purifying the bride of Christ (the church) will be because there will be a reformation of our understanding regarding the nature and function of discipleship. As a graduate of a Christian university with a ministry -theological degree (and as a former pastor of an institutional church) I speak with experience when I say that the western institutional church has no concept, and therefore largely no experience, regarding what it means to truly make disciples as Jesus commanded us to. This problem is rampant in every branch of the church from the conservative evangelical stream to the charismatic stream of the church. I have seen it everywhere. Simply put, our misunderstanding of discipleship is an institutional problem, and it is a big one at that!
Personally speaking, in the past I was too busy building and trying to maintain control of an institution or ministry to adequately understand and pursue what Jesus truly meant by discipleship and His command to make disciples. It is not enough to just give lip service to this concept of discipleship, and then spend the bulk of our time doing something else in the name of ministry. Making disciples is something that I am commanded to do and I must take it seriously. I am convinced that this ‘blind spot’ in my life is not only a problem in my life, but is a problem with most pastors and church leaders as well.
So, are pastors and church leaders the only ones tasked with making disciples?
No! This is a command that Jesus gave to all those who would follow in His footsteps and emulate His life. Hence, this is a command given to all Christians. While pastors and church leaders are not the only ones given this command, they should certainly be the first ones demonstrating what this command could and should look like by their lifestyles, not just words. The best form of communication is demonstration, not just information. This is where most of us have fallen short. Preaching exegetically verse by verse from the Bible means nothing if it is not demonstrated! I am afraid that in our attempt to lead and perform within the institution, many of us have missed out on actually living the Christian life.
Because many of us have been indoctrinated by an institutional mindset, there is a tendency to look at our faith, the scriptures, the church, and Jesus’ commands to us from an institutional vantage point. I believe this is a major reason why we have had a wrong definition of discipleship. Jesus said when a disciple is fully trained; he will be like his master. Not only does Jesus want us to be His disciples (be like Jesus), He has commanded us to make other disciples by teaching others about Himself and His commands (Matthew 28-18-20). We need a picture of what this could look like in our context however. Before I give you a non-institutional picture of discipleship, (which we badly need), I must share with you some things that discipleship is certainly NOT.
Please click link to read the rest of the article.