Skip to main content

Discipleship, "What Is It?"

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-19 ESV


In a nutshell, discipleship is...

·         REPRODUCTION!! – “LIFE giving LIFE”

·         learning and teaching “Life Principles of the Kingdom”

·         the empowering of others as God has empowered us

The disciple is a learner, open and teachable. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. Proverbs 9:9-10 The disciple seeks to be proficient* in his walk with the Lord, it’s not at all about perfection—for we are made perfect only in Christ but a disciple does need to strive to do his best for the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:22-24

* Proficiency comes from trying to do everything well through commitment to excellence. God has equipped each of us with skills and He gives us gifts for the complete accomplishment of His will, in us and in the world. The only hindrance to proficiency is ones level of commitment to excellence—we MUST find out what God’s will is for us and be about His business! For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Ephesians 5:8-11

A great deal of what discipleship is… is learning to view life through the eyes of God. A disciple will find it extremely hard to be successful in the walk of faith without proper “Perspective & Vision”.

-         perspective - the aspect in which things or circumstances are mentally or naturally viewed

-         vision - the aspect in which things or circumstances are viewed otherwise than by ordinary sight

For the disciple of Jesus Christ, it’s not a matter of either/or but a healthy blend of the two aspects for viewing life—God created us with the capacity to see in the natural, but He wants us to come and gain His perspective, “God-vision”, for walking through what we see in the natural (the stuff & circumstances of life). Unfortunately, good clear perspective mixed with “God-vision” are rare commodities among Christians, we tend to get stuck in the here and now—our immediate circumstances and situations…we must decide to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…” Proverbs 3:5

Wag

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE RELIGION OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT Post 12 of 12

Maybe the clearest way to end this series is this: The Gospel was never about turning people into better performers. It is about bringing dead things back to life. Somewhere along the way, many believers inherited a version of Christianity centered more on pressure than presence… More on maintaining than trusting… More on performance than union… And the result has been generations of spiritually exhausted people trying to become through effort who God already declared them to be in The Christ. That exhaustion is not accidental. Because the human soul was not designed to carry the burden of self-salvation. Not through law. Not through fear. Not through religious performance. Not through endless self-improvement disguised as holiness. That’s why Paul fought so fiercely for grace; he understood what was truly at stake. Once people move the source of righteousness, transformation and acceptance back onto themselves… the Gospel quietly turns into survival mode. And survival mode suffocates ...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE RELIGION OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT Post 1 of 12

Falling from grace is not stepping into sin. According to Paul, it’s stepping back under the law. That changes the conversation entirely. Because most people were taught to see grace and behavior as opposing forces. But when Paul writes to the Galatians, he repeatedly contrasts grace and law as opposing mindsets instead. That distinction matters more than most people realize. Behavior is the fruit of grace… Paul was confronting the root. One mindset says: The Christ is enough. The other says: Now maintain what was given through your own effort. Grace begins with acceptance. Law begins with performance. One produces rest. The other produces striving. One creates transformation through identity. The other creates exhaustion through performance. And maybe that’s why so many believers live spiritually worn out — constantly questioning themselves, constantly afraid they’ve failed God one too many times, constantly trying to maintain through effort what was freely given through grace. Paul’s...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE RELIGION OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT Post 8 of 12

“If righteousness comes through the law, then The Christ died for nothing.” That may be one of the strongest statements Paul ever wrote. Because Paul understood what was truly at stake. This was never just a debate about theology. It was a question of source. Can human effort produce righteousness? Can law create life? Can performance transform the human heart? Paul’s answer was uncompromising: No. Because if righteousness could be achieved through rule-keeping, discipline or religious performance, then the cross becomes unnecessary. Not symbolic. Unnecessary. That’s why Paul reacts so strongly when believers begin drifting back toward law-based spirituality. Because the moment people start placing confidence in their own ability to maintain righteousness independently, they quietly move away from dependence on grace. And that shift changes everything. The law can instruct. The law can expose. The law can define right and wrong. But it cannot make humanity righteous. Why? Because infor...
Post a Comment
Read more