Striving to be a Healthy Church (Part 4)

In the last post in this series I want us to consider specifically “how” we should think about developing a healthy church. In the first two posts (here and here) have tried to argue that the main goal for every church is to “present every member of a local church mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28).” In the last post (here) I shifted our thinking to Matthew 28:19-20. In this text, I suggest, is “how” the local church accomplishes the goal of presenting everyone mature in Christ. As I noted the main verb in Matthew 28:19-20, “Make disciples,” points to the central goal—maturity in Christ. But how do we go about making disciples/presenting everyone mature? Jesus offers three simple steps.

Go!

The first thing one must do to make disciples is simply to go. Discipleship will never happen if we don’t actually go anywhere! In order to make disciples the first step involves actually going to where the people are—where the harvest is, where the lost dwell, where those who are not Christians are located! Besides, if you do so you’re in pretty good company. It was Jesus, wasn’t it, that acquired the reputation for hanging out with the outsiders, those on the fringes. Luke records for us what the religious leaders thought of him:

And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them (Luke 15:2).”

Going then, has everything to do with intentionality. It involves a desire to reach those who have never made a decision to follow Christ. It involves inviting others to follow Jesus with you. Simply put, making disciples begins with leaving our comfort zones and calling others to follow Jesus with us.

Now admittedly, this aspect of disciple-making seems embarrassingly obvious—I mean going is clearly involved in getting others to follow Christ, there’s really nothing profound about that. But we also must admit that the simplicity of this command to go in no way removes the difficulty of it. It is in the going that I believe we struggle with the most. That said, here are some practical starting points when seeking to obey Christ’ command to go:

Begin with your family. Do you have kids? Perhaps you have an unbelieving spouse. Maybe a close cousin has never heard the gospel. Begin sharing the gospel with them. It may be difficult to begin sharing with a complete stranger, but your family can be a great starting point to practice teaching the good news.
Move to your local church context. Are there unbelievers who are attending your church? Perhaps you can invite them to a small group with other Christians. Or, invite someone for a cup of coffee, or out to lunch.
Those in your community. Once you have become acquainted with sharing the gospel with those in your immediate context begin praying for opportunities to share the gospel with those in your community. Your neighbor, or co-worker. I emphasize prayer because Paul exemplifies that for us in Colossians 4:2-6. Begin praying and you’ll be amazed at how many opportunities open themselves to you.
Have a heart for global missions. Finally, begin fostering a heart for global missions. Jesus says “make disciples of all nations. Begin financially supporting those who serve overseas through your local church missions. Then, begin praying to God about how you can further make an impact in areas where people have never heard the good news.

It is the simple leap of asking folks to follow Jesus that is the toughest. We’re good at discussing the idea of going, but when it comes to actually doing it, an unusual fear begins to set in and we nervously decline the opportunity to ask the individual seeker to “follow.” Our call—our mission however, moves us beyond that fear. Because we desire above all else to follow Jesus we must desire to follow his command to go. Jesus said “if you love me you will keep my commandments.” Therefore, our love for Christ overcomes our fear of going, and so we go! The first step to fulfilling Christ’ command to make disciples is to go!

Baptize

The next step to making disciples is baptizing people. Why so? Let me offer two primary reasons:

Public Display: First, we must realize that in the early church baptism was the act in which identified an individual and his allegiance to the Christian faith. If one was to be baptized it was a clear message to all who saw it that they were completely embracing Jesus and his teachings while renouncing everything else. To be baptized was to identify oneself to Christ. 1 Peter 3:21 alludes to this when he says: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal(or “pledge,” as in NIV) to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Private Reality: But there’s more to baptism than just an outward display of one’s allegiance to Christ—there’s a supernatural reality that happens in the individual’s life as well. Notice what Jesus says in our text: “Baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.” The phrase “in the name (or better “into the name”)” carries a significant idea. To baptize one “into the name” means to be baptized into the all that the “name represents.” In other words when one is baptized into the name of the father son and Holy Spirit they are in essence being intimately united with the essence of that person. To be baptized into the name of the trinity therefore means that one is united in a relationship with the trinity. In order to expound this wonderful reality it may be helpful to take a quick glance at Romans 6:1-4 where Paul helps us.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Here Paul says that baptism unites us in the death and resurrection of Christ. As a result, baptism allows us to receive the benefits that come with Christ death and resurrection, namely, “to walk in the newness of life.” Baptism therefore, brings us into an intimate union with God, having removed the stain of sin that previously separated us from Him!

So, baptism is crucial in making disciples because baptism identifies those who have publicly confessed Christ as their savior and Lord and inwardly brings each individual sinner into union with Christ! In essence, baptism is the initial time when one comes from outside of the body of Christ to inside the body of Christ. It is the front door of discipleship. Discipleship without baptism is not discipleship.

This is precisely why church, we need to prayerfully seek folks to be baptized into Christ. Baptisms indicate that we are in fact making disciples. If there are no baptisms then there is no discipleship-making!

Teaching

These first two steps—going and baptizing— have everything to do with what we call evangelism. This is the practice of going out to folks who have never followed Jesus and asking them to do so by initially being baptized into Christ. But there’s more. Jesus goes on to say that making disciples has to do with teaching. This is the ongoing practice of the church. We never stop teaching.

But what do we teach? Well Jesus says teach them “to observe everything I have commanded you.” That’s pretty simple. Basically, we are to teach people to be like Jesus—both by the what we say and by how we live. This is the heart of discipleship. And I believe it is appropriate to say that this idea of teaching them to observe everything Jesus commanded extends to teaching each other the whole of the Bible. The OT points to Jesus, the NT reveals Jesus. In it’s entirety the Bible is Jesus! It tells us how to live and act and think like Jesus.

And may I add, that this does not mean that making disciples requires a Masters in Theology. All that is required is sharing the truth of God’s word as you grow in it with others who have yet discovered that truth for themselves! It’s being intentional. Grabbing a new Christian and simply meeting with them on a regular basis and pouring into their lives all that you are learning in your own growth in Christ!

The Ongoing Cycle

So, making disciples is Christ great mission for the church. Here’s the bottom line: the main mission of disciples of Christ is to make more disciples of Christ! And making disciples is simply going, baptizing, and teaching. And that’s really the flow and life-cycle of the church. SonRise this is really all we need to concentrate our efforts on. There needs to be a constant cycle of going out, baptizing, and ongoingly teaching others about Christ. And in order to keep the cycle going we must all constantly be motivated to go back out and reach new individuals for Christ. If we stop going, then we are simply discipling the same faces every day. That unfortunately turns Christ great commission into the great omission.

The Hopeful Promise

As I come to a close may I add a final word of hope for anyone feeling discouraged or overwhelmed by the idea of making disciples. For you who really desire to make disciples but feel inadequate or unqualified. Take a quick glance at the final verse in our text: And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Those final words from Jesus prove why in fact we can actually accomplish this. Jesus, the one with all authority in heaven and on earth will be with us every step of the way! And He is. After Jesus descended into Heaven he left us with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit guides, directs, and empowers us to fulfill Christ’ command to make disciples of all nations! Two passages that I’ll leave you with:

God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (12 Timothy 1:7).

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Striving to be a Healthy Church (Part 3)

In the two previous posts found here and here, I have sought to layout what the local church is called to do—what makes a healthy church? In those essays I have argued that the number one goal for every church leader is to present every member mature in Christ. That is, the goal, the purpose, the concentration of the shepherds God has placed over his flock is to seek to lead each member in that church to Christ-likeness.

Now, I would like to shift from answering the “what” question (what makes a healthy church?) to the “how question (how do we go about pursuing this goal of maturity for every believer?). In answering this question I would like to turn our attention to Matthew 28:19-20. Here I suggest is the formula for developing a church with members seeking maturity. Allow me to cite the passage under consideration:

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 28:19-20).

If the Goal of every local church can be summarized by Paul’s words in Colossians 1:28—“present everyone mature in Christ,” then the best way to go about accomplishing that goal, I humbly suggest, is Jesus’ words in the Great commission. In this article I want to focus solely on the main verb of the passage, “make disciples,” and then in the next post deal with the three qualifiers that describe how we go about doing that.

The main verb in Matthew 28:19-20 is the phrase “make disciples.” Everything else in these two verses simply explain how one goes about accomplishing this task. Now, it seems that the term “make disciples” can be viewed synonymously with what we have already discussed thus far—that is, presenting everyone mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28). To strive for maturity is to be a disciple; to be a disciples is one who strives to be mature. Making disciples is the goal of the church! And let us remind ourselves what the goal is NOT:

Build big beautiful buildings
Create really cool worship services
Feed the poor
Get financially stable
Develop awesome programs
Have a lot of church potlucks

As admirable, well-intentional, and effective these things may be they are not what Christ gives as the mission of the church. These may be results, or means to that mission, but they are not the mission!

So what is it? What does Christ call us to do? We are to simply make disciples, period. Our number one and primary mission of the church is to develop disciples of Christ.

And may I add that this is not the great suggestion, but a great commandment! “Making disciples here is in the imperative mood—that is, it is a command. It has an exclamation behind it—Make disciples! Based on Christ’ authority over everything he commands us to make disciples! This is not optional for the Christian, but binding. You can’t be a Christian and not make disciples.

So, what’s a disciple…? I’m glad you asked!

Making disciples, generally speaking, involves following the teachings and behavior of another person. As mentioned here in our text, it has to do with getting others to follow the life and teachings of Christ himself—Discipleship is becoming like Jesus!

I like how popular writer Francis Chan describes it in his book “Multiply:”

It’s impossible to be a disciple or a follower of someone and not end up like that person. Jesus said, ‘a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40).” That’s the whole point of being a disciple of Jesus: we imitate him, carry on his ministry, and become like him in the process.

“Yet somehow many have come to believe that a person can be a “Christian” without being like Christ. A “follower” who doesn’t follow. How does that make any sense? Many people in the church have decided to take on the name of Christ and nothing else. This would be like Jesus walking up to those first disciples and saying, “Hey, would you guys mind identifying yourselves with Me in some way? Don’t worry, I don’t actually care if you do anything I do or change your lifestyle at all. I’m just looking for people who are willing to say they believe in Me and call themselves Christians (Chan, Francis. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples, 16-17.)”

A simple example is in Matthew 4:18-22:

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus’ first disciples simply dropped everything and followed after him! They let go of their desires and replaced them with Christ’ desires!

Romans 8:29 tells us that this idea of becoming like Jesus is actually at the heart of God’s will for each of our lives. To look like Jesus—to believe and live what he taught.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

So, making disciples is simply calling others to live and believe exactly like Jesus. Each of us are called to be little imitations of Jesus. We live, behave, talk, act, think….like Jesus! That’s making disciples! In our next post we will flesh out “How” we go about accomplishing this goal.

BOLDNESS

When one reads through the book of Acts it is quickly discovered that the early church was a unique group of individuals, a group like no other. So moved by the event of the resurrection, these early believers could not withhold the things that their eyes had seen. As Peter proclaimed to the Jewish council, “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20).” The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus had changed the early church forever, and they would not stop until the whole world knew of the Gospel (i.e. “the good news of Jesus”).

One particular area of interest concerning the early church is there courageous and fearless proclamation of the Gospel of Christ. A running theme in the book of Acts that seems to sprinkle throughout the narrative, involves the extreme boldness of the early Christians. The word “boldness” (from the Greek “parrēsia”) appears several times in the book of Acts. One lexicon captures the essence of these early Christians by defining “parrēsia” as “the absence of fear in speaking boldly (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Joseph Henry Thayer).” The Christians as described in Acts feared no man. Even in the midst of death itself they stood their ground, boldly proclaiming the message of the Gospel. Their confidence in the resurrection was so real, so alive, and so profoundly true, that they feared nothing!

We see this boldness exemplified in Acts 4 when Peter and John are facing the Jewish council. The Jews, annoyed at their message of the resurrection, threatened them to no longer speak of Jesus. However, Peter and John, with great boldness, looked them in the eye and spoke evermore passionately the resurrection of Jesus. So filled with the Spirit, the educated Sadducees were astonished of how Peter and John, uneducated men, could speak with such authority! We see it again when the seized Stephen stands confidently in front of the high priest and the hostile crowd. Eloquently Stephen articulates the continuity of the Old Testament scriptures with the person of Jesus. Stephen’s message creates such uproar that the hearers begin to grind their teeth at him, unable to accept the convicting message. Nevertheless, Stephen remains bold; so bold and so in tune with the father in fact, that he is able to look into their hate-filled eyes and say “Lord do not hold this sin against them!” We see it in beloved Paul, possibly the boldest of them all. We read time and time again of how Paul would preach and in return be physically mutilated. So much so, that on one occasion in Lystra, Paul was stoned so severely that the people left him for dead (Acts 14:19). But, he kept on preaching, he would not stop boldly proclaiming the story; it was that important.

And then, there is you and me. Decades separated from the time of those faithful early Christians. There work is now simply words on a page and at times it is difficult to recapture the fire that resided within those bold believers. So, we replace confidence with complacency, courageousness with cowardliness, and boldness with fear. We shriek at even the thought of inviting a stranger to church, let alone telling them about Jesus. And our concept of evangelism has shifted from proclaiming the good news of the resurrection to simply being a “silent witness.” Thus, we pass them by, hundreds of people, who need to hear the most profound and life-changing message on the planet.

But Why?

Why does the boldness described of those early Christians seem to be less evident in today’s Christians? Doesn’t the same Spirit who empowered the early church empower us today? Surely Joel’s prophecy concerning the indwelling of the Spirit for all believers is still true now as it was on Pentecost Day. If so, why the lack of zeal and courage to spread the Gospel to the entire world? Maybe it’s because we have been distracted by an ever growing culture of materialism and consumerism. Desire to reach the lost has been substituted with desire to reach our personal goals. Or maybe the pressure of subjectivism, relevance, and tolerance, that invades our culture, prevents us from proclaiming a message that is counter-cultural; a message claiming to be the only true worldview. Whatever the case, there is no doubt that the boldness for the Gospel as seen in the book of Acts looks much different than contemporary American Christian evangelism. Perhaps it is time to set aside our many reservations and simply proclaim the message of Jesus with boldness!

What do you think about the church’ effort to evangelize? Do you think we have become too complacent in our effort to reach the lost? How is the early church, as described in Acts, different from today’s church?

All you need to be a witness for Christ

We all long (or we should) to see individuals come to Christ. We are encouraged and motivated when we see those being baptized into Christ. Yet, many of us become nervous, anxious, and downright scared when faced with the conviction to share the gospel with another individual. Our minds run frantic, wondering what others will think of us, or if they will deny our attempt to reach out to them. Sometimes, our hesitancy to speak to others about Christ revolves around our lack of confidence in how much we know about the Bible. We feel that a doctoral degree in theology is required before we can accurately share the Gospel with others; but this is not the case. While, we should seek to learn all we can from God’s Word, knowing everything in the Bible is not required to be a witness for Christ. The only requirement for telling others about Christ is your story; what has Christ done for you!

In the 9^th chapter of John we discover a most exquisite story of a man blind since birth. Following the man’s miraculous healing by Jesus, the Pharisees, who are outraged because Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath, arrive on the scene and begin to interrogate the previously blind man. The Pharisees are convinced that Jesus is a false prophet and that this miracle was the result of some scam or hoax. However, after clear proof that the man was in fact born blind and the miracle was undeniable, the Pharisees approach the man again and say “give glory to God, we know that this man (Jesus) is a sinner.” The response of the blind man is incredible: “whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

This man had become a witness for Christ, and he didn’t even know that much about Christ. He had no scriptures to quote or a carefully developed theological framework. He did know one thing however, he once was blind and now he sees! That was proof enough for the blind man, and it should be proof enough for us. Therefore, when you go to share Christ with others and you become worried about what people will think of you, or if you know enough scripture, remember the blind man. Tell all those around you about how you once were blind, but now you see. That’s all you need to be a witness, and I promise you, it’s all the proof you’ll need!