Blitz Challenge 9/11/10
The church as the body of Christ on earth is a supernatural community—‘supernatural’ because all true believers are in union with Christ and with one another by means of God’s Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:13).
The world (in its love of darkness) is reading our relationships instead of reading the Bible. Our relationships are intended by Christ to go far beyond anything nature is capable of. Consider the ‘supernatural’ character of the following commands—each of these commands is beyond our natural strength: love one another as I have loved you; consider the interests of others are more important than your own; bear one another’s burdens; be filled with compassion and gentleness and be continually forgiving one another; defer to one another; build with Christ in building up one another; relate in such a way that it shows that you are members one of another. Our relationships within the body of Christ are to incarnate the virtues and character of Christ in such a way that, as Jesus said in His High Priestly prayer in John 17:21, the world might believe that the Father sent Me.
Living out our supernatural connection to Christ and to one another means that the local church is a living organism animated by Christ; not an organization animated merely by business or entrepreneurial principles. If indeed the nature of the church is organic (activity of a body with Christ as Head and indwelt by the Spirit); then settling for a CEO, top down form of doing church will obscure the communal life of the body and it will overshadow the reality that every true Christian is a believer-priest. Each member of the body (as a believer priest) is to always be translating the vertical (his relationship with Christ) into the horizontal (his relationship with the brethren). We do this translating of the vertical into the horizontal through discipleship.
Dying churches commonly find in retrospect that waning discipleship is the pathology that ‘did the killing’. Here is how the disease progresses: a congregation sits back and settles for ministry from professionals (forgetting that Christ’s pattern for His church is a ministering laity). Then, stage two: the older men cease to invest in younger men (the older men don’t know how to finish well). Stage three: the younger men allow secular culture to define their goals (their discretionary time is taken up with amusement)—in other words they don’t care if their marriages glorify God; they lose perception of kingdom values and consequently become spiritually harmless in the world. Stage four: the church moves toward an inward emphasis—passion for Christ and for evangelism dry up. A self-focused church is all that remains—in essence, the story of the glory of the church (its history, inception, successes, anniversaries, and programs) becomes bigger than the glory story of God in Christ.
Without a pervasive vision for disciple-making, the next generation winds up unequipped and unchallenged by the older generation. Thus, the prevailing sentiment among the rising generation becomes, “Why bother; there is little here to thrill me and captivate me and engage me meaningful commitment?” As a consequence the death of a local church can begin to take place. This phenomenon of dying local churches is repeated around the world in countless places. When I lived in New England, my artist friends and I had a favorite place to display our paintings—it was in the beautiful little white steepled churches which were empty and with signs out front, “space for rent.”
SOLUTION: Christ’s pattern for His church is a pattern of discipleship—that pattern is: disciples making disciples who are capable of making disciples. Unfortunately we have defined the Great Commission as primarily a foreign endeavor instead of also a domestic endeavor. The attitude often is, “We are a healthy church because we have missionaries in the following countries.” But wait, how did we become exempt from fulfilling the Great Commission in the local body here at home? No, we need to reexamine our priorities. The Great Commission teaches us that body life exists to bring each member of Christ’s body to maturity.
Paul summarizes the discipleship mandate in at least two places: “And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power which mightily works within me” (Col 1:28-29). “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful man who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 2:2). Timothy, discipleship has its ups and downs and setbacks. You’ll need to endure hardship as a good soldier if you are to succeed as a discipler of men—that’s the context here in second Timothy.
Paul’s focus in fulfilling the Great Commission reminds us that every bit of this discipleship mandate is utterly intentional. In other words, it’s a mandate to bring each believer to spiritual maturity (Col 1:28-29). Our relationships exist for the purpose of growing up into Christ. Genuine fellowship is spiritual; it doesn’t just exist for our social needs—it exists for the purpose of doing spiritual good to another that the body might grow up into Christ its Head. “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Eph 4:15-16).
It is here, at this juncture where we need a mind shift. For it is common to think of the activity of the body as a series of programs devised by the leaders (approved programs that we participate in). Christ’s pattern for His church differs substantially from this perception. Here is the reason why: all forms of ministry are to be some form of expression of the Great Commission. That means that all forms of ministry exist to nurture discipleship; to nurture disciples; to nurture disciple-making.
A huge mind shift is required brothers if we are to fully embrace Christ’s pattern for His church, for the nature of the church is that of a supernatural community—and as a supernatural community, the way we do community is by discipleship! That way of thinking would sure change a great deal wouldn’t it—to get into our heads and hearts that our relationships in the body exist for the purpose of discipleship—to bring one another to maturity, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). This throws an intense light on the matter—the church is an organism not an organization: the church is a supernatural community and that community functions supernaturally by means of discipleship. How can we begin thinking this way?
Through discipleship Christ makes godly men out of young men and boys. Through discipleship young men learn to be men of God. Through discipleship they learn that that they are called ones. They learn what Christ is calling them to be through His power and grace. And because Christ’s claim is on their lives they learn to be determined men—tough men able to take a punch from life. Tender men able to love their wives as Christ loved the church. They are intentional men who believe the glory story of God and as a result are sent on mission. We as older men must imbue the younger men with the reality that salvation is inseparable from Christ’s call upon their lives. Paul said it this way, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:13-14).
When we invest spiritually in younger believing men, Kingdom values begin to fill their thinking. They see in the glory story that God Himself is on mission and has called them to be on mission with Him. Prior to discipleship they may have felt no obligation to share their faith—now they believe they are sent on mission. Now I have got to ask this question of every Christian man here this morning: is this a bigger dream for the church than we have entertained ourselves? Does this picture seem too idealistic? Brothers, the discipleship lifestyle that I just described is considered normative in the New Testament. The question is how do we begin to live this way? How can we form caring relationships in which discipleship will thrive?
One of the major impediments to discipleship is apathy and self-protection. We fear being known; having our sins discovered, or our spiritual immaturity uncovered—and/or, we have some apprehension that a discipleship relationship will turn the screws of high accountability and wind up being a ‘black hole’ drawing us into an unending commitment—eating up too much of our discretionary time.
I want to lay those misconceptions to rest. The majority of discipleship takes place in a context of the informal. Jesus spent time with His disciples not only during ministry; but in traveling, meal time, recreation, and rest. They ‘hung out’ together they talked as they walked and ate together. There was as much ‘caught as taught’ in these casual moments of fellowship.
Our truncated ideas about discipleship too often narrow our concept to the curriculum used in discipleship, as if studying a book together is enough to accomplish discipleship. I want to blast us out of the classroom model of ministry (the lecture-student approach) and shift our thinking to the caring relationships themselves—in which there is mutual edification and mutual access to one another’s lives. It is incumbent upon us to grasp that discipleship is a two-way street. As the discipler shares his struggles and communicates God’s faithfulness amidst his trials, the disciple is encouraged to grant greater access to his life. This is reciprocity and not a matter of those ‘who have arrived’ instructing those ‘who have not arrived’.
Biblical discipleship can be as simple as determining to prayerfully speak God’s Word in our relationships. Much discipleship will be informal and spontaneous. We can be proactive— determining that we will not allow our conversations to remain in the realm of the mundane. As soon as you approach conversation with edification in mind; you are in a position to provide discipleship input. To be on task in discipleship is to purposefully steer the conversation in the direction of redemptive language. Let me define that for you. Redemptive conversation involves initiating comments and questions which draw out Scripture truths and principles and apply them to life.
Redemptive questions and comments can be as simple as: How’s your walk with the Lord? Where are you getting beat up this week? Is there a ministry opportunity you are thinking about taking? How can I pray for you? I’ve got to share with you what God has been teaching me. Here is what I have been going through at work as far as my testimony. I sure could use your prayers; I am going through a time of trial. Have you ever considered how your attitude about Christ’s second coming is a supreme litmus test of where you are at spiritually? Hey, want to go witnessing? Let’s invite those unsaved guys over for a bar-be-que. Etc.
The Apostle Paul’s focus is unmistakable: discipleship is the “X Factor” in spiritual maturity. Discipleship is an important avenue in finding our place and part in the body of Christ. A faithful discipler will help equip and ‘unleash’ his disciple to ministry. The discipler will actively look for situations where his disciple can be exposed to various ministries and be given opportunities to gain ministry experience. True piety is joined to body life—for we are members one of another in Christ. Therefore it is of key importance that we remember that our spiritual growth and sanctification is a group effort. In other words, our growth cannot be sustained by sequestering ourselves like St. Francis of Assisi under a tree in the woods. We need the mutual edification of the members of the body of Christ in order to grow. We mature spiritually as we find our place in the body of Christ and then serve there enthusiastically. Discipleship is the central instrument in moving this process forward.