Discipleship
- March 12th, 2008
- Posted in Church
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“Take a moment to examine your life. Is there one person walking with God today and investing in others the fullness of life he has in Christ as a result of your ministry? One man? One woman? If not, you have been unfruitful.
“Perhaps you faithfully attend church, sing in the choir, usher, sponsor a youth group or serve as an elder, deacon, or even a pastor. You might witness every day or teach group Bible studies. These are commendable activities but they fall short of fulfilling your high calling to make disciples.
“Activity is no substitute for obedience; busyness cannot replace reproduction. One functioning disciple is more valuable in building the Church than a host of carnal believers. Resist the temptation to be so active in “Christian work” that you neglect the business of the Kingdom. Reevalueate your priorities in light of Christ’s commission to make disciples.”
– Dr. Keith Phillips, The Making of a Disciple
So where does one go when he reads that list of activities and realizes it consumes him, yet bears no fruit? Is it possible that “church” as we know it is really just a trap to keep us from the Kingdom and from obeying Christ in His call to discipleship? How does one exchange the unfruitful for the fruitful without abandoning the church model altogether?
Having read this posting a few days ago I have had some time to think about this. At first I wanted to write it off to “The tale of a teacher’s life.” Anyone who has taught knows that sometimes there feels like there is little reward, however being a teacher is a very important roll in God’s Church. Not only teaching someone something new, but reminding mature believers what they may have forgotten.
I also wanted to fall on the other side of the fence and agree totally with your second paragraph. As a philosophy of ministry I believe that being involved in someones life more than just on Sundays is the best way to help them see, experience, and start to apply the truths of God. This type of interaction is necessary for deep spiritual growth to take place. Jesus did it with the disciples and Paul was a student of the Apostles after his conversion. None of the faithful became that way but sitting there during the sermon on the mount and then walking away until next time. They were the people who on Sunday laid palm branches on the ground for the entrance of the Messiah and then 5 days later cried for him to be crucified.
However this Sunday, while in my own SS class where we are studying through the book of Revelation — using RBP material I may add :)– I was again reminded of the Church of Ephesus in Chapter 2. They did all the right things, kept sound doctrine and did the work of the Church. However they were missing one thing. Their first love, Jesus Christ. While going throughout their daily lives their activities became more about Morality or Growing The Church or Reading The Bible rather than about Jesus Christ. So maybe the question to ask ourselves is “Why am I doing what I am doing?” and then be open to the direction this question will take you. This also may not be a bad question to ask your class. Why do you care to come and hear me teach? Why do you believe in Sunday School? Why do you want to hear the Word of God?
A love for Christ is empty with being faithful to his word, however being faithful to his word is empty without a love for our Savior.
One more thought…I heard a great quote yesterday and thought of this subject. It went something like this. Becoming stagnant occurs when the focus is all inwards.
The speaker then went on and said that the way to fix it is to start to serve outside your group. Maybe the lack or reproduction happens because of stagnation because we all know that reproducing has to result in the person you discipled reproducing themselves as well and a lack of focus to do that (ie. stagnation) halts the discipleship process. Maybe opening ourselves to others needs (and encouraging other to as well) begins to exchange our unfruitful activities for fruitful ones like Dr. Phillips talks about.