The need for true discipleship

 The following is an edited post from The Elijah List but sums up the main issues facing us as Christians today.

The Church is both an organization and an organism. Without organization there is chaos. Without organism, there is no movement. How good or mundane our Church gatherings are is not the measure of our impact. The Church has a purpose. It is to make Jesus famous and take action to make our cities better with the love, wisdom, and presence of God.

In the Book of Acts the apostles said to those outside, "We cannot help but tell of what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). This statement reveals something valuable for us in the Western Church and worldwide. We as the Church should be telling and demonstrating the story of Jesus over and over again to those "outside the Church" with presence, power, and proclamation.

Two of the biggest false assumptions in the Western Church are these:

1. Everyone in the Church knows what the Gospel is,
2. Everyone outside of the Church has already heard the Gospel.

Both of those assumptions are false. After teaching in many schools in the Church, I am shocked that few students even know the purpose of being born again. It is not to be forgiven only, as that was accomplished on the Cross by Jesus. We receive it by grace through faith in His finished work. To be born again is an encounter with Him that allows us to see, enter, and do the works of the Kingdom. 

While forgiveness of sins through Christ and being born again might seem inseparable, we must get beyond thinking the Gospel is the gospel of forgiveness alone. It is the Gospel of the Kingdom that is meant to change the way we see, think, live, and impact the world around us with abundant life. That comes through being born again of water and Spirit, as Jesus said in John 3:5. Then, as we see, enter, and demonstrate the Kingdom of Heaven, many will want to find why and how. Whether we preach the Gospel first and then demonstrate, or demonstrate and then tell why and how, is not the issue. We just need to do both.

Reformation means getting back to the original design in modern times, but not with a different Jesus or a Church He never built. The great commission has largely been pushed back as a priority in most of the Church, however it meets or whatever it calls its vision. Gathering, equipping, exercising the gifts, worship, and community all have inherent good, but are not the eternal purpose of God. 

God's dream is to have a great big family like His Son, Jesus. We are His inheritance. So we must get the priority of the great commission of winning and making disciples of Jesus again as a top priority in the Church. He wants a big, beautiful Bride – not a grumpy, emaciated one. Sorry about that. I just don't think only 2% of the population of the earth are bound for Heaven and the rest for Hell. 

Jesus died for all who will come to Him. Billions are waiting to know Jesus died for them, not just those who go to Church. Even those who don't know Jesus long for true community. So while we work on that inside the Church, let's not forget those who are broken and looking for family outside the Church.

 

Throw away your rearview mirror. This really is a new year with limitless opportunity for those who will wash one another's feet. No one achieves their dreams without helping others achieve theirs. It's time to find something worth living for not just dying for. Don't miss this opportunity to be a part of the Church arising to shine.

Denny Cline
Founding Pastor, Jesus Pursuit Church, Albany, Oregon, USA.