Discipleship
" Jesus said, 'Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them [a]into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age.'"
-Matthew 28:19-20
This is where church drops the ball in my opinion; discipleship. Oh yeah, we will lead you in a sinners prayer, but then you're kinda left hanging...am I wrong? Discipleship is so crucial to both new believers, and to those who have been believers for years. I've been a Christian for 8 years and I still need some discipling from time to time. I think back on the people who God placed in my life to disciple me, and I am so thankful for their influence on my life and how they taught me to read my Bible consistently, and how they invested the Word of God in my life. How they listened to my thoughts and feelings, how they prayed for and with me. It is so needed in the Christian life, you cannot do without it. It isn't through any special program that we have discipleship, it is simply fellow brothers in sisters in Christ doing what Jesus commanded us to do. He said to DISCIPLE, not "Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions."
The purpose of leaders in the church is to equip, train, support, and set free the body of believers to use everything God has given them to make his glory known that the a church program could never design or imagine to reach people. The problem is with Christians at times is we forget that we serve people both inside and outside the church. We don't need any more events necessarily to entertain us, we need to get out into the world and start leading people to the Lord and discipling them. We have to go to them, they aren't going to come to us. The ministry of disciple making was not intended for professionals alone; it was intended for the whole people of God to take part in. This is the purpose of God; just as his son, Jesus, invested His life into His disciples we are to follow this example and invest our lives into other people, and building amazing people. But we cannot let programs we have at church or the church building confine the work of the Spirit.
Do you feel like the wrong person to be discipling people? Chances are you are not. No one sits on the sidelines in Kingdom work, we all play an important role. Do not let Satan con you into thinking you are not smart enough, talented enough, or qualified enough to produce effective ministry. You have all you need to disciple another: you have your testimony, the Word of God before you, the Spirit of God in you which has been poured out on all his people (Acts 2), and you have the command of God in you.
You will not find anywhere in the Bible describing that it’s okay to sit on the church pew and do nothing. Even grandma can invest her time into the younger generations, who doesn’t love an adopted Grandma? Thank God for the people who pour their lives into us. That’s what discipling is all about, so that those who we disciple will in turn disciple others, and they will disciple others. Pretty soon, the whole world could change.
Go!
-Matthew 28:19-20
This is where church drops the ball in my opinion; discipleship. Oh yeah, we will lead you in a sinners prayer, but then you're kinda left hanging...am I wrong? Discipleship is so crucial to both new believers, and to those who have been believers for years. I've been a Christian for 8 years and I still need some discipling from time to time. I think back on the people who God placed in my life to disciple me, and I am so thankful for their influence on my life and how they taught me to read my Bible consistently, and how they invested the Word of God in my life. How they listened to my thoughts and feelings, how they prayed for and with me. It is so needed in the Christian life, you cannot do without it. It isn't through any special program that we have discipleship, it is simply fellow brothers in sisters in Christ doing what Jesus commanded us to do. He said to DISCIPLE, not "Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions."
The purpose of leaders in the church is to equip, train, support, and set free the body of believers to use everything God has given them to make his glory known that the a church program could never design or imagine to reach people. The problem is with Christians at times is we forget that we serve people both inside and outside the church. We don't need any more events necessarily to entertain us, we need to get out into the world and start leading people to the Lord and discipling them. We have to go to them, they aren't going to come to us. The ministry of disciple making was not intended for professionals alone; it was intended for the whole people of God to take part in. This is the purpose of God; just as his son, Jesus, invested His life into His disciples we are to follow this example and invest our lives into other people, and building amazing people. But we cannot let programs we have at church or the church building confine the work of the Spirit.
Do you feel like the wrong person to be discipling people? Chances are you are not. No one sits on the sidelines in Kingdom work, we all play an important role. Do not let Satan con you into thinking you are not smart enough, talented enough, or qualified enough to produce effective ministry. You have all you need to disciple another: you have your testimony, the Word of God before you, the Spirit of God in you which has been poured out on all his people (Acts 2), and you have the command of God in you.
You will not find anywhere in the Bible describing that it’s okay to sit on the church pew and do nothing. Even grandma can invest her time into the younger generations, who doesn’t love an adopted Grandma? Thank God for the people who pour their lives into us. That’s what discipling is all about, so that those who we disciple will in turn disciple others, and they will disciple others. Pretty soon, the whole world could change.
Go!
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