Every activity of the church must be rooted in God's inspired Word, the Bible. Without it we have no content to share. Yes, we may have illustrations and applications that build upon or supplement our teaching and learning, but every idea, every doctrine, and every act of obedience must be a direct result of an encounter with the risen Christ through the Holy Spirit and His Word. God will never lead us to do anything against His Word, therefore it is a sure foundation on which to stand.
Having a high view of Scripture is absolutely essential in the discipleship process. Discipleship minus the Word of God is simply mentoring, and mentoring in itself will never change hearts and sanctify souls.
It is for this reason that every time we meet with those whom we are discipling or being discipled by we must open His Word.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
I just wanted to share link to Eric Geiger's blog that someone shared with me a couple of days ago.
It's brief and A MUST READ!
http://ericgeiger.com/2012/05/the-bottom-line-of-church-ministry.php
It's brief and A MUST READ!
http://ericgeiger.com/2012/05/the-bottom-line-of-church-ministry.php
Friday, May 18, 2012
The process of holiness
I was going to let Andy continue his 7 parts of discipleship, but I am going out of town for the next week (please pray! more info here) so I wanted to get a word in before this inevitably blew up to be the next big internet craze.
Most of the definitions of "discipleship" floating around are some kind of working out of the phrase "Helping each other be better Christians." What I just put in quotes is terribly ambiguous and I hope everyone is helped by the attempts at clarifying and adding nuance, but I think that is about as simple as it gets. To get down to the root, I want to take a little bit of time to remind everyone that primarily we are all disciples of Jesus. A disciple is simply one who is taught and learns (and consequently obeys and follows). But the Great Commission is typically not stated as "Go and teach others" in the sense of "Now that I, Jesus, have discipled you twelve, go and make more disciples for yourself." Rather, the Great Commission says "Go and make disciples," that is, "Now that I have made you all followers of me, go and make people from all nations similarly followers of me."
Now, practically, what it means for us as disciples of Jesus to make similar disciples of Jesus is probably going to look a lot like we are making of disciples of ourselves: hopefully we are already doing 'independent' things that Jesus commanded us to do and hopefully in spending life together we are co-examples of how to follow after Jesus. But, just to stay at the bottom for a little bit, let's again remind ourselves of what it means to follow after Jesus. We are people that generally get right, at least in statement, that we are completely saved by God's free grace. So we should also be people that generally get right the great need for us to become holy and to be imitators of God as he has told us. In a word, if we are using my terribly short definition of discipleship, as we "help each other" let's see what it takes to be "better Christians," to grow in personal holiness.
I am pretty much the poster boy for failed discipleship efforts and have nothing good to say on my own, so I'm going to completely and utterly rip off the outline from a talk given by a pastor and writer named Kevin DeYoung at a recent conference. If you have an hour to spare you can go watch his full message and check it out for yourself. You won't read anything here he didn't say and explain more fully.
The process of holiness includes primarily four things (3 adjective-phrases and a noun): Spirit-powered, Gospel-driven, Faith-fueled Effort.
I. Spirit-powered. We are nothing without the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Thankfully, we do have the Spirit, the same Spirit in fact which raised Christ Jesus from the dead. Jesus literally took on the weight of the entire world's sin, past and future, yours and mine, and died. The power that rose him was directly the Holy Spirit, and now the Holy Spirit lives with us! Now, it is commanded to us, for the sake of our lives, that the Spirit put to death what is sin within us. Romans 8:10-13
II. Gospel-driven. In Romans 12:1, Paul urges us on to give up our lives and present our bodies, all "by the mercies of God." We have been given everything by God, when we deserved nothing. In fact, we deserved death and punishment, but God in his abundant grace and mercy provided his own son as a sacrifice that we might live. We do not face God's wrath and we also do not face the crushing toil of this world, but there is "Now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," so let us live for God with all we have.
III. Faith-fueled. Here we make a slight distinction between how we are justified and how we are sanctified. Typically we talk about our 'justification' being the moment we become a Christian, the point in time where God pronounces us righteous, when the forgiveness of Christ that was worked on the cross becomes active in our lives. Our sanctification then is the lifelong process of 'working that out,' our gradual development in becoming holy. In Ephesians 2:8, we are saved "through faith," and it is only through this faith being active, a real trust in what God has granted, that we are then able to walk in the good works that God created us to do.
IV. Effort. 2 Peter 1:4-5 tells us that God has given us all power and even his own divine nature to escape the corruption of the world, and for that reason we make effort to build on top of our faith in God a list of Christian attributes ranging from virtue to love. And by verse 8 it is promised by doing these things, by working in the power of the Spirit, we will be fruitful!
"For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins." 2 Peter 1:8-9
Most of the definitions of "discipleship" floating around are some kind of working out of the phrase "Helping each other be better Christians." What I just put in quotes is terribly ambiguous and I hope everyone is helped by the attempts at clarifying and adding nuance, but I think that is about as simple as it gets. To get down to the root, I want to take a little bit of time to remind everyone that primarily we are all disciples of Jesus. A disciple is simply one who is taught and learns (and consequently obeys and follows). But the Great Commission is typically not stated as "Go and teach others" in the sense of "Now that I, Jesus, have discipled you twelve, go and make more disciples for yourself." Rather, the Great Commission says "Go and make disciples," that is, "Now that I have made you all followers of me, go and make people from all nations similarly followers of me."
Now, practically, what it means for us as disciples of Jesus to make similar disciples of Jesus is probably going to look a lot like we are making of disciples of ourselves: hopefully we are already doing 'independent' things that Jesus commanded us to do and hopefully in spending life together we are co-examples of how to follow after Jesus. But, just to stay at the bottom for a little bit, let's again remind ourselves of what it means to follow after Jesus. We are people that generally get right, at least in statement, that we are completely saved by God's free grace. So we should also be people that generally get right the great need for us to become holy and to be imitators of God as he has told us. In a word, if we are using my terribly short definition of discipleship, as we "help each other" let's see what it takes to be "better Christians," to grow in personal holiness.
I am pretty much the poster boy for failed discipleship efforts and have nothing good to say on my own, so I'm going to completely and utterly rip off the outline from a talk given by a pastor and writer named Kevin DeYoung at a recent conference. If you have an hour to spare you can go watch his full message and check it out for yourself. You won't read anything here he didn't say and explain more fully.
The process of holiness includes primarily four things (3 adjective-phrases and a noun): Spirit-powered, Gospel-driven, Faith-fueled Effort.
I. Spirit-powered. We are nothing without the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Thankfully, we do have the Spirit, the same Spirit in fact which raised Christ Jesus from the dead. Jesus literally took on the weight of the entire world's sin, past and future, yours and mine, and died. The power that rose him was directly the Holy Spirit, and now the Holy Spirit lives with us! Now, it is commanded to us, for the sake of our lives, that the Spirit put to death what is sin within us. Romans 8:10-13
II. Gospel-driven. In Romans 12:1, Paul urges us on to give up our lives and present our bodies, all "by the mercies of God." We have been given everything by God, when we deserved nothing. In fact, we deserved death and punishment, but God in his abundant grace and mercy provided his own son as a sacrifice that we might live. We do not face God's wrath and we also do not face the crushing toil of this world, but there is "Now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," so let us live for God with all we have.
III. Faith-fueled. Here we make a slight distinction between how we are justified and how we are sanctified. Typically we talk about our 'justification' being the moment we become a Christian, the point in time where God pronounces us righteous, when the forgiveness of Christ that was worked on the cross becomes active in our lives. Our sanctification then is the lifelong process of 'working that out,' our gradual development in becoming holy. In Ephesians 2:8, we are saved "through faith," and it is only through this faith being active, a real trust in what God has granted, that we are then able to walk in the good works that God created us to do.
IV. Effort. 2 Peter 1:4-5 tells us that God has given us all power and even his own divine nature to escape the corruption of the world, and for that reason we make effort to build on top of our faith in God a list of Christian attributes ranging from virtue to love. And by verse 8 it is promised by doing these things, by working in the power of the Spirit, we will be fruitful!
"For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins." 2 Peter 1:8-9
7commitments: PRAYER
"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees."
-Corrie ten Boom
-Corrie ten Boom
It may seem obvious, but discipleship without prayer is like a car without gasoline. Prayer is the fuel for our spiritual growth. Christ and His story (the Bible) are the foundation and the source material for discipleship, but prayer provides a connection with the Living God. As most believers know, there are few things in our walk with the Lord that build faith more than answered prayer.
Commit to pray with those you're discipling. This is not simply a transitional element to begin or end your intentional time together. It is not merely a quick blessing or a cry for help in times of need. Prayer is all of those things, but it also so much more. Prayer offers an opportunity for believers to commune together with God. Let that last statement sink in. We can commune with almighty God! There is no need for mediators because Christ is our one Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5).
It's also of the utmost importance that we recognize the power of the Holy Spirit in the discipleship process. He is actively involved in our prayer times. He can guide us in how to pray. He can give words when we don't know what to say. He can even speak things that words can't communicate. The atoning work of Christ tells us why we are able to pray, and the Holy Spirit shows us how to pray.
I would challenge you to make prayer a significant part of the discipleship process. Pray for your discipler/disciplee each day, whether you communicate with them or not. Start and close each intentional meeting with prayer, and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading in opportunities to stop during your time together and pray.
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." -Js. 5:16
Thursday, May 17, 2012
7commitments: TIME
"If someone asked you WHO you are discipling, could you give them a name? At least one name?"
After answering the question "WHO?" comes the inevitable "WHAT?"
So what? Now what do I do? The Holy Spirit and circumstances have intersected my life with someone that I think could learn from me as I learn from Christ. How do I make it happen?
Our first commitment is TIME.
Discipleship doesn't happen on accident. It takes being intentional, and it takes effort. So, commit together with the one (or those) you are discipling to meet consistently. For some, this may mean weekly. Other might only be able to commit to twice-per-month, but no matter your particular availability, express you intentions and follow through.
I try to meet weekly with those I'm discipling and being discipled by. It has also been helpful to have consistency in WHEN we meet (e.g. Thursday 9 AM for coffee, Wednesday nights at 7 PM).
Outside of your committed, intentional time, it's important to live life together. Whenever you get the chance to do the normal activities of life WITH those you're discipling, this is gold! As the old saying goes, "More is caught than taught." If they see you living out abiding in Christ and walking in the Spirit, they'll learn more than 100 hours of theoretical conversation.
After answering the question "WHO?" comes the inevitable "WHAT?"
So what? Now what do I do? The Holy Spirit and circumstances have intersected my life with someone that I think could learn from me as I learn from Christ. How do I make it happen?
Our first commitment is TIME.
Discipleship doesn't happen on accident. It takes being intentional, and it takes effort. So, commit together with the one (or those) you are discipling to meet consistently. For some, this may mean weekly. Other might only be able to commit to twice-per-month, but no matter your particular availability, express you intentions and follow through.
I try to meet weekly with those I'm discipling and being discipled by. It has also been helpful to have consistency in WHEN we meet (e.g. Thursday 9 AM for coffee, Wednesday nights at 7 PM).
Outside of your committed, intentional time, it's important to live life together. Whenever you get the chance to do the normal activities of life WITH those you're discipling, this is gold! As the old saying goes, "More is caught than taught." If they see you living out abiding in Christ and walking in the Spirit, they'll learn more than 100 hours of theoretical conversation.
7commitments of discipleship
As I mentioned before, discipleship certainly can mean a lot of things. But as I thought about what's in Scripture, what's not, what's seemed to work in the past, and what I hope will work in the future, I narrowed the Practice of Discipleship down to 7commitments: time, prayer, reading, memorizing, sacrificing, transparency, and gospel.
These 7commitments constituted those things which discipler and disciplee simply must covenant together to accomplish each time they meet. I want to briefly explore each one in the following posts.
These 7commitments constituted those things which discipler and disciplee simply must covenant together to accomplish each time they meet. I want to briefly explore each one in the following posts.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
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