Friday, September 28, 2007

Discipling Worshippers of Jesus...

The Great Commission is all about "making disciples" of the nations. It is the point of the entire commission. Jesus then tells the Apostles (and us) how to go about making disciples: baptize them and teach them to obey everything that Jesus had commanded them. The process of becoming a disciple is the same as being a disciple: being baptized indicates a desire to be publicly identified with the Risen Jesus as the individual's Lord and Savior, while obedience is the "spiritual act of worship" in Romans 12:1. When a person is a disciple of someone (whether Jesus or not), they are one that learns from the teacher; they become an imitator of their teacher (DISCIPLE
mathetes NT:3101, from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

The very definition of the word "worship" (proskuneo in the Greek) calls for an act of reverence or homage to God OR to man. I like to define worship as "worth-ship", or what we decide is most important in our lives, that possession, thing or person is what we worship.

Since the definition of worship is what we deem as worthy in our lives, discipleship follows that definition. In the church today, being a disciple of Jesus can be defined as simply as only going to church in many instances. In order to be a true disciple of anyone, there has to be an indication of priority in an individual's life. As Dr. Michael Mitchell indicated in his "The Conditions of Discipleship", self-denial, renunciation, leaving all, steadfastness, fruitfulness and love are all indications of a disciple (Mitchell, 1-2). "Being a follower of Jesus Christ was an all-consuming obsession" (Barna, 21).

Christians worship so many things in their lives today: money, relationships, sex, possessions, sports...the list could go on. This worth-ship of worldly things also is a strong indicator of who or what we are a disciple of. We learn from everything that influences us, whether we realize it or not. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is NOT an easy thing to do. It takes a constant pursuit of the One who saved our souls and gave up His life for us. It DOES take sacrifice. I love what King David said in 1 Chron 21:24,
"No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing ." NIV A sacrifice was required to save us...a sacrifice is required to be a true disciple. I have a poster in my youth room that my students constantly see that states, "Dying for us was the most He could do. Living for Him is the least we can do." I believe that with all my heart. I'm not always the best at it, but it is what I strive for.

Christian Education...

Christian education must be centered around the person of Jesus Christ and the application of his teaching and life to the disciple. Christian education must have three people involved in the process: the Lord, the leader and the learner. The leader and the learner are a requirement of education and the Lord is a requirment for the Christian. We truly must learn more about our God. We can have a general knowledge of God through His creation (Romans 1), but in order to worship Him for who He truly is, we must learn of Him. This "education" must be centered around Christ.

In order for eduction to be productive, there must be a way of evaluating the learning process and the product that is being produced as a result of that education. We don't always like to do that in the church, but if our goal is to produce mature, worshipping believers in the Savior, we must be able to evaluate the process. The process is simply stated in our class notes: "Christian educaiton is...Christ-centered, Bible-based, life/expeience focused, family-oriented and others-related." This process also provides us with a way of evaluation.

Let's take a different look at Christian education (while we're here). The first thing that comes to the minds of most people when speaking of "Chrsitian Educaiton" is either a Christian school or Sunday School within the church. While these are both VERY valid forms of Christian education that can fully entail the "people, purposes, products and process" (class notes) that are required, the truest, most effective form of Christian education occurs in the home. This can impact the "who" that we focus on (especially for those of us that are in youth ministry).

Deut 6:6-9 states:
7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
NIV

We must help the family as a unit realize what God is saying here. We must EDUCATE our people on how to do the above. This is the education of discipleship.

We have problems in the church with our processes. We have problems with our purposes. Yes, we have problems with the product we produce from time to time. However, Christian education loses its focus when we forget the people. We MUST realize that our lives are about Christ...not just parts. EVERYONE involved in this process must be convinced of that. When we focus on the program (purposes, products and processes) and forget the people, it is so easy to lose the people.

Faith and Practice...

Experiences in life are the best educator when it comes to one's walk with God. I have taught junior high and high school students for around 10 years now, and the biggest learning opportunities have been when they put their faith into practice. Head knowledge can be gained in the "classroom" or as a person studies the Bible. Where a person puts their head knowledge into practice is when that knowledge becomes true wisdom. The Apostle Paul uses the illustration of the training athlete in order to speak of the Christian life. When an athlete is training, knowledge is a definite need. He/she needs a teacher that is able to communicate what will have to happen in order for the athlete to be successful. However, knowledge alone will not bring that athlete success. That knowledge must be applied to the training, the experience, in order for there to be life-change and success in the athletic endeavor. I truly believe that is part of what Paul is getting at. We cannot rely just upon knowledge without the ability to apply that knowledge to various situations in our lives. It is not knowledge that saves us...it is the belief in who Christ is, what He did for us on the cross and accepting what He did in our place. Belief itself is NOT just knowledge. When we truly believe something, our lives change. That equates to knowledge and experience. Christ said that people would know that we are his disciples by how we love each other. That is an experience that we have with each other. Experience can also teach us more about God. We must put our faith into practice.

Being an Example...



Paul makes a huge statement in Phil 4:9...whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me...put it into practice. Paul tells the Philippians to look at his life and do everything he does. As they follow his example, they will learn to follow Christ in all that they do. The ministry application from this verse is tremendous. I am a youth pastor and this has impacted and will continue to impact the ministry that God has given me. I believe that Paul would hold to the adage that a teacher cannot expect to take his pupils where he has not already been. The life of the teacher/pastor must be an example. However, this does not imply perfection...in fact, I believe it is far from it. Paul even stated in Romans that he found that the things that he should be doing were the things that he didn't do...and the things that he shouldn't be doing were the very things that he found himself doing! I wouldn't say that Paul was constantly living a life of sin, but he also wasn't perfect and he would be the first one to tell others that! I think that when Paul speaks of being an example to his pupils, he speaks of being a good and sometimes a bad example. Paul had to be real with the people that God entrusted to him. He recognized his weakness and had others around him. Paul's attitude was that of a man that sought to follow Christ in all that he did, but he did not present himself as perfect. When a pastor/leader presents himself as "above" his people, he loses almost all ability to impact anyone. Nobody can relate to a perfect person that everyone knows is imperfect. Realness is of utmost importance when ministering to real people.

Ministry Demands Proximity

The very definition of the word, "minister", requires that there be proximity between people. Dictionary.com describes the word "minister" as a descriptive noun and a verb. The minister can be a person that is a pastor or a member of the clergy and the verb form takes on the issue of proximity. One can only minister to someone if they are in their presence...in one way or another.

Mark 3:14, Acts 4:13 and I Thess. 1:5 all speak of the importance of proximity to those that you are ministering to. The reason that the disciples were able to learn so much from Jesus was because they SPENT TIME with Him. They were able to watch every aspect of Jesus' life and were then able to put those things into practice as Jesus taught. The church of Thessalonica had seen what God had done in and through Paul and the Apostles because they had spent time with the church. True ministry cannot be accomplished without personal involvement.

Churches would change if real ministry involving proximity was truly the goal. Churches would explode because the needs of the people around them would be met by the Savior of the Universe...THROUGH MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH! The problem is that we are too busy with our own lives. We don't have time for anyone else in our schedules. We don't understand what Jesus was teaching us. He met the needs of people by getting INVOLVED in their lives. He may have been involved for only a brief moment, but that moment changed that person's life forever...and constituted continued involvement! When we are willing to follow our Rabbi and become more like Him...learning what His love is all about...then we are able to truly minister. In order to make an impact in the world around us...we must GET IN THE GAME!!!

Image of God...Fallen Man

As I consider the fact that mankind is made in the image of God (as seen in the creation account in Genesis) and that we are fallen, that is, full of sin...I am drawn to what Paul had to say in Romans 7:7-25.

Sin has taken control of mankind. This is a direct result of the "first Adam" (Rom. 5:12-19). The Law was given to Israel in order to "define" what sin is and what God expects of His people. The Law did not save man, Christ did. We can recognize sin because of God's Word...we can be saved from sin because of the Son of God! We have a new nature within us (2 Cor. 5:17), however the old nature is still at work within us! Paul describes this in a bit of detail. He finds himself doing the things that he knows he should not be doing...he states that he does the things he HATES! There is nothing good in the heart of man...the heart is full of sin. The regenerate man/woman has the desire to do what is right, yet that person finds that he/she does evil in the middle of that desire. The sinful nature is strong and alive. Who is going to save us???!!! (I ask this question along with Paul.) Jesus is the ONLY answer. We have been given a second chance. We have no ability to overcome sin in ourselves...all we have is the old, sinful nature. Through Jesus Christ and because of the Holy Spirit, we have a new nature...one that allows us to overcome sin through the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit!

I am also drawn to Romans 5:12-21 where Paul speaks of how sin entered the world through Adam and justification entered through the "second Adam," Jesus. Death entered through Adam and all of mankind has no choice but to sin as a result of his sin being passed down through every generation. Justification entered the world because of Jesus' sacrifice that satisfied the holiness of our God. We are blessed to "receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness..." (Rom. 5:16) because of Jesus Christ!

It is of utmost importance that leaders of the church remember the nature of the people that God has placed in our care. The nature of all people is sinful.

Jer 17:9

9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
NIV

We are without cure. We are a deprived and immoral people...without the cross of Christ. The Holy Spirit enters the life of the individual that accepts Christ as their Savior and that person become regenerate. However, we are BEING saved...from grace to grace. Our salvation is a process that is continual. We are all at different points in our journey and the goal of discipleship is movement toward God. We cannot expect the people in our care to go from a "1" to a "7" in the span of a week, month or year. The goal is to introduce people to Christ, educate them about who He is and what God's Word has to say (this is through personal interaction and training people how to disciple themselves) and facilitating growth at all stages of life. We cannot overemphasize the fact that we are all sinners...or the fact that we have Christ living within us. Both are equally true. We all need to become more like Jesus EVERY DAY THAT WE LIVE...and we all need help getting there...one day, one step at a time.

It's Been Awhile...

So sorry for taking so long to post again! It's been a long few months, but a good few months. I'll post updates...
  • The workcamp this summer went very well. We all rasied the money we needed and built porches, painted houses and hauled the a lot of concrete away from worksites. All in all, we helped about 5 different families with the students from our youth group. Praise the Lord!
  • We have recently began our 412 Student Leadership Team! I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us!
  • We recently presented a $16,000 budget to the church to revamp the entire lower west wing of the church building to become the new "youth wing." That budget was approved and we hope to begin construction/demolition as soon as possible. We'd LOVE to have the project close to completion by Christmas this year.
  • My degree continues to go well. I am currently finishing up two classes, Apologetics: Miracles and Discipleship Ministries.
  • My weight loss has finally gotten some momentum. I have now lost 18 lbs. Started at 356 and am down to 338. Jeannie and I are excited!
  • The basketball season has begun and I am a ref. It's fun and great exercise.
Anyway...that's what's happening in my life right now. God bless you!