Parenting and Grocery Store Tantrums

  As parents of four children, my wife Jill and I don’t have to leave the house to have opportunities to disciple not-yet believers in Christ. Add to the mix that we also need to be reminded of and apply the gospel to our lives, and you have a small community on mission within the confines of our home! We don’t only go to missional community to make disciples; we are a missional community that makes disciples. We are always making disciples, especially when parenting our kids. This means that when a kid holding Legos in one hand and a lightsaber in the other wakes me up at 5:30 a.m. to tell me he’s hungry or has to pee, it’s discipleship time. I don’t get to throw the gospel out the window because it isn’t time to gather with others for worship or our weekly meal yet.

If we are to see the mission of Jesus move forward in our homes and neighborhoods, something more than a scheduled series of events or classes is needed. While these events and classes might be valuable equipping tools to help resource our people, only when we approach everyday life situations as opportunities to bring the gospel to bear on each other’s lives will we consistently learn how to walk in obedience to all that Jesus has commanded.

Discipleship in All of Life

In the mess of everyday life, we must apply the gospel. Applying the gospel is speaking the truth of what Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension has done for those who believe. The gospel radically changes who we are, and often in the ordinariness of everyday life, we forget who we are in the gospel. We are sons and daughters, made into new creations through the Christ. So, applying the gospel is reminding a believer of their identity in Christ by speaking the work of Christ into their particular situation, and by showing how Jesus is better than the current idol they are desiring in that moment. But to know how to bring the gospel to bear on their life, you need to not only need to know the gospel, you need to know the person too. You need listen to them, you need to hear or see what they struggling with. Applying the gospel requires proximity, life together. Paul said that it is through speaking the truth in love to one another that we grow up in Christ (Eph. 4:15).

Jill and I are blessed to be raising four children. This gives much opportunity for us to speak the gospel with them (and each other) in ordinary life. Discipling kids, much like anyone else, is no easy task. Apart from the work of the Spirit in our lives, it's actually impossible. Left to ourselves, don’t we just want to manage our kids behavior so we are comfortable?

We as parents are often more caught up in how our kids behavior reflects back on us than whether our children are honoring and displaying God. How often does our embarrassment by their sin lead us into shaming them? But do we stop and ask ourselves, “How is this discipling them to Jesus?” Truth is, it's not. That's just piling our sin on theirs and making a big old mess.

What if, as parents, we were so rooted in our identity in Christ that when our kid’s behavior is deplorable we lovingly corrected rather than hopelessly joined in? What if this kind of discipleship of our children became more common in our own lives? What if this was more common not only with our children but in all of our relationships? How much more might we proclaim the gospel if this kind of discipleship was our normal, everyday routine?

Everyday Discipleship in the Grocery Store

Jill and I will often and intentionally go grocery shopping together with all four of our kids. While this may sound a little like we’re asking for trouble, we do this intentionally so that we can “bump into” people we might know individually and strike up a conversation. Of course, there are times when this may seem to backfire when our four kids get a little out of hand. Crowded grocery stores, plus two adults, plus four kids, equals plenty of opportunities for our idols to surface. There is nothing like a little stress to pull our sin to the surface.

On one such trip, our youngest son was disappointed over not getting to ride in a particular type of cart. He wanted the race car shopping cart, but all of those were being used by other customers and he wouldn’t settle for the regular shopping cart. He threw a tantrum. In the moment of my son’s tantrum in a busy grocery store, I forgot the gospel. I wanted to control his behavior. I wanted him to be quiet so people would stop looking at us. Ultimately, I was in sin, wanting my son to obey me so that others would see me as a good parent.

Jill, rightly bringing the gospel to bear, gently corrected our son. She gospeled his heart while rebuking his behavior. She didn’t need to focus on what others think of her because of our kids’ behavior; she needed to disciple our son. So, she was freed up to bring the gospel to our disobedient child in the midst of everyday life.

Do you see it? I was living out of a false identity. When my son threw a fit in a public place, my identity was in how poorly my kid was behaving and in what others might think of me. Contrast that with Jill, resting securely in her identity in Christ. She loved, adopted, and accepted; she was able to discipline our son correctly. Like Jesus, she pursued the one in need with little concern with what those around her thought of her. She certainly addressed our son’s behavior but ultimately, and just like Jesus, she shared how the source of this outburst was treasuring stuff more than obeying God’s command to honor and obey his parents (Eph. 6:1).

She was able to tell our son that she too often fails to obey God, that she, like him is a mess and needs the grace of God to obey. She offered hope in the gospel by telling him, “Jesus is the one, the only one, who obeyed his Father perfectly. And he obeyed right away, all the way and with a happy heart. He obeyed to death, paying the price for all your disobedience and my disobedience so that if we trust in him, we can be brought near to God. Son, you’re not good and neither am I. We both need Jesus to rescue us from our wanting other things more than what he wants for us.” That’s speaking the truth in love. In that moment, it was precisely what our young son needed to hear. Maybe you would say it a little differently. Certainly the same gospel presentation doesn’t need to be shared in all situations, but we should seek to speak the truth in love in some way regardless of the situation.

As I watched her demonstrate Jesus in her pursuit of a sinner (our child) and heard her declare the gospel, I was convicted of my own sin. My son was restored and got into the regular shopping cart and we went on our way.

Freedom in the Gospel

As we travelled the aisles getting groceries, I was growing more and more disappointed that I wasn’t able to do what my wife had just done. “Some leader of the household you are!” I thought to myself. And before I could move any deeper into condemning myself, my wife preached the gospel to me, as well. She turned to me and reminded me of what the Spirit had just shown me, that I was not helping our son by getting frustrated because of my fear others. Then she reminded me that God is glorious so I don’t have to fear others, and that the gospel is big enough for me to find forgiveness for this and all sin.

The gospel is real and it is very, very big. Bigger than my sin; bigger than my children's sin. Look, we don’t always get this right in my household. If you spend some time with us, you’ll recognize that we are far from perfect in demonstrating and declaring the gospel. We need much grace. But our hope doesn’t rest in our ability to be perfect inasmuch as the ability of the Perfect One to perfect us. While we desire to walk in obedience in making disciples, ultimately my obedience is not as important as Christ’s obedience is to the outcomes.

The gospel frees us to see these challenging situations as opportunities for discipleship. We can either join in the sin of others and make disciples of ourselves or demonstrate and declare the gospel and make disciples of Jesus. As parents we all disciple our children in the ways of someone. As followers of Jesus, we have the power through the Spirit to disciple them, and all people, in the ways of Jesus.

_

Gino Curcuruto is a disciple of Jesus, husband to Jill, and father of four. He is a chiropractor by trade and missionary by calling. Gino enjoys making disciples in the everyday: at home, at work, on the block, and within the church. Twitter: @ginoc

Your Church Doesn't Need Followers

  Everyone makes disciples of something or someone. Just think about all the disciples that are made each and every fall as college football and the NFL kicks off with a brand new season full of thrills and excitement. It’s not new. It’s the same game played each and every year. But there’s much to be excited about. Why? Because we love it. We throw on our favorite jersey, eat our favorite nachos, and party while grown men war for a trophy. It’s great.

Disciples love the object that is teaching them something. The very definition of a disciple is "learner," though it is not simply a cognitive thing. It’s a life thing. We invest our emotions, desires, affections, money, time, energy in its mission. We’re all followers; we’re all passionate about something.

It is often the case that local churches build disciples around the organization itself. More often than not, this is accidental. We as church leaders and members typically have good intentions. We want people to know Jesus. We think that our pastors and our music and our worship experience are great gateways to meeting Jesus. That's why we invest in that church community, right?

But being a disciple of Jesus means that we are learning from him, walking in his ways. To be a disciple of Jesus means that we take our cues from him, not an organization. If we're not careful, we can get distracted by the organization or event and forget about the reason it exists - for the glory of God.

What happens when we make disciples of the church instead of disciples of Jesus? What might that look like? Here are five signs that we might be making disciples of our church instead of Jesus.

1. We Get Upset When People Are Gone

A prominent temptation of a local church is to root success in attendance on Sunday mornings. This is only part of what it means to be the church. Yes we gather, but we also scatter. If we put too much emphasis on the Sunday gathering and see this alone as “church,” then we’ll get frustrated when people aren’t there. Many pastors and members build their identity around numbers. This is dangerous and is most certainly a sign that you aren’t focused on making disciples of Jesus, but instead, disciples of the church. Disappointment is understandable; we want to see the lost come to know Jesus. But that must be grounded in gospel-motivation toward seeing more and more people become disciples of Jesus.

Disciples of Jesus build their identity around the gospel. Disciples of the church build their identity around attendance.

2. We Criticize Other Churches

We all tend to think that we’re the pure, true, and most correct church. This may in fact be true, but when we demonize others and divide on secondary matters, we are trying to defend Jesus when he needs no defense. When we criticize others, we are making disciples of our church because we want to keep people near to us and away from "them." We're more concerned about them huddling up with us instead of sending them out on mission. Suddenly your criticism serves as a ploy to justify “your church” and all of its perfection. We must remember that, unless heretical teachings exist elsewhere, all churches built on the gospel of Jesus are on the same team. We are fighting the same fight under the same Master. If a person in the church wants to join mission with another church, they should be sent away with joy and prayer. We should love other Jesus-glorifying churches as we all make disciples of him.

Disciples of Jesus are known for their love (John 13:35). Disciples of the church are known for what they’re against.

3. We Invite People to Come but Don't Tell Them to Go

This is a classic - and often overlooked - example. When success is defined by an individual’s attendance and giving instead of obedience to the gospel, we make disciples of the church instead of Jesus. When we over-emphasize “church” activities (Bible studies, Sunday night services, Wednesday night services, age-appropriate services, missional communities, service projects, etc.), it is no wonder a person views church as merely a thing they attend. They tend to embrace the goods and services, pay their money, and leave. We are so busy seeing church as a come-and-see event that people aren’t sent out on mission into their families, groups of friends, neighborhoods, workplaces, and to the ends of the earth. We must equip people in the power of the gospel to take that gospel out into their everyday lives. A lamp under a basket does not offer light to a dark world (Matt. 5:15-16).

Disciples of Jesus are sent on mission and challenged to do so. Disciples of the church just come and sit.

4, We Make Gatherings a Gimmick

When we ignore the mission of making disciples of Jesus, we tend to fill the time with goods and services. Suddenly, the bulk of our teaching becomes a gimmick to “get people to church" instead of a passionate plea for mission through the power and purpose of the gospel. We set up our Sunday mornings to make it as comfortable as possible. This is related to point #3, because instead of freeing up the church calendar for mission, we fill it with entertainment that ultimately distracts people from the real task at hand. Instead of training people for war, we entertain them with pithy paraphernalia. I get it. It’s often easier, because living our lives on full display for a doubting and watching world is hard. But Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow him. This means that church gatherings are a training ground for gospel battle, not a hip place to drink coffee and feel better about ourselves.

Disciples of Jesus long for the gospel, long to see not-yet believers come to Christ, and situate their lives to accomplish this. Disciples of the church long for the newest and best gimmick at church.

5. We Make the Gospel Dependent Upon Men

It's tempting to default toward trying to get people in the doors so that the gospel invitation can be given by the "professionals." We do this with good intentions, hoping that the lost person will come to faith. However, this sometimes turns into us spending more time getting people to acclimate to our church culture rather than familiarizing them with the good news and the grand mission. The gospel then becomes something only “those” people need to "get saved," and not something that is a daily necessity for all people. We tie their faith to a one-time experience based on the teaching of someone other than Jesus. This stunts their lifelong growth in the gospel. The gospel is the very power of God, not simply a fact to be acknowledged one Sunday morning. We must, with laser-like focus, continually point people to Jesus and the gospel as the only perfect goal. People will let them down; Jesus never will. He must be their prize, their hope, and their motivation toward daily striving.

Disciples of Jesus long for the gospel in every moment. Disciples of the church see the gospel as irrelevant in day-to-day life.

Are we making disciples of Jesus and centering our churches around him and his mission? Or are we too busy making our own survival as an organization the most important thing?

_

Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Th.D.) serves as Lead Pastor of Colwood Church in Caro, MI. Jason and his wife Mary have three children, Elijah, Avery and Nathan. He blogs at www.jasongarwood.com. Connect with him on Twitter: @jasongarwood.

Why I'm Tired of Church Planting

  It seems that there are often no churches in our cities worth joining. I say this because I see many people planting new churches rather than coming alongside churches that are already established. It seems to be happening everywhere. I actually come from a smaller town in the Seattle area where it seemed impossible to find a church that I would have called family. So, I do get it. Finding a church that feels like family is hard.

Nonetheless, I'm tired of church planting. Now, notice that I didn’t say, “Why I am tired of church planters.” I love my church planting friends, and I want this to be an encouragement to them. This article isn’t going to be some polemic to rid ourselves of church planting, but I want to ask how we might change our views of church planting and the ways that it often manifests itself. I also want to look at the systems and measurables that we currently use.

I am not a church planter in the ways in which someone would traditionally see a church planter. I look to make disciples in the every day. I am a business owner and a neighborhood missionary. I’ve never been to seminary, I’ve never been to any church planting meetings, trainings, been assessed as a planter, or anything else of the sort. So, actually, I am pretty clueless on what it would take to try and plant a church in that sense. So, I write this a bit from an outsider perspective. I’m not saying it’s unbiblical to plant a service as it were, I just believe that we might be thinking about church planting backwards.

Here is a picture of how effective church planting could happen, and it seems to be in line with Paul’s thinking in 1 Cor. 3:6-9 when he says:

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

For the most part, I enjoy my time with church planters. They are great people who desire to see the cities they are sent to changed for the sake of Christ. This isn’t to call out church planters to say that they are evil, or doing things completely wrong; it is written from an outsider who desires planters to see what I am seeing from the sidelines. I might be totally wrong, but lately, when I see someone is planting a church, I don’t get excited. I finally started to wonder why.

Clarifying the Terms

When I say “church planting,” I want you to know what I mean. What I see around the world as I train and coach is this: a church planter is someone who moves into an area and gathers other Christians in order to start a church service. From there, they seek how they then can impact their community in a myriad of ways, but the main push will come on Sunday morning which will be the “front door” for the church.

Most church planters I see are very courageous. They take some serious risks to try and make this type church planting work. I admire them for their desire go on the frontlines and take this risk. But, what I keep seeing is that many church plants fail and struggle to keep all the balls they juggle in the air. This leads to a ton of stress, burdens, and burnout.

Church planters, consider this: what if we changed how we planted churches and how we measured them?

Please, remember that I will be painting with broad strokes in this article, and I don’t mean to say that all church planters will fit into the troubles that I mention here. But, many do. And I want to serve them.

Here are some things for us all to consider when we think of church planting.

Cart Before the Horse?

I feel as though many church planters are putting the cart before the horse. They quit their jobs, raise funds, gather other Christians, have a preview service, and then shortly start a Sunday gathering. That’s a lot of stress. But does it have to be this way?

What if you did things differently? What if instead of quitting your "day job," you decided to keep it in order to make disciples in your workplace and neighborhood? Instead of gathering Christians to work hard at starting a church service, we gathered Christians for the sake of sending them out to make disciples. This way, as we live life with those in our neighborhood we could ask ourselves, “Do they actually need another church service in this city?” The answer might be yes. But rather than assuming that right from the start and experiencing all the stress of putting together a church service (which requires ample amounts of time and money), you can live a normal life of making disciples where you are.

As the disciple-making happens in an area, maybe the people will decide that they could use you to equip them. They might even offer to compensate you for the training and the time it takes to equip others. All of a sudden, the church is deciding what they need from a needs-based analysis. They can see that they need someone to have more time to devote to disciple-making, rather than immediately assuming that they have to raise a bunch of money to make disciples in their city.

It seems to me that this might be more freeing than the first scenario. This will put you in a place to be a learner, like the disciples in the New Testament. A learner would be part of the city first, for a long time, before he decided what the city needed. A learner would learn the stories of the people and of the city to which he is sent. One would hear where the city and people needed redemption, and then apply the good news in both oral and tangible ways. Maybe one of the tangible ways would actually be a church building and a church service, but how would you know unless you’ve lived among the people first?

Unity

There are cities everywhere that desperately need a gospel-centered church that faithfully proclaims the good news. What I am hoping to see in church planters is that they truly inquire about the other churches in the area they feel called to before they assume that a new one is needed. When we plant another church service, it tells the community, whether we like it or not, that we are not unified. In some ways we aren’t, which is fine. We just want to be careful as followers of Jesus not to make the churches in our city an “us vs. them” mentality. I recently talked to a friend who doesn’t belong to a church and wouldn’t call himself a Christian or follower of Jesus. I asked him why he hates the church, one of his responses was this:

People that represent the church seem to lead with religion, not love. "What church do you go to?" "Are you a Christian?" Instead of just being good.

Another friend of mine responded with this answer:

Christ wasn't about growing an individual group; his concern was for all of humanity. Spread the word, yes, but they don't have to sit in the same building as you at the same hours on the same days of the week for it to count and matter.

We need to be about the Church instead of merely our version of a church. So, in what ways can we show the unity of the Church to our city as we desire to make disciples of Jesus? Moving into a city and starting a church service right away might not be the best flag to raise in some cities. If this is the case, how can we instead come alongside the other churches to see how we can humbly help and lead as servants?

Disciple-Making as Our Measure of Success

There are church planting networks that state that you are not officially a church in their network until you have a certain amount of adults at your Sunday service, or who’d be considered members of the church. Other groups or denominations might look to how many people has a church baptized, how many were at Sunday school, how many families gave money, etc. Many of us know the parameters of success – the three B’s: butts, budgets, and buildings.

If you measure the success of the church based on the fruit that only can be provided by the Spirit you will kill your church planters. What do I mean? I think we should measure what we can actually control, standing amazed at the greatness of our God and the indwelling Spirit when we are blessed with witnessing the fruit that God allows us to see with our own eyes.

What if we measured the success of our churches by asking this question:

How many people’s stories in your neighborhood do you know so intimately that you know exactly where they need the good news?

The reason that this is such a good measurement tool is that this gives everyone a fighting chance. This kind of measurement would require the planter (and all of us) to be doing the work we’ve been called to do: to shepherd people to the only hope we have. It requires the church planter to be involved in his people and neighborhood. It requires him to invest deeply into a few people deeply instead of to many on a surface level. It requires him to train up new people to “go and make” because the planter will not have the time to invest this type of life into thousands. In the end, if we have this as our measurement tool, we can see people being discipled instead of merely “making a decision” or just showing up to a church service.

We might see them actively bringing all areas of their (and others’) lives under the lordship of Jesus by the power of the Spirit through the good news. This is discipleship! This is what we’ve been called to do. Why not make this our measurement tool? It seems as though this was our mission given to us by Jesus. “Go and make disciples…” (Matt. 28:18-20). After this, you baptize. After that, you teach them everything that Jesus has commanded, but not before they have entered into a deep discipleship relationship with you.

The planter could feel freed to do the ministry to which he’s been called if we didn’t measure success through programs, conversions, attendance, and baptisms. These might all come, and we should be thrilled when they do; but statistics are not what they, and we, are primarily called to do. We are called to make disciples.

Discipling Like Jesus

How did Jesus do this? He spent three years with a dozen men, showing them who he was. He intimately knew their stories, and they were aware of his interest. When he called them, he said, “Follow me.” He lived life with them for awhile before ever asking them, “Who do you say that I am?” He didn’t have programs, he didn’t have buildings, he didn’t have any measurement tool besides the very fact that he knew their stories. He knew who he was discipling and for what purpose. Jesus couldn’t be a church planter in most networks today, and he would be a sorry excuse for a planter based on the measurements to which we so often cling.

So, why am I tired of church planting? Because it seems as though we have it all backwards. We are more concerned with seeing the fruit that only God can give (drawing, conversions, etc.), instead of being concerned with the very thing he has empowered us to do: to make disciples.

What if instead of starting a church service, raising funds, having preview services, and sending out flyers in the mail about the next sermon series, we decided to be disciples? I’m not vilifying inviting people to your church gatherings, but this cannot be primary.

We must decide to be learners. We learn from the other churches in the area, we learn from those in our community, we learn by walking in the ways of Jesus in the community. Then, we ask the Spirit what to do next, and actually listen to him. He might tell you to never start a service, but he also might tell you to start a service. Who knows? But, it seems to walk in line more with Jesus’s mission he gave us to focus primarily on making disciples.

Jesus said that he will never leave us alone when we are seeking his will. We’ll see external fruit, but this should not be our sole measurement of success. Our church planters should not be under such pressure to “perform” and to do things that aren’t under their control. I meet too many guys who are burnt out, their families are falling apart, they’re stressed out, and they are quite literally killing themselves because of failure. I don’t care if this is hard to quantify; we need to start dealing with the fact that we can’t always quantify what the Spirit is doing. Again, why don’t we equip our church planters how to disciple instead of how to start a church service?

Jesus created a movement and a new Kingdom where he could tell us:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Is our “kingdom of church planting” creating this type of living, or the one that rewrites Jesus’s words to say:

Come to me all you who are well rested and I will make you weary and burdened. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am merciless and prideful in heart, and you will find work for your souls. For my yoke is hard and my burden is heavy.

 _

Seth McBee is the adopted son of God, husband of one wife, and father of three. He’s a graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a finance degree. By trade. Seth is an investment portfolio manager, serving as President of McBee Advisors, Inc. He is also a MC leader/trainer/coach and executive team member of the GCM Collective. Seth currently lives in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Stacy and their three children: Caleb, Coleman, and Madelynn. He is also the artist and co-author of the wildly popular (and free!) eBook, Be The Church: Discipleship & Mission Made Simple. Twitter: @sdmcbee.

How to Turn a Conversation

  Max wanted to meet with me about his new blog. He needed help in fleshing out his concept and practical perspective on reaching his audience. Max is a student from the youth ministry that I had pastored for four years.

We met at a café and went to work on his blog. I pointed out some practical components he needed in his right sidebar and explained the importance of leveraging social media. We talked about networking with people along his niche. I encouraged him to buy Michael Hyatt’s book Platform.

Then the conversation took a subtle turn to discipleship. “Max, how are you going to introduce the gospel into your blog?”

This took him by surprise. I reminded him that as he builds a platform, he extends God’s platform. Every post about music is an opportunity to let the gospel shine. As Tim Keller points out, there are diverse ways to let the gospel shine in your work or writing. We don't have to tag every post with Jesus.

From here the conversation sprang into "burn out" on church. We discussed how to respond to someone who’s been “hurt” by the church. We talked about the book Embracing Obscurity and how he ought to read it in tandem with Platform. I shared about the impetus behind my blog and writing ministry. All through our discussion, I interlaced gospel threads.

These conversations happen with Christians and non-Christians alike. When this occurs, we must always remember that there is a dance between what we can do and what the Holy Spirit does in people’s hearts. We need to first rely on the Holy Spirit and look for his prompting to take a gospel turn in our conversations. In an instant, a person's heart and mind can unexpectedly open to hear the gospel story. But how do we prepare ourselves to take these gospel turns? What are natural segues into gospel conversations? What do we do if someone is reluctant to take the turn with us?

Preparing to Take the Gospel Turn in a Conversation

Be prepared to share. In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul says, “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season.” This does not mean that we have to have mastered the Bible before we can be used by God to take a gospel turn. Rather it means to always be ready to teach in every situation. It helps to be able to share about what God has taught you personally. But don’t discourage yourself from taking the gospel turn because you aren’t a Bible scholar. God can use you where you are. It is advantageous to be well-studied in the Word as you engage in gospel conversations, but it is equally true that the gospel is simple truth that even a child can understand.

Spend time with people. A lot of us could easily eat lunch alone at our desk every day at work. Instead, invite others to join you for lunch. Look for ways to connect with others over table fellowship. Eating a meal together is one of the best settings to take the turn towards a gospel conversation because it is a common, relaxed environment that all people share. Maybe your friend at work is having trouble parenting a child. You can invite them to have lunch and you can share how you have experienced the same challenge. As trust builds, he might be open to hear how the gospel influences his situation.

Capitalize on your skills. Maybe you have a friend who needs help with something simple, like in my situation with Max. Max knew I had a skill and wanted to learn from that skill. When someone recognizes a talent or skill that you possess, use it to bring him or her to the gospel. Remember Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Share how you apply your skill or talent for God’s glory.

Have resources handy. I have resources ready at hand. I keep both the "Story" and "2WaysToLive" apps on my phone and iPad. I also love sharing with people about New City Catechism. I share about how we lead our children through New City Catechism and how it is perfect for adults, too. I often have a book with me. Sometimes I simply share a quote that I underlined or recently highlighted. It’s surprising how many times normal conversation connects to what I’ve been reading recently. Though many of these resources are a tad out of vogue these days, they can be a helpful teaching tool for the person and a useful guide for the discipler.

Natural Segues

There are a number of ways to segue these moments into a gospel conversation. Here are a couple of tips.

Use questions. As you’re discussing with your friend, try asking, “Have you ever thought about how God would want you to…?” Or, “How are you going to introduce the gospel into…?” You could also try, “How do you think God expects us to…?” All of these are great segues to lead into a gospel conversation. Using questions invites people to share, which is far better than you just teaching at someone. People who haven’t invited your gospel input may be hesitant to take the turn into a gospel conversation. This leads to the second segue.

Ask for permission. When I was growing up, one of the ways I got into the most trouble was not asking permission. My mom would nail me because I didn’t get her permission to do something first. However, when I asked my mom permission, she almost always said, “Yes.” This principle applies to friendships as well. When we ask for permission, people are usually accommodating. So ask permission to apply the gospel to your friend’s life. They might be willing to permit you to transition your conversation to gospel matters.

Handling Reluctance

Of course, people might be reluctant to talk about gospel matters. Even Christians will be this way. They may say something like, “Look at you, over-gospelizing everything.” Or maybe they’ll make a light-hearted joke or be skeptical. Initially, Max raised objections about how his blog was meant for the “mainstream.” Of course, the non-Christian will often be hesitant to talk about gospel matters. In both cases, how do we respond when people object or are reluctant?

Walk the tight-rope between persistence and pressure. You don’t want people to feel uncomfortable or pressured. You want to be respectful. However, there is a difference between pressuring and persistence. Maybe you need to let it go and then return to the concept later. Perhaps you haven’t asked permission. Perhaps the person found your conversation to be too pushy.

When a pilot knows he is not coming in for a sound landing, what does he do? If possible, he circles around and tries a new approach. He waits for calm weather or better winds. Persistence is when you circle around and try a new approach or waiting for a fitting time to return to discussing gospel matters. However, persistence can often be seen as pressure, so be mindful of their response. This leads to the other tip.

Read their feelings. Some people may feel threatened by you bringing up gospel matters. Others will feel insecure. Still others will be fearful. Max wasn’t unwilling to discuss the gospel. His hesitancy rested in his fear. He needed someone to infuse him with courage. I did so by showing him how Relevant Magazine navigates the mainstream and yet introduces the gospel into their interviews and posts all the time. This gave him courage to follow suit. I persisted with Max because I knew his gospel perspective. I had clocked in plenty of time with him to know what drove his objections.

There are going to be those situations where a friend adamantly refuses to discuss gospel matters. When someone feels provoked or enraged by you introducing gospel matters, it means that there is some hardening of heart. Trust that God knows what he is doing with this person. Look for ways to be persistent but not pressuring. And if the person outright rejects speaking with you about the gospel, pray often for him. If it is God’s will, he will soften that person’s heart. He may even use you. Extending mercy, grace, and acceptance could bring about a beautiful, gospel-rich conversation.

Give Them Jesus

Taking a gospel turn in a conversation is a delicate process where we lean in to hear the Holy Spirit’s prompting. Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” This means to not abide in our flesh. We will want to force or coerce a gospel conversation. Remember, they are only gospel conversations because the Holy Spirit led them to occur. When they do occur, gospel conversations are a powerful experience. Encounters with the gospel are like running into a dear friend at a café. The unplanned fellowship is sweet and often surprising.

Still, taking the gospel turn in a conversation is not only a Spirit-led endeavor, but a way of life.. We need to practice and be intentional about taking the gospel turn in a conversation. I admit that Max and my “unplanned" fellowship came unexpected only to Max. As I have feasted on the gospel by preaching it to myself daily, I’ve practiced the discipline of introducing the gospel into everyday conversation. Why?

Milton Vincent writes:

By preaching the gospel to myself each day, I nurture the bond that unites me with my brothers and sisters for whom Christ died, and I also keep myself well-versed in the raw materials with which I may actively love them in Christ.

Being well-versed in the raw materials of the gospel will make conversations more natural and compelling. We will be more prone to share a Christ we love, than a doctrine we defend. We love others best when we love them with the gospel. When we introduce the cross and the resurrection into conversation, we practice a worthy discipline of centering fellowship and discipleship upon the gospel. We give that person what they need the most: Jesus.

I walked away from meeting with Max seeing a young man refreshed by the gospel and growing in knowledge and wonder of how the gospel applies in every facet of life. This is what we should all hope to accomplish by taking the gospel turn in conversations.

_

Joey Cochran served as the high school pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for four years before transitioning to serve as Resource Pastor at Cross Community Chicago. Joey is a graduate of Dallas Seminary and blogs regularly at JTCochran.com. Follow him on Twitter: @joeycochran.

Why Women Should Go Beyond Titus 2

When women think of discipleship relationships, we often think of Titus 2:3–5:

"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self–controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." (Titus 2:3–5)

Although it is good and right to think of this passage when discipling women, there is a danger in taking one passage of Scripture and zooming in on it; the danger is in missing or excluding the whole. For example, before there was Titus 2:3–5, there was Titus 1:1–2:3, and after Titus 2:3–5 there is Titus 2:6–3:15. And before the book of Titus, there is the entire Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament canon. And after the book of Titus, we have Philemon through Revelation. I think this mistake has the potential to rob women of the richness of the Scripture. It is unhelpful to bind women's discipleship to these three verses to the exclusion—or to the flattening—of the rest of the Bible.

It is because I know the dangers of thinking in an exclusively Titus 2 category that I put such emphasis on gospel-centered, whole–Bible discipleship in my local ministry. I may write on a more public level to encourage the broader Church, but I know the power of local discipleship relationships and that's what I try to cultivate in my daily life.

I’m also convinced that life-on-life discipleship is the way that Jesus discipled his followers. He not only taught them the Scriptures, but he invited them to watch him live a life of servanthood, modeling the gospel to them in the everyday of life. If we focus on gospel-centered, whole-Bible discipleship fostered in organic relationships, we are modeling what I view as Scripture’s version of discipleship.

Gospel-Centered Whole-Bible Discipleship

You may wonder why I am using the terminology “gospel–centered whole–Bible.” First, if discipleship is not “gospel-centered,” it doesn't qualify as discipleship. Without that intentional center, it inevitably begins to drift away from Christ. If it's not centered on Christ, it will inevitably lead to setting something at a higher value than Christ. Whatever that “thing” is which becomes the focus, it will eventually become an idol. This idol will enslave the heart and marginalize the life, work, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Second, I use “whole–Bible” because focusing on narrow passages can blind us to the work of God in the rest of Scripture. There is potential to flatten our faith and stunt our growth. It can make us biblically illiterate or eventually twist our understanding of God's work in the gospel. It does this by setting the passage in focus up and above the work of Christ in the gospel. It puts us at risk of almost pitting Scripture against Scripture.

By centering on the gospel and expanding our discipleship to the entirety of Scripture, we encourage other women to understand and experience Christ in all of life. It keeps a woman's zeal for Jesus while tempering the pendulum swinging on other issues (e.g. singleness, marriage, work, children, etc.).

Although discipleship is more than just studying the Bible together, I prefer to couple the organic relationship with studying the Scriptures directly. This can happen in an organized women's Bible study or it can happen in a small group of women studying God's Word together or it can happen in a one–on–one relationship.

Another benefit of whole–Bible discipleship is that it sets all of God's Word as an arc over the relationship so that anything and everything can be talked about in light of the entirety of Scripture. This robust exposure to the Bible as a whole will spiritually feed the single and the married woman, those with children and those without, the young and the old. Whole–Bible discipleship strengthens women as women.

Organic Relationship-Building

There are various ways to teach and train women, and many have proven useful. One of those ways is teaching books of the Bible, as we've discussed. Through the exegetical teaching of God's Word we can work through faith issues, home issues, personal sin issues, and even marriage issues. Exposure to the direct Word of God opens women to the direct work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. It's crucial to foster discussions of the Word of God, and as women talk and think and share and cry, the Holy Sprit actively works in their midst.

The second method which has proven to be fruitful in my life is organic discipleship relationships. These are relationships which form and are sustained naturally from common local life. I am not against organized discipleship teams, or assigned groups or pairs at all. I know they can be a useful tool and a blessing to people's lives, but I personally prefer to practice a more organic approach. That does not mean, however, that I don't employ deliberateness.

These can be very deliberate; you can set a schedule and meet on a regular basis. Sometimes these relationships are less formal friendships—women who come over for tea, coffee, or lunch and we talk. I try to make sure that these relationships don't devolve into an “I have it all figured out, so let me download all my wisdom.” These women are my sisters in Christ. I have just as much to learn from them as they do from me because we all have our strengths and weaknesses. Discipleship is more about inviting a woman into my life to know me for who I am, how I pursue God, how I serve my family, and all the faults and failings that go with that. Reciprocally, I aim to know who they are, how they pursue God, how they serve their family, and to learn from them and hopefully to sharpen them in return. One of the things that blesses me deeply is the young moms. I oscillate between feeling unworthy to give them advice and wanting desperately to bless them with wisdom I wish someone had given me when I was young. One of the greatest blessings of keeping my eyes on Jesus is seeing the variety of beautiful ways he works in other women's lives. And then he blesses me by letting me share in that work.

How do we intentionally build these types of relationships in a culture which fosters an individualistic lifestyle? It's helpful to look at relationships and community examples in the Bible. Not necessarily as a one–to–one analogy to today, but as examples of how God works through “one–anothering.” When we look at Scripture we see the Christian community shared meals, shared their goods, sacrificed for one another, sang together, prayed together, exhorted one another, and so on (see: Acts 2). Maybe they even had their version of a “wine and cheese” night. No, they didn't do this perfectly, and there were surely a few squabbles. This is part and parcel of being in each other's lives. We have squabbles, but by the grace of God through the work of the Holy Spirit, but we overcome with our relationships stronger than before.

Where to Start

If you are  unpracticed at this kind of “life together” type of discipleship, it may be difficult to think of ways to start. It's certainly not a 0–to–60, speedy relationship-building technique. It's deliberate, time consuming, and requires longsuffering. It's deliberate in that we have to put effort into praying and looking out for people who need to be loved, cared for, and mentored. It may mean inviting singles over to spend time with you or to share in your family time. It may be serving the less fortunate together. It could be a variety of things, but the point is to disciple them through letting them into your life. Treat them like family.

Edith Schaeffer used to say a family is like a door: a door that has hinges and a lock. This door should have well–oiled hinges and can swing open, like a hospitable family inviting others into their life and home. The door/family also needs a lock, for those times when the family needs to be alone together as a family. Living fruitfully means learning the balance. It's time consuming because these types of relationships aren't built overnight. And when they are built they require consistent care, which leads us to longsuffering. In an instant-gratification culture, this can be one of the most difficult parts of living within these organic relationships. We need patience with ourselves and others. This is not a McDonald's drive-thru type of discipleship; these are human beings who we are investing in, and who are investing in us. This is the Christian life lived out faithfully together and within communities.

Gospel-centered whole-Bible discipleship is about women pursuing Jesus together in light of the entire Word of God through the real-life power of doing life together. It's about seeking first the kingdom of God together and letting him add whatever he wills to us.

_

Luma Simms (@lumasimms) is a wife and mother of five delightful children between the ages of 1 and 18. She studied physics and law before Christ led her to become a writer, blogger, and Bible study teacher. She is the author of Gospel Amnesia: Forgetting the Goodness of the News. She blogs regularly at Gospel Grace.

---

Setting the Tone of Discipleship

  This is an excerpt from Jared Wilson's book, The Pastor's Justification, used with permission from the author. Purchase the book here, and check out our interview with Jared here.

_

Be What You Want to See

God forbids pastoral domineering but commands instead “being examples to the flock” (1 Pet. 5:3). Therefore, pastor, whatever you are, your church will eventually become. If you are a loudmouth boaster, your church will gradually become known for loudmouth boasting. If you are a graceless idiot, your church will gradually become known for graceless idiocy. The leadership will set the tone of the community’s discipleship culture, setting the example of the church body’s “personality.” So whatever you want to see, that is what you must be.

This is another reason why plurality of eldership is so important. The most important reason to have multiple elders leading a church is because that is the biblical model. But a plurality of eldership also provides unity in leadership on the nonnegotiable qualifications but works against uniformity in leadership by establishing a collaboration of wisdom, diversity of gifts, and collection of experiences.

Elders must be qualified elders, so in several key areas they will be quite similar. But through having a plurality of elders, a church receives the example of unity in diversity, which is to be played out among the body as well. Every elder ought to “be able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2), but not every elder must be an intellectual sort (if you follow my meaning). Every elder must be “self-controlled,” but some may be extroverts and some introverts, some may be analytical types and others creative. Every elder must be “respectable” and “a husband of one wife,” but some may be older and some may be younger. The more diversity one can manage on an elder board while still maintaining a unity on the biblical qualifications, the fellowship’s doctrinal affirmations, and the church’s mission, the better.

A plurality of elders can be an example to the congregation of unity of mind and heart despite differences. Pastors are not appointed to a church primarily to lead in the instruction of skills and the dissemination of information; they are appointed to a church primarily to lead in Christ-following.

A different set of traits is needed for pastors than for the business world’s management culture. Paul writes, “But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children” (1 Thess. 2:7). This is not exactly the pastoral image that is most popular today. In an age when machismo and “catalytic, visionary” life-coaching dominate the evangelical leadership ranks, the ministerial model of a breastfeeding mom is alien. There is a patience, a parental affection, a tender giving of one’s self that Scripture envisions for the pastor’s role in leadership. In 2 Corinthians 12:15, Paul announces, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” That is the pastor’s heart.

Leading the Way

If we want our churches to be of one mind, to be of one heart, to assassinate their idols and feast on Christ, to be wise and winsome with the world they have forsaken, to be gentle of spirit but full of confidence and boldness, to be blossoming with the fruit of the Spirit, we must lead the way.

A pastor goes first. In groups where transparency is expected, a pastor goes first. In the humility of service, a pastor goes first. In the sharing of the gospel with the lost, a pastor goes first. In the discipleship of new believers, a pastor goes first. In the singing of spiritual songs with joy and exuberance, a pastor goes first. In living generously, a pastor goes first. In the following of Christ by the taking up of one’s cross, a pastor goes first. All I am saying is that one who talks the talk ought to walk the walk. Don’t lead your flock through domineering; lead by example.

The pastor ought to be able to say with integrity to others, as Paul says to Timothy, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:13). It is not arrogant to instruct others to follow you, so long as you are following Christ and showing them Christ and giving them Christ. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ,” Paul says again (1 Cor. 11:1).

Younger pastors especially are as eager to find role models as they are eager to be role models. But we are not about trying to create fan clubs and clone armies. We are about seeding Christlikeness through the Spirit’s power. “Let no one despise you for your youth,” Paul instructs his young protégé (1 Tim. 4:12), but he provides the way to do this: “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” The way you prevent others from looking down on your youth is by growing up.

Growing up. That is what God wants for his church.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . (Eph. 4:11-13)

He is making us fit for the habitation he has already promised us and given us in our mystical union with Christ. He is making us holy as he is holy.

_

Jared C. Wilson (@jaredcwilson) is Becky’s husband and Macy and Grace’s daddy, and also the pastor of Middletown Springs Community Church in Middletown Springs, Vermont and the author of the books Gospel Wakefulness, Your Jesus is Too Safe, Abide, Seven Daily Sins, and Gospel Deeps. He blogs almost daily at The Gospel-Driven Church.

The Burden of Shepherding

It's an understatement to say that the Apostle Paul faced challenges. In 2 Corinthians 11, he rattled off a list of some of the difficulties he encountered as an apostolic church planter. He was beaten, imprisoned, whipped, and shipwrecked. He experienced sleeplessness, hunger, nakedness, rejection, false accusation, and persecution. His work was literally dangerous. He used the word “danger” eight times to describe it. This list de-romanticizes the apostolic gifting and calling, doesn’t it? And yet, at the end of his vivid description of the suffering he had faced, he makes a very telling statement: “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28). Everything else refers to his being shipwrecked, beaten, homeless, hungry, etc. There was something  beyond these struggles. What could be more difficult to endure than all of that “everything else?” Evidently, of all the challenges Paul faced, the burden of caring for the churches was the most difficult. Paul’s concern for the church caused him anxiety. This is the very same word used in 1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  Anyone who has ever answered the phone at 3 am to the sound of someone weeping can relate to Paul. Anyone who has sat with a woman after she’s learned her husband has cheated on her can understand what he’s feeling.  Anyone who has driven around town in the dark looking for the guy from their missional community who is strung out on meth can begin to comprehend what Paul is saying. Caring for people is extremely difficult work that has the potential to cause great anxiety.

I am frequently asked: “How to you handle the burden of shepherding people? How do you avoid making people’s problems your own? Where do you find the strength to continue caring for them, even when it’s extremely difficult?” Often, the person asking these questions are being crushed under this burden.

I think there is something healthy about Paul’s anxiety. He continues his thought by saying, “Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” (2 Corinthians 11:29). We are actually commanded to “weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15). The word “compassion” literally means “to be moved in one’s intestines.” When other people are hurting, we should feel it deeply, too. On the other hand (and I have no idea if this was the case for Paul), I think there is often something unhealthy about the anxiety we feel.

Two False Beliefs that Lead to Unhealth

While there may be many factors that contribute to unhealthy anxiety, in my own life I see two primary reasons I end up feeling the burden of shepherding.

1. I think it’s my responsibility to “save” people.

It’s my job to “fix” them. I need to save this couple’s marriage, I need to ensure that this man overcomes his porn addiction, I need to heal this woman from her sexual abuse. Those statements sound ridiculous because they are never stated that explicitly but are buried under a pile of good intentions and pious justification. Justifications such as: “We are called to bear one another’s burdens,” “We are the hands and feet of Jesus,”and “this is the work I’m called to do.”

What I’m truly saying when I take ultimate responsibility for the well-being of others is: “If they crash, it’s on me. My worth and value is at stake. If this doesn’t end well, it will reflect negatively on me, and I don’t want to look like an idiot.”

The good news, however, is Jesus Christ is the person responsible for the shepherding and care of every person in our church family! He is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (John 10). He is the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5), which means he’s the Senior Pastor. He’s the one who indwells people with his Spirit; the same Spirit that raised him from the dead. He is the one who brings about transformation. Let that sink in for moment:  It’s the Spirit’s job to care for people and to change people. The amazing thing is that he asks us to join him in that work-not to own that work, but to join that work.

2. I think I can do my part with my power.

The Chief Shepherd is responsible for everyone, but he asks me to shepherd his flock, too. The weight is on his shoulders, while I am given the opportunity to serve him by serving others. Even when I’m clear on this, however, I sometimes end up feeling the burden of shepherding because I attempt to do “my” part in the power of my own strength.

Here are some indicators that I may have slipped into this faulty thinking/belief:

• I am concerned about saying the wrong thing.
• I am uncomfortable with silence.
• I get nervous about heart level conversations.
• Shepherding leaves me completely exhausted.
• I find myself worrying about the people I'm caring for
• I get frustrated (rather than grieved) by a lack of progress

Jesus has, in fact, asked us to join him in his work of caring for his people. But he has also given us every resource needed to do that work. Every resource! He’s given us his Spirit, who supernaturally empowers us for ministry (Ephesians 1:19-20, Colossians 1:29). The Spirit is the wisdom and the power of God, so we lack neither the necessary wisdom or the necessary power to care for others. The challenge for me is to “serve by the strength that God provides” (1 Peter 4:11) rather than “leaning on my own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Self-reliance is a sure path to shepherding burnout.

Three Helpful Practices in Shepherding

How can we actively engage in the care of people’s hearts without getting completely overwhelmed in the process? How do we avoid unhealthy anxiety, and consider the health of our own hearts as we shepherd others? I’ve found these three practices to be helpful:

1. Repent of my desire to save people in order to make myself significant. This is nothing short of idolatry, and a flat-out denial of the work of Jesus. He alone defines me. I am one with him, and my life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Additional efforts to prove my worth are an insult to the One True Savior. We must repent of this idolatry and return to worship of the only savior.

2. Affirm that it is the Spirit’s responsibility to change people. Repeatedly entrust people to his care. They belong to him! (Psalm 24:1). I often lift my hands in the air as I’m praying early in the morning for a hurting person, reminding myself that they belong to him, and that they are ultimately in his hands. I can trust him to do all of the things Jesus said he would do: convict, teach, comfort, remind, and glorify Jesus.

At the end of a hard meeting or a heavy phone call, pray and entrust the person into the Spirit’s ongoing care. Make it clear to God, yourself, and the other person that you are trusting the Holy Spirit to be the one to bring about transformation in the person’s life.

Worry and anxiety are often a sign that we believe our identity is in question. “If this doesn't work out well, it will impact my worth and value.” Casting all of your anxieties upon him means affirming that the outcome of any shepherding situations we find ourselves in will have no impact on our identity. I find this prayer helps me affirm the Spirit’s work and my identity. I pray:

This is your responsibility, not mine. This is in your hands. I trust you to work. Regardless of what happens, I will entrust this person to you, and I will entrust myself to you. I will not be anxious, feeling that I must perform in order to be significant or worthy. My worth and value comes exclusively from the work of Jesus and through my connection to him. I cast my anxieties upon you, because you care for me, and because you are responsible for them and for me. This is your job and I trust you to do it!

3. Pray and ask the Spirit to speak to you concerning the people you shepherd. “What do I need to say? What questions do I need to ask? What scriptures might be relevant?” Then, pray and ask the Spirit to fill, empower, and speak through you. My flesh (Romans 13:14), my “old self” (Ephesians 4:22) hates to depend on the Spirit. It is filled with pride and desperately wants me to look smart, to appear as if I have it all together.  Total dependence on the Spirit puts me in a place of humility, and gives me greater energy and clarity for the task at hand.

Peter’s words to elders should serve as a fitting closing word to anyone involved in the shepherding and care of others. May the Spirit fill us for the task at hand!

I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. - 1 Peter 5:1-5

--

Abe Meysenburg serves as a pastor and elder with Soma Communities in Tacoma, WA. After living in the Midwest for most of their lives, he and his wife, Jennifer, moved to Tacoma in the summer of 1999. In 2001, after working as a Starbucks manager for a few years, Abe helped start The Sound Community Church, which then became a part of Soma Communities in May 2007. Twitter: @AbeMeysenburg.

Other articles by Abe Meysenburg: Grief and the Gospel and The Gospel and the Great Commandment.

Staying for the Best Things

I can't shake the scene of that little room where Passion and Patience sit waiting. The boys' sitter instructed them to stay still, to rest side by side, to hold out for what's best. What we come to find is a quest for pleasure so intense we're compelled to take note. John Bunyan is telling that kind of story in The Pilgrim's Progress. He brings us along with Christian every step of the way and at this particular point Interpreter is our guide.

Interpreter leads Christian into a small room to observe two kids seated in parallel chairs. Passion is the restless one. He is discontent, perhaps huffing and puffing, frowning and squirming. Beside him is Patience. He's the one who keeps quiet. Bunyan implies his posture: feet straight in front of him, neatly squared up in the middle of the chair, hands folded in his lap (i.e., not the way my kids sit at the dinner table). The boys were plainly told they had to wait for the best things. The best things were coming to them, but wouldn't get there until early the next year. Passion can't stand this. We can tell by how he acts. He just wants it all now. Then someone walks in the room and dumps a bag of treasure at his feet. Aha! Passion jumps down from his chair and happily scoops up the goodies. Grinning, he looks over at Patience, still sitting quietly, and he laughs him to scorn.

But Christian continues to watch. He sees that Passion “quickly lavishe[s] all away” until he "had presently nothing left him but rags." Interpreter explains:

These two lads are figures: Passion, of the men of this world; and Patience, of the men of that which is to come; for as here thou seest, Passion will have all now this year, that is to say, in this world; so are the men of this world, they must have all their good things now, they cannot stay till next year, that is until the next world, for their portion of good. . . . But as thou sawest that he had quickly lavished all away, and had presently left him nothing but rags; so will it be with all such men at the end of this world.

Christian replies,

Now I see that Patience has the best wisdom, and that upon many accounts. First, because he stays for the best things. Second, and also because he will have the glory of his, when the other has nothing but rags.

How'd He Do That?

Bunyan leaves us to wonder how Patience's waiting actually looked. Sure, we understand the end. We get that he has the best wisdom. But how exactly did he wait? What did he think about while sitting in that chair? Watching Passion indulge in the treasure? Remembering the sitter's words? How was Patience, well, patient?

Answer: he was a Christian hedonist.

Now to be sure, it doesn't sound very hedonistic at first. Denying himself the bag of "treasure" tossed in front of him resembles more the tune of self-denial. But self-denial, for the Christian Hedonist, is not for the sake of self-denial.

Patience saw Passion dive into the mass of goodies, and he denied his impulse to do the same. He held back. And this is biblical, of course. The apostle Paul writes in Titus 2:11–12a, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions." Paul says there are things in this world we're supposed to renounce, that is, deny. And the "self" in self-denial is composed of these things. That self is the old self, the one that was crucified with Jesus (Romans 6:6), the one in whom we no longer exist (Galatians 2:20). That is the self Patience denied, the self of ungodliness, worldly passions, and inferior pleasures.

"For the Best Things"

You see, this doesn’t end up as a negative enterprise. Remember how Bunyan says it. Patience sat quietly in his chair "because he stays for the best things." It appears that Patience realized he sat in that room with pleasures for which that bag of treasure could not satisfy. Denying the treasure didn't shrivel up his appetite. It was that his appetite was so big it shriveled up the treasure. Patience didn't bury his head in the sand either. He wasn't frantically shouting "No!" over and over. He simply kept his eyes on next year. He trusted what he was told. Passion could have done the same had he not been far too easily pleased.

We learn that Patience’s self-denial came from a craving for the superior pleasure. This is the self-denial of the Christian Hedonist. Patience wasn't merely holding back, he was looking forward. His resistance from that bag of transient treasure was actually his feasting in eternal joy. As Paul continues in Titus 2:12b–13, "training us. . . to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ."

What Bunyan means is that Patience halted the world's empty promises because he had something better ahead (namely, our Savior Jesus Christ).

Different and the Same

So we're different from Patience, and we're the same. We're different in that we're in a much sweeter spot than he was. He sat in that chair with the promise of better things (convincing enough) while we sit here, in the room of this world, with not only a promise, but also God's very Spirit living inside us. We have the active communication of himself through his word. We have the experience of being "in Christ" now, of being seated with him now in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Our lives are hidden in him now (Colossians 3:3). We are brought to God now and enjoy his fellowship (1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 1:3).

But there is still more to come. Like Patience, what's better remains out in front. Learning again from Paul, we've not yet obtained the fullness of our portion. We're not yet perfect (Philippians 3:12). We are waiting, too. We are waiting for the consummation of God's great work, the revealing of our Lord Jesus and the final redemption of our bodies (1 Corinthians 1:7; Romans 8:23). So as wondrous at it is now, the "far better" is yet next year (Philippians 1:23).

And waiting like this is staying for the best things.

Editor’s Note: This is a repost of “Staying for the Best Things“ from the Desiring God blog. It appears here with the author’s permission.

–

Jonathan Parnell is a content strategist at Desiring God. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife, Melissa, and their three children: Elizabeth, Hannah, and Micah. Twitter: @jonathanparnell

–

For more free articles, read: Five Lies that Kill Obedience by Brad Watson and Patience and Discipleship by Jeremy Writebol.

How to Disciple a Transsexual - Part One

This is part 1 of the 3 part series, "How to Disciple a Transsexual" by Bob Thune. Here are parts Two and Three of the series. My friend Ryan is a transsexual. He used to hate God, but now he’s at least lukewarm toward the idea of trusting Jesus. In this article, I want to share a few insights into how I’ve discipled Ryan. That way, if you ever disciple a transsexual, you’ll have some idea of where to begin.

Listen to Their Story

The obvious problem you’re probably noticing is that Ryan is not a Christian. At first it was a challenge to disciple someone who hadn’t even trusted in Jesus yet! But the more I did it, the easier it became. You see, evangelism and discipleship are fundamentally the same thing: pointing people toward Jesus as their all-satisfying treasure. So don’t get all worried thinking that this article doesn’t apply to you. It does. Even if you’re discipling Christians instead of unbelieving transsexuals.

The reason I met Ryan was because I didn’t ask enough questions. Had I been more careful on the front end, I could have avoided the whole situation and stayed inside my conservative evangelical Christian bubble. We have this student in our college community named Amy. She is the most Jesus-loving, extraverted, bubbly person I’ve ever met. And she’s extremely hard to say no to, because she says things like, “Jesus told me to talk to this person!” Or, “The Lord is totally working in your life!” Things that make you think Jesus must have ridden in the car with her on the way over. Amy grabbed me one week before our Wednesday night prayer meeting to ask if I’d meet with a friend of hers from school – a homosexual who was not yet a believer in Christ, but had been asking lots of questions about faith. I didn’t really want to. But she was so enthusiastic, so happy in Jesus, so convicting with her “you’re a pastor and this is your job” tone of voice. So I agreed.

Then, after I’d said yes, she proceeded to tell me the rest of the story: Ryan was an outcast at school because he dresses up as a woman once a week. He’d scheduled a sex-change operation for next spring. He was “married” to a lesbian woman as a mere formality, to allow them to pursue their homosexual lifestyles discreetly. His parents had disowned him and he hadn’t set foot in a church since childhood. Oh, and he wanted to meet as soon as possible. I feigned utter confidence in Amy’s presence and assured her I’d love to meet with Ryan. Then I went home and peed my pants.

The next morning, I hit my knees and began to pray out of my own dire inadequacy. I have never had much success in reaching out to homosexuals. I mean, I come across as harsh and intimidating – to Christians! So to those who have been wounded by the church, I must be Genghis Khan. My prayers that morning were brutally honest and not very creative to boot. They were something like “Oh, Jesus” followed by some expletives and mumbling. You might think that’s irreverent, but I think it’s just real.

That night I met Amy and Ryan at a coffee shop. And in those first few minutes, God did a profound work in my life. I guess I was expecting Dennis Rodman in a wedding dress or something. What I found was a human being named Ryan, created in the image of God, with the same wounds and soul-scars and questions as you and me and everyone else. Don’t get me wrong: there was great discomfort on both sides of the table. It was worse than a first date. Ryan was shifty and uneasy. I could tell he was testing me out to see if he could trust me. And I felt awkward as well, afraid that at any moment he would discover that I was Genghis Khan and would stand up and yell obscenities at me and make a big scene. Part of my fear was self-interest, but part of it was an honest concern for the kingdom of God. I was sitting across from a guy who had been deeply wounded by Christians. He had finally found one bubbly Jesus-girl whom he could trust. Now he was risking interaction with a real, live minister one more time. I felt that if I didn’t win his trust, this might be the last time he thought about Jesus. But if I could just show in some way how much God cared about him, maybe he’d hate God a little less. And that would be big.

My goal as I tell Ryan’s story is to convince you that discipleship must be centered on the gospel. In order to see true heart-transformation in a disciple’s life, you have to get him to delight in Jesus more than money or love or ambition or control or self-interest. The only way to do that is to constantly remind him of his deep brokenness and sinfulness – the “bad news” of the gospel – so that he despairs of his own efforts, and then to constantly rejoice in the powerful grace of God through the cross – the “good news” of the gospel – so that he deeply feels and believes God’s radical love for him. Jack Miller, a now-deceased missionary and seminary professor, used to summarize the gospel with these two phrases: “Cheer up: you’re worse than you think. But cheer up: God’s grace is greater than you ever dreamed.” The same gospel that saves sinners also sanctifies the saints. The gospel doesn’t just make you right with God; it frees you to delight in God.

“Cheer up: you’re worse than you think. But cheer up: God’s grace is greater than you ever dreamed.” 

Tell Them Your Sin

The trouble is that we don’t really believe that the gospel matters for Christians. Most of us only think of the gospel in the context of evangelism. We view the gospel as the ABC’s of Christianity, the starting point, the thing nonbelievers need to hear, the door you walk through to get “in.” Once you’re in, of course, then you move beyond the gospel to biblical principles and quiet times and religious books and worship CD’s.

Ryan was pretty sure that we were “in” and he was “out.” He knew that in the eyes of the average Christian, he was a really bad guy – a transsexual, for God’s sake! A pastor had told him once that he was on an express train to hell because of his lifestyle. (I wondered if that pastor would say the same thing to a perpetual gossip or a legalist or someone who eats too much.) So Ryan consistently steered the conversation toward his lifestyle – the thing that seemed to keep him “out” in the eyes of most Christians. He had been to the gay church in town, and they told him that his lifestyle didn’t matter. On the surface, he was fishing for me to say something similar: “It’s okay to be transsexual – you can still follow Jesus.” But underneath, I sensed a much more powerful question in play: “Am I more broken, more sinful, more hopeless than you?”

So I moved the conversation away from Ryan’s lifestyle and toward the common brokenness and rebellion of all of humanity. I told him the real issue wasn’t his gender confusion. It was his sin. He wanted to hear that he was worse than the guy next door. I told him that he wasn’t. I took out my Bible and made him read out loud some of the famous verses about sin. I focused on the fact that all have sinned, that all have turned away from God, that everyone needs to be reconciled to their Creator. Our external sins may be different, but our hearts are all the same. Then I took it a step further: I told him about my own sin.

“Ryan, do you want to know about me? I am a control freak. I like to have everything under my power. I like to put myself in the place of God and manage the outcomes. I am rude and harsh toward my wife and kids. I am judgmental when people don’t live up to my standards. I fail to love people the way Jesus does. I love people on my terms, the way I think they deserve to be loved, based on my criteria. I am uncaring and critical and resentful toward those who don’t see things my way. I bow down and sell my soul every day to the idol of Control. Ryan, I am a sinner, and Jesus is my only hope.”

Suddenly, Ryan began to soften. The conversation turned a corner. He fell to his knees and, through his tears, trusted in Jesus right there in the middle of the coffee shop. (Actually, he didn’t. But that’s the ending you were hoping for, isn’t it? Stop it already!) The conversation did turn a corner, because Ryan finally began to realize that his lifestyle was a secondary issue. Here I was, a happily married minister, telling him that my heart was as dirty and sinful and broken as his. The only difference was that I was trusting in Jesus to make me right with God and transform my heart, and he wasn’t.

We are good at telling non-Christians they need Jesus. No thinking follower of Christ would look at Ryan and say, “Change your lifestyle first, and then we can work on your heart.” We know that deep inner change must come first; “make the tree good, and its fruit [will be] good” (Matthew 12:33). So ask yourself: why don’t you apply the same truth when it comes to discipleship?

The gospel is not the ABC’s of Christianity; it is the A to Z of Christianity. When we forget the gospel, we cheat our disciples. We give the impression that being a follower of Jesus means becoming less broken, less sinful, less hopeless. So we create a caste-system-Christianity: there are the really broken people (unbelievers), the pretty broken people (young believers), and the people who have learned to pretend they’re not broken (mature believers).

Not only is this blatantly unbiblical, it is contrary to common sense. Jesus said that those who are forgiven much will love much (Luke 7:47). The mature Christians are not those who are less broken, but those who realize the depth of their brokenness and are clinging all the more tightly to Jesus.

To test this truth, just ask yourself how my conversation with Ryan would have differed if I had said, “Yeah, you’re really messed up. But the good news is, if you trust in Jesus, you can be as good as me.” You might be smart enough (or politically correct enough) not to say this to a transsexual. But unless your discipleship efforts are rooted in the gospel, it’s exactly what you’re saying to the people you’re leading.

--

Bob Thune (@BobThune) is the lead pastor of Coram Deo Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Bob is also the co-author of The Gospel-Centered Life, a gospel-driven small-group curriculum that has sold over 50,000 copies and helped Christians all over the world understand the centrality of the gospel in all of life. Read more at www.BobThune.com

--

Read more on making the gospel the gospel known in Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson. 

Read more helpful articles Questioning Discipleship by Will Walker and A Jesus-Like Church Culture by Scott Sauls.

How To Disciple Urban Teens

It was a sweltering summer night in Chicago at the church of my youth and an annual evangelistic rally was taking place. It was a time of team challenges and chants which culminated in a presentation of the gospel to mainly unchurched, urban teens. A young man, who by any account was from the wrong side of the tracks, went forward at the end of service and responded to the gospel, professing Christ as his Savior. Leaving full of hope and joy, he was dropped off at his home by the church van that night only to be shot dead in front of his house. This is the life in an urban center like Chicago, where life seems unpredictable, circumstances appear unchangeable, and hopelessness seems unavoidable. A reality show recently chronicled the lives of a group of high school girls going through years of schooling in Chicago. In the show episodes centered on the teens discussing sex, bad grades, identity, goals, violence, and pregnancy, among other things. It was hard to watch the show without gasping at what was being presented as an inside look into the lives of urban teens.

As a pastor in Chicago, I have the unique opportunity to engage with an assortment of people from different backgrounds, with different stories, and in different cultures. However, in addition to being a pastor, I also work at the public high school featured in the reality show and was able to engage with some of the teens featured. We know the gospel truly transforms lives and can radically change the lives of the next generation. Yet, we have to realize that in urban centers everything is intensified, multiplied, and amplified. How can we genuinely disciple a young person in the hope in which they've been called as they navigate through a hopeless city?

I was educated in one of the most diverse public high schools in Chicago while going to one of the most diverse churches in the area. I was discipled by my former youth pastor and it was during those times that the foundation for my future maturity in Christ was established. Having been discipled as an urban teen and now working with teens I have come to a few insights in affective ways to disciple urban youth.

CARE

There is usually something going on at home, be it an absent father, economic despair, or emotional upheaval. For example, fatherlessness is prevalent in urban centers. I was recently told of a young woman in our church whose father literally lived in the same neighborhood, yet was in and out of her life constantly. This is typical of urban youth. The first step in discipling these young people is to care. Care to know their lives; care for their whole person. Whether being fatherless or coming from a loving family, urban youth need to know you care.

In Gospel Coach, Scott Thomas writes that as Paul was pouring into young Timothy, he was interested in the development of Timothy's whole life: personal (1 Timothy 3:1-13, 2 Timothy 2:1, Titus 1-2), missional (1 Timothy 5:17, 2 Timothy 2, 5), and spiritually (2 Timothy 3:14-17, Titus 1:9). Paul even goes as far as giving Timothy advice for his stomach ailments (1 Timothy 5:23). They need to have a sense of belonging to you, before belief, just as Timothy was a "son" to Paul. Urban youth don't care what you say, until they know that you care.

CONTEXTUALIZE THE GOSPEL

Tim Keller says, in Center Church, active contextualization is a three-part process: entering the culture, challenging the culture, and then appealing to the listener. We need to engage urban youth culture to understand the hopes, beliefs, and questions they have to show how the gospel responds to these areas. Urban youth hear false "gospels" everywhere they turn. Their identity crisis is addressed in their culture by having more, being physically handsome, and beautiful (including being thin), and getting whatever you can from people. We need to understand the false "gospels" they are receiving from their culture in order to show how the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges their hopes, questions, and beliefs.

I remember my old youth pastor was actively engaged in our school life, building relationship with our school principals and teachers. To reach urban youth, we need to enter their culture, challenge their culture, and then appeal to them. Know what they are listening to, who they're listening to, know who their influences are, know who they idolize, know the movies, music, and books they enjoy. Then you can be able to say how the gospel according to Jesus is more hopeful than the gospel according to Bieber.

BE AN EXAMPLE

Paul tells the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." They are looking for someone to follow and to imitate. In my time with my youth pastor, I was able to be involved in the details of his life, including when his first child was born, going on hospital visits, visiting other youth in the projects, and in his own study of the Bible. I may not remember the weekly sermons preached each week at youth group, but I remember the hands-on life lessons I learned and still find myself remembering those lessons as I imitated him as he imitated Christ. As a pastor, I find myself still imitating him over 10 years later.

SHOW THE PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL

Urban youth are used to hearing, "Don't do this." Christian youth especially are told constantly, for example, "Don't date in high school," or "don't drink," and "don't cut class." Oftentimes good advice falls on deaf ears because we relegate the gospel to a list of do's and don’ts. Urban youth need purpose. When they are aware of God's redemptive plan, and his purpose, they can understand that the purpose of their lives isn't about which guy they can get to like them, or buying the latest Jordans, or getting good grades so they don't get punished. When my youth pastor shared with me the advice given to a young pastor (Timothy) in a large metropolis (Ephesus), to set an example to believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and in purity despite his youthfulness, it gave me a sense of purpose. Although I failed time and time again, it still resonated with me knowing that I was an urban missionary in a concrete jungle, and my high school was my mission field. I was living in a world in dire need of reconciliation with Jesus, and that, as Rick Warren puts in the opening pages of The Purpose Driven Life, "Is not about you."

SHOW THEM IDENTITY

We live in a Facebook, self-centered, "me first" world, and our teens are growing up hearing their self-worth comes through people's worth ascribed to them. How many Facebook "likes" your picture has determined real beauty and significance in the eyes of urban girls, and how many girls you can sleep with determines value in the eyes of urban boys. Our youth are being given a Kim Kardashian and Kanye West "gospel" that shows that our sense of worth comes in how people view us. The gospel doesn't just address their behavior; it addresses their core value system, and cuts to the core of who they are. We need to show them that their worth only comes through Jesus Christ. Our security and significance comes from Jesus because we are "in Christ."

SPEND TIME

We have to remember that urban youth are surrounded, for over 30 hours a week, by conversations of drinking and drugs, opportunities for sex, friends encouraging cheating, and an assortment of other temptations. In walking through the halls of my workplace, I hear foul language, talks of weekend parties and getting drunk, and sleeping with whomever. We can't expect to have any influence in their lives unless they know we care and seek to spend time with them. Jesus lived life with his disciples, and although in our context that seems virtually impossible, we have to recognize that to have any impact on these youths, it will require an investment of time. I was able to spend countless hours with my youth pastor, including talking in his office, watching him work, and being the last person dropped off on the bus. Time is one of the greatest resources we can give young people.

EXPECT DISAPPOINTMENT

In my years of discipleship with my youth pastor, I was there to see friends slowly fall away. I was there when a few youth revealed they had been closet lesbians. I was there when two mature youth members revealed they had sex and had gotten pregnant. I was also there when we received word that one of our youth was caught in gang crossfire as an innocent bystander and was murdered in the street. Jesus himself dealt with a ragamuffin group of misfits who seemingly disappointed him throughout their three-year discipleship program, yet it didn't hinder him from seeing the big picture.  Jesus knew they would fail him, even to the point of prophesying Peter's repeated denial. Disappointments are times we can lovingly show grace and mercy, and bring truth. We have to point them to the truth of a God who loves them and died for them. We have to be willing to walk with teens through trials and tragedies, even the ones brought upon themselves.

BE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL

With youth, we know there comes a time when they will eventually leave us. Any pastor, youth or other, have the thought at the back of our heads, "Was it enough?" We want to know if the investment we made was even worth it. We can't make a beneficial impact if we come with the impression, "I will have this youth under my care for the next four years, and that's it."  Urban youth are constantly dealt disappointments and abandonment. We are in cities where everything is conditional, and we need to show them that, despite trust issues they may have or fears of abandonment caused by absent fathers or flings with the opposite sex lasting weeks, we are in it for the long haul. Whether it be wisdom in picking a spouse, a future career, or help in a time of need, we need to expect that our job of equipping doesn't end with graduation.

Make a Lasting Investment

Working with urban youth is hard, but it is ultimately a blessing. When we teach them to know the gospel and live the gospel, we are making a long-term investment into these lives. Teens have the capacity to reach a generation of their peers by demonstrating the gospel in every aspect of their lives.

In 2010, a former youth pastor set out to embark on planting a church because of the God's call on his life. Painting the vision to the former youth he had poured into and discipled over the years, they had decided to join him in starting CityLights Church a year later. They had desired the same gospel transformation that occurred in their lives to occur in others as they reached a relatively unchurched area of Chicago for Jesus. Giving up their time, their talents, and their treasures, CityLights has been able to reach hundreds in just two short years, making disciples that touch their world with the love of Jesus.

I have been privileged to be a part and a recipient of what God has done through these former discipled urban youth, as well as being added as one of their pastors. When time is spent, when care is given, when the gospel is made applicable in their lives, when they are shown who they are in Christ, when they're given an example and purpose to follow, and have leaders to disciple them for the long haul, we can be confident that God "is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us."

--

Eliot Velazquez serves as a pastor of CityLights Church in Chicago, where he oversees spiritual formation and community groups. In addition, he works in the Chicago Public School system and is currently in graduate school. He lives in the northwest side of Chicago and is engaged to his fiance, Michelle. 

--

Read Proclaiming Jesus by Tony Merida. 

Continue reading on this topic in Taking the Long View and Discipling the Disillusioned. 

Into All the World: Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian Missionary Movement

Winfield Bevins serves as lead pastor of Church of the Outer Banks, which he founded in 2005. He is the author of dozens of several popular eBooks including Grow: Reproducing through Organic Discipleship. He also recently wrote Creed: Connect to the Basic Essentials of the Christian Faith. He lives in the beautiful beach community of the Outer Banks with his wife Kay and two daughters. _

“I have but one passion—it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field, and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ." - Count Ludwig Von Zinzendorf

North America has become the new mission field. There are 120 million unchurched people in the United States, making it the largest mission field in the Western hemisphere and the fifth largest mission field on earth.[1] On top of all of this, nearly 4,000 churches close every year in North America. And nearly 8o% of all evangelical churches in the U.S. have either stopped growing or are in decline![2]

What does this mean for the church in North America? Simple: We are not reproducing disciples. Despite this uncertain future for the church in North America, all is not lost. God is not surprised by these statistics or the spiritual state of our nation. The West can be won again.

All we have to do is look to the pages of church history to find great examples of missionary disciple-making movements that reached the nations for Christ. What we need now is a missionary discipleship movement that will reach the 120 million unchurched people in North America and beyond.

The Rich Young Ruler Who Said Yes

One of the greatest missionary movements of all time began with the rich young ruler who said yes. Count Ludwig Von Zinzendorf was born into a wealthy noble family and belonged to one of the most ancient of noble families in Austria. Six weeks after young Ludwig’s birth, his father died of tuberculosis and his mother married again when he was four years old. At this time, he was sent to live with his pietistic Lutheran grandmother who did much to shape his character and faith.

He fell in love with Jesus at the age of six and continued to mature in Christ throughout his school years. He grew up with regular times of prayer, Bible reading, and hymn-singing. His dearest treasure next to the Bible was Luther’s Smaller Catechism. Zinzendorf was a star student, and by the age of 15 he could read the classics and the New Testament in Greek and was fluent in Latin and French.

Zinzendorf eventually pursued his university studies at Wittenberg, which was a strong hold of Lutheran theology. Once he finished his studies at Wittenberg he embarked grand tour of various centers of learning throughout Europe. Then in 1720, he went to Paris where he stayed for six months. He toured Versailles, and even formed a friendship with Roman Catholic Cardinal Noailles Roman.

Despite all the beauty of Europe, nothing could compare to  an encounter that Zinzendorf had in the art museum at Dusseldorf where he encountered the Christ in an amazing way. While viewing Domenico Feti’s painting “Ecce Homo,” a portrait of the suffering thorn-crowned Jesus, and reading the inscription below it, “I have done this for you; what have you done for me?” Zinzendorf said to himself, “I have loved Him for a long time, but I have never actually done anything for Him. From now on I will do whatever He leads me to do.”

In May 1721, Zinzendorf purchased his grandmother’s estate at Berthelsdorf. He married Countess Erdmuth Dorothea von Reuss, sister of his friend Henry on September 7, 1722. She was a strong believer and devoted to Pietism. For a time, Zinzendorf devoted himself to matters of state in Dresden.

Everything would change one eventful day when a Moravian refuge ended up at his door in Dresden. The man’s name was Christian David. He had heard that Zinzendorf would open his home to oppressed Moravian refuges. Zinzendorf agreed to the request and a group of ten Moravians arrived in December 1722. His manor became known as  “Herrnhut”, meaning “the Lord’s watch” or “on the watch for the Lord.” This was only the beginning. By May 1725, 90 Moravians had settled at Herrnhut. By late 1726, the population had swelled to 300.

Trouble eventually began to enter the group over differences in liturgy, economic pressures, language difficulties, and other issues. Zinzendorf began meeting with different families for prayer and counsel and helped regain a spirit of unity and love.   He drew up a covenant calling upon them 'to seek out and emphasize the points in which they agreed' rather than focusing on their differences. This started a process of reconciliation and revival among members of the community. On May 12th, 1727 they all signed an agreement to dedicate their lives to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. At this time, small groups were organized to provide the people with a special spiritual affinity to one another.

100-Year Prayer Watch

1727 was an important year. It marked a spiritual turning point in the Moravian community where a spirit of prayer began to spread among them. They covenanted together to meet often to pour out their hearts in prayer and hymns. On August 5th, the Count spent the whole night in prayer with about 12 to 14 others following a large meeting for prayer at midnight. Then a few days later, on Wednesday, August 13th 1727, the Holy Spirit was poured out on them all. The Moravians experienced a powerful “Pentecost” during a communion service where the Spirit came upon Zinzendorf and the community. This experience radically changed the community and sparked a flame of prayer and missions that would burn for decades to come. Looking back on that day, Zinzendorf later recalled: “The whole place represented truly a visible habitation of God among men.”

This marked the beginning of the Moravians' commitment to a round-the-clock “prayer watch” that continued nonstop for over a hundred years. On the 26th of August, 24 men and 24 women covenanted together to continue praying in intervals of one hour each, day and night, each hour allocated by lots to different people. The next day, 24 men and 24 women covenanted together to spend at least one hour each day in scheduled prayer. Others joined the intercessors and the number increased to 77. They all carefully observed the hour which had been appointed for them and they had a weekly meeting where prayer needs were given to them.

The spirit of prayer was not just for the adults of the community, but even spread to the children as well. The children were also touched by God and began to pray a similar plan among themselves. The children's prayers and supplications had a powerful effect on the whole community. Parents and others members of the community were deeply moved by the prayers of the children for revival and missions.

From that time onward the Moravians prayed continuously for revival and the missionary expansion of the gospel. As members of the Moravian church continued nonstop in this "Hourly Intercession" they became known as "God's Happy People." Their prayers became the catalyst for one of the world’s greatest missionary movements.

Into All the World

Within a short time, Herrnhut became a missionary launching pad that would send out missionaries throughout the world. They gathered small groups of individuals who gathered for prayer and Bible study and traveled across Europe sharing the gospel with everyone they met, especially the outcasts of society. Out of this grew a network of small groups that eventually became known as the "Diaspora."

Under Zinzendorf’s leadership, Moravian missionaries went out to into all the world in an unprecedented way that had never been seen before! On Sunday, December 13, 1732, after almost ten weeks at sea, the ship sailed into the harbor of St. Thomas to reach slaves for Christ. This was a difficult time where many of the missionaries died. Twenty-two of the first 29 died, forcing them to retreat from St. Croix for a time. Despite trials and difficulties, missionaries continued to go out from Herrnhut into all the world.

By the time Zinzendorf died in 1760, after 28 years of cross-cultural mission, the Moravians had sent out 226 missionaries and entered 10 different countries. Mission stations had been established in Danish St. Thomas, in the West Indies (1732); Greenland (1733); Georgia, North America (1734); Lapland (1735); Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, on the north coast of South America (1735); Cape Town, South Africa (1737); Elmina, Dutch headquarters in the Gold Coast (1737); Demarara, now known as Guyana, South America (1738); and to the British colonial island of Jamaica (1754), and Antigua (1756). In 1760, there were 49 men and 17 women serving in 13 stations around the world ministering to over 6,000 people.

Moravian passion for mission was grounded one thing, and one thing alone. Zinzendorf said, “I have but one passion—it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field, and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ."  Over the years his passion for Jesus grew, as did his passion for the lost. He was determined to evangelize the world through raising up and sending out Moravian missionaries who were equipped only with a  simple love for Jesus and the spirit of prayer.

A seal was designed to express their new found missionary zeal. The seal was composed of a lamb with the cross of resurrection and a banner of triumph with the motto, "Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him." The Moravians were missionaries of the gospel. They followed the call of the Lamb to go preach the gospel to all nations. In 1791, the Moravians beautifully explain their motivation for missions: "The simple motive of the brethren for sending missionaries to distant nations was and is an ardent desire to promote the salvation of their fellow men, by making known to them the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ.”

Influence on John Wesley

The Moravians had a great impact on John Wesley when became acquainted with a group of Moravians on his way to Georgia, during his stay, and on his return to England. The Moravians demonstrated a simple faith and assurance of salvation through the inner witness of the Spirit. He was impressed with their confidence, piety, and assurance of faith. On February 7, 1736, while in Georgia, a Moravian leader by the name of August Gottlieb Spangenburg began to question Wesley’s faith. Wesley recounts the dialogue:

He said, “My brother, I must first ask you one or two questions. Have you the witness within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit, that you are a child of God?” I was surprised, and knew not what to answer. He observed it and asked, “Do you know Jesus Christ?” I paused, and said, “I know he is Savoir of the world.” “True,” replied he; “but do you know he has saved you?” I answered, “I hope he has died to save me.” He only added, “ Do you know yourself?” I said, “I do.” But I fear they were vain words.”[3]

They were instrumental in leading him to search for an inward Christianity of the heart. On the way back to England, John wrote, “I went to America to convert the Indians; but oh, who shall convert me? Who, is he that will deliver me from this evil heart of unbelief?” This was no doubt written in comparison with the assurance that Wesley witnessed among the Moravians.

When he returned to England, Wesley spent several months in spiritual distress and deep introspection. He was challenged by the example of simple faith in Christ that the Moravians had demonstrated before him. John and his brother Charles met another Moravian by the name of Peter Böhler in England. He convinced John further that conversion happened in an instant and that a real Christian would have an assurance of their salvation.

The Moravian’s impact upon Wesley cannot be overestimated. From the Moravians he learned faith, assurance, and Christian experience, which are rooted in the experiential work of the Holy Spirit. Their lasting influence can be seen in Wesley’s concept of the “witness of the Spirit” which can be found throughout his writings especially in his sermons.

Later Years

Missionary success came with a price to Zinzendorf and his followers. His opponents sought to undermine him and his ministry and in 1736, he was banished from Saxony. He took the family with him west to Wetteravia, near Frankfurt, and found residence in an old castle called the Ronneburg. Here a new settlement, Herrnhaag, would thrive nearby, surpassing Herrnhut in size. Over the following years, the missionaries' endeavors continued to spread throughout the world. In 1747 alone, 200 missionaries went out to posts of duty as missionaries to the New World among the Diaspora. Zinzendorf spent the remainder of his days leading the growing Moravian movement, traveling, teaching, and encouraging others to follow Christ.

Zinzendorf lived out his last days at Herrnhut. The year 1760 marked 28 years in Moravian missions. In the final days of his life he became weak and feeble. Nearing death on May 8, 1760, he said to Bishop David Nitschmann at his bedside:

“Did you suppose in the beginning that the Savior would do as much as we now really see, in the various Moravian settlements, amongst the children of God of other denominations and amongst the heathen? I only entreated of him a few of the firstfruits of the latter, but there are now thousands of them. Nitschmann, what a formidable caravan from our church already stands around the Lamb!”

---

[1] George Hunter, "The Rationale for a Culturally Relevant Worship Service," Journal of the American Society of Church Growth, Worship and Growth. 7 (1996): 131).

[2] Win Arn, The Pastor's Manual for Effective Ministry. Monrovia, Calif.: Church Growth, 1988. 16.

[3] Thomas Jackson, The Works of John Wesley. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1979), 1:23.

The Daily Gospel

The idea of discipling yourself may sound odd. In my church experience, I often saw discipleship as two people meeting together to talk about God. This approach to discipleship is so ingrained in our church culture that when I was talking about getting together with a guy from church for discipleship, my wife immediately asked “What book are you guys reading through together?” One on one discipleship is wonderful. I enjoy the iron-sharpening-iron effects of this kind of discipleship. But we shouldn’t limit discipleship to this methodology alone.

All of Christian life is discipleship. The gospel weaves throughout every fiber of our life. The gospel isn’t just skeleton truth that we acknowledge and say amen to. No, the gospel is truth. Who we are in Christ is massively important. It’s our foundation for living and dying well. The Belgic Confession of Faith captures this tension when it says,

These works, as they proceed from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable in the sight of God, forasmuch as they are all sanctified by His grace. Nevertheless they are of no account towards our justification, for it is by faith in Christ that we are justified, even before we do good works; otherwise they could not be good works, any more than the fruit of a tree can be good before the tree itself is good (BC, Art. 24).

Foundations are meant to be built upon. The life, death, and resurrection of Christ and its necessary consequences will change the way you live. If this is the truth of your life, you will find yourself building upon the only sure foundation. And when the rains falls, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat against your house, it will not fall (Matthew 7:24-27). Because you built your house on the only sure foundation, Jesus Christ. Who is the architect of our faith and who empowers us to build a life of godliness through the Spirit.

Discipleship is following Jesus by learning more about the gospel and how it changes every area of our life.

Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

You must know how to apply the gospel to your own life. Martyn Lloyd-Jones sums up this skill well,

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc.

Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: "Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you . . ."

The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: "Why art thou cast down" -– what business have you to be disquieted?

You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: "Hope thou in God" -– instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do.

Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.”

I’ve struggled with depression for my entire life. No lesson was longer in the learning but more beneficial than preaching the gospel to myself. I recall sitting in my room during high school struggling with my faith. Struggling with life. I allowed everything but God to define who I was. So, I was tossed about with every wave of life. Until one day, the Spirit opened my eyes to the significance of Christ’s life, death, & resurrection for me. He shifted my doubts and fears to Christ. So, you can listen to lies, like me, or you can preach the good news of Jesus to yourself.

You may ask: How do I know I’m listening to lies?

• You may find yourself loathing your current state in life.
• You may find yourself rehearsing the lies instead of the gospel.
• You may find yourself speaking against the promises that are yours in Christ.
• Or, like me, many times you may find yourself desiring the return of the darkness.

These are the times you must fully rest in Christ. Fully trust in his promises. You must believe the words of God’s promises above the lies. You must learn to interrupt yourself with the truth of the gospel. Upbraid yourself with the blood of Christ.

That’s why I chuckle when people deride doctrine. There’s nothing more practical than doctrine. Doctrine, grounded in Christ, saved me. It was the foundational truth of the gospel that transformed my life. Without tangible gospel truth; there is no life transformation. The truth of the gospel breaks through the darks cloud of our suffering and sin speaking when our eyes are blinded. For instance, when I doubted God’s promise of love for me in Christ, the Scripture told me “Nothing can separate you from his love” (Romans 8). That’s doctrine. Doctrine isn’t dead. Doctrine is alive and sharp like a sword. We must fight lies with truth; truth applied to life.

The Heidleberg Catechism is a wonderful example for those who wonder what rich doctrine looks like when mixed with practical living impetus. Tim Keller has condensed The Heidelberg Catechism Q/A #1 for his New City Catechsim Q/A #1:

Question: What is our only hope in life and death?

Answer: That we are not our own but belong to God.

Life and death represent the entirety of life. Is anything more comforting and more practical than knowing without a shadow of doubt, “We are not our own but belong to God”? Not for me. It is truths like these we must preach to ourselves.

Recognizing Parseltongue

You must not only learn to accost yourself but also preach and apply the gospel to your own life. You must learn to recognize parseltongue (that’s the language of serpents in Harry Potter). You aren’t the only one who desires to speak into your heart. The Devil is called the Father of Lies (John 8:44) and the Accuser. You must learn to recognize his voice and his tactics. Paul mastered this and forcefully argues against the Accuser’s lies in Romans:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. - Romans 8:31-34

Paul asks “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” Yet, how many times does the Accuser seek to bring a charge against you? How often does he speak subtly in your ear:

• Did Jesus really die for you?
• Can the death of Jesus cover your sins?
• Is the cross really enough? You must die.
• You must earn God’s approval.
• Is Jesus really interceding for you?
• Your wife, friend, and boss know your sinfulness and condemn you. God also condemns you!

Yet, hear these words of truth again, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?”

This passage contains individual application to various sin issues, but the beauty lies with the corporate nature of our union with Christ. We must know more of our union with Christ because all of our new life is tied up in the truth of our union with Christ. When you were saved, you were baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Your old self is here no more. You are a new creature. Dr. Tom Holland expounds this truth in relations to Romans 8.

Paul already dealt the possibility of an accusation of guilt being brought against the church for entering into another marriage relationship (Rom 6:7; 7:1-4). Satan will accuse Christ and the church that their union is not lawful. Should the call go out: “if anyone can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together in matrimony, let him now declare it, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace” he is read to cry out: “She is mine. She is already married.” It is into this awful scene that Paul confidently declares: “It is God who justifies!” The judge of the whole earth will accept there is a charge to answer, and Paul states why this is so in the next verse [i.e., we have died with Christ and have risen to new life]. Of course, if Satan cannot persuade believers that it was unlawful for Christ to take his people as his bride then he will find other means to charge them. The answer to all charges, whatever they may be, is: “Christ has died and is rise! Hallelujah!”

So stand firm Christian. Battle those accusations with the blood of Christ shed on your behalf.

The Daily Gospel: Feeding on Christ

For you to be able to preach the gospel to yourself and for you to be able to recognize parseltongue, you must know the truth. You cannot fight with something you are unfamiliar. If you’re unfamiliar with a sword, would you expect to handle it expertly in combat?

Yet, how many of us are journeying through life without any familiarity with the gospel story found in scripture? How many of us desire the Spirit’s daily transforming power to kill sin but aren’t using the scripture inspired by the Spirit?

The Christian life is a journey. We are “sojourners and exiles” but in order “to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11) you  must have an offensive strategy.

That offensive strategy is feeding on Christ. The more you feed on Christ. The more you will have of the Spirit. The more you have of the Spirit the more you will recognize lie from truth.

First, you must engage God in Scripture. Scripture is our sole authority and will equip us to live in light of the gospel.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

How can the author of Hebrews say the word of God is living? It lives because the Scripture is breathed out by God and his Spirit changes us through the truth of the gospel found within its pages. Therefore, to do discipleship without a heavy daily dose of the gospel is folly. This dose comes through reading, meditating, and sharing the word.

Second, you must engage the Gospel word with others. This requires intentionally growing relationships with other Christians who you can share life and the gospel with. The death of Christ builds community so to disciple yourself without involving others is also folly.

Be actively involved in a local church. Give others permission to speak lovingly into your heart. Humbly accept criticism and rebuke from others. That’s hard. Community is hard! It is in community that we see the redemptive power of God working in and through us. We cannot fight the lies of the enemy on our own. We need one another and we also need to own our discipleship journey. We preach the gospel to others and ourselves. This is the journey of discipleship in all of life.

---

Mathew B. Sims is the Editor-in-Chief at Exercise.com and has authored, edited, and contributed to several books including A Household Gospel, We Believe: Creeds, Confessions, & Catechisms for Worship, A Guide for Advent, Make, Mature, Multiply, and A Guide for Holy Week. Mathew, LeAnn (his wife), and his daughters Claire, Maddy, and Adele live in Taylors, SC at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains with their Airdale Terrier. They attend Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA). Visit MathewBryanSims.com!

Patience & Discipleship

There is a virtue that has quickly become endangered in our practice of discipleship today. Few might notice the decline of this species, and it certainly hasn’t happened overnight. Slowly but surely, patience, our grandparents's virtues, has become virtually extinct from our modern mindset regarding discipleship. This virtue is a mark of Holy Spirit vitality in a church and in a people. And it’s something I am not. What I am is an impatient person. Ask people who know me well and they will confess to you that waiting, enduring, and sticking at something long-term is a chore for me. I would prefer instant gratification in regards to just about everything. When it comes to spiritual transformation in myself and in the lives of others I like to say I’m eager for change. The reality is however, that I am impatient. Somewhere in the back of my mind I believe our churches should grow faster, we should see more missional communities develop, and that lost people should get saved right now. Christians should get over their besetting sins today not tomorrow and certainly not next month. Unbelievers on our street should come to Jesus right now, next week is too late.

Pastors are clever and cloak this lack of patience in what we call “urgency.” Somehow the spiritual fruit of urgency is more valuable than the spiritual fruit of patience. Yet only one of those two qualities made the list of spiritual fruits in Galatians 5:22, and urgency isn’t it. Patience is the endangered species we desperately need to recapture in our talk and practice of discipleship.

The Fruit of the Spirit Belongs to the Church

There are countless articles, books, and materials in publication these days on what constitutes a healthy church. Many of these resources are helpful for thinking through the functions and practices of the local church. I have yet to see one, however, that measures the health of the local church on the vitality of the Spirit’s fruit in our midst. Instead of measuring our church health and growth in terms of physical numbers, dollars, and  downloads, shouldn’t we look to the biblical paradigm for health? Could it be that we have failed to understand what makes us healthy and vibrant, and exchanged the Spirit’s work among us for what we can largely manufacture and measure ourselves?

It’s my belief that the list known as “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5 is more than just a personal checklist of character traits for the Christian. These qualities should not just be embodied by individuals that make up the church, but are the very qualities the church, as a communal entity, should embody. When we look at the local church, as a whole, we should see a people of love, joy, peace, patience, etc. Things like love, joy, and patience should be prominent traits in healthy missional communities and healthy churches.

To truly say there is a movement of the Spirit among us, we must look for the signs of the Spirit. Those signs are not necessarily rapid growth, large budgets, and cultural influence. We can grow things and call them “spiritual” and understand that the Spirit had nothing to do with them. Nor can we look at small bastions of fundamentalism and “holiness” and concur that they are spiritually healthy either. Chances are that many of these groups are just as deeply mired in the “works of the flesh” that Paul speaks of (like divisiveness) before unpacking the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-21). What we must look at as a real measure of true Spirit-led, Spirit-filled healthy churches are the fruit of the Spirit. Do we see love, joy, and so forth as growing and evident as a culture in our churches? This is how we know the Spirit of God is actively at work in our midst.

Patience As Gospel

So what is this thing we call "patience?" Our modern notions of patience often revolve around waiting, delaying gratification, and boredom. Patience is passé if not downright dull. With conveniences like fast food (or quick-service, if you prefer), instant digital downloads, pre-approved loans, and express checkout at your nearest grocery store, the concept of patience is almost foreign to our world. Who wants to wait for a church to grow? We are far too prone to believe that practicing the right methods will convince God to bring in the masses by the thousands. If that doesn’t happen in our church we can become depressed and wonder if we haven’t done it right. We don’t like to wait.

Patience is more than waiting. I like the word that some of the older English translations use for this concept of patience: longsuffering. It is the idea of bearing with someone, enduring the hurt and pain of their failure and sin. Longsuffering calls us to take some hits, get messied-up with failure, endure disappointment. It calls for a long-term commitment. This isn’t our weekend life-improvement project that resolves itself at 6pm on Sunday evening before we head back into a routine week. This is the day-in, day-out grind of shared-life. Longsuffering calls for endurance. We can’t give up at the first failure. We stick with it, we endure the sin, we pray for change, we love the offender.

If anything, patience is a picture of the gospel. The holy God who created all things for his glory has an incredibly long-term view on humanity. Over six-thousand years of the recorded history of grace is evidence of God’s concept of longsuffering. From our first parents' initial rebellion in the garden God has been enduring our mess of sin, failure, rejection, rebellion, and apostasy. And he has suffered because of it. Jesus, the eternal Son of God took on flesh and was patient with humanity day-by-day as they misunderstood, rejected, and failed him.

He was patient with sinners to the point of enduring the suffering of death on the cross. And as the resurrected King he is longsuffering now. Where scoffers would mock his coming and say, “God has forgotten you,” they misunderstand his slowness for what it really is--longsuffering so that they will repent (2 Peter 3:8-9). The gospel is good news of a patient God who is longsuffering with his rebellious people, to the point of actual suffering and death so that we might be restored and rescued from our impending doom.

Patience As a Corporate Culture

If the gospel is a gospel of patience, and the spiritual vitality of a church and people is measured not necessarily by their numerical size but by Holy Spirit fruitfulness, then what place does patience have in our communities? Patience is a corporate culture we’ve largely ignored and forgotten about. We need a perspective change, and I am thankful that the Scriptures give us that change. Where the church in America is commonly compared to or envisioned as a business model, we need to look at farming to understand spiritual vitality.

Last summer my wife and daughter planted a garden in our back yard. They purchased some seeds and starter plants for tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and strawberries. After planting them and initially watering them, my then three-year old wanted to know when we could eat the strawberries. I had to explain that it takes time for these to grow. She was frustrated. She had done all the right things; planted in good soil, watered, fertilized, but the results were not immediate. Even the first “crop” of strawberries were small and not really tasty. Yet as the summer moved on and the plants continued to be watered, nourished, and given proper care, the harvest was good. Even James uses the imagery of the farmer to describe patience (James 5:7-12).

So what does this look like for the church? Practically the idea of patience bears itself out in how long we will endure sinners. I don’t use the term sinners in the sense of “everyone is a sinner.” I mean how long will you, your church, your community group put up with someone who is sinning against you? How long will you bear the blows of a sinner against your life? How long will you endure the frustration of someone who “just doesn’t get it?” How long will you continue to invite over, hang out with, and witness to your unbelieving neighbor before you give up on them and move on to another personal evangelism project? How long will you pray for your spouse to change and grow before you decide they are beyond the effort of grace? How long will you be kind to and love the grumpy elderly man who frumps around at your church gatherings each week? How long will your community group love and serve someone who continues to lose their job and, by the world’s standard, is a social failure? How long will you as church leaders call and pray and meet with the sinner in your body before you give them a letter of dismissal and never see them again?

We need patience as a church in evangelism. We need patience as a church in discipleship. We need patience as a church in repentance and discipline. We need patience in our preaching. We need patience in our giving. More than anything we need patience in our expectations of the pace of justification and sanctification in the lives of other people.

Pastors, let us not put patience on the back burner of spiritual growth and love for the false idols of urgency and influence. Let us love our people well with longsuffering. Christians, let us not treat unbelievers as evangelism projects that expire at the end of thirty days, but let us be longsuffering evangelists to them. Churches, let us not drink from the broken well of immediate gratification and think that only twelve-week programs are discipleship. Let us take the long road of shared-life and endure the sins and offenses of life-on-life because this is what our Savior has done for us.

Is patience endangered in your life? Is it rare and hard to find within your church and missional community? We need the Holy Spirit to produce what he says he will. We need to measure health in our lives and churches by the things the Holy Spirit says are healthy. Patience is the fruit of a Spirit-led, spiritually vital church. Let’s ask God to give us that, and not the modern gruel of fast-food discipleship.

---

Jeremy Writebol is the husband of Stephanie, daddy of Allison and Ethan, and lives and works in Wichita, KS as the Community Pastor at Journey the Way. He is the director of Porterbrook Kansas and writes at jwritebol.net.

---

To go deeper into living a life filled with the Holy Spirit, read Holy Spirit by Winfield Bevins.

For more free articles about gospel centered discipleship, check out Laying the Foundation for Spiritual Growth by Robert Dukes and Street Grace by Jake Chambers.

Send Well

When my husband first told me he felt called to church planting, I had no idea what that meant. Does it mean we move every few years, helping new churches get started like Paul did as an apostle? (I was fond of reminding him that Paul wasn’t married with toddlers in tow.) Or could it mean that we simply coach new church plants from our home church, keeping our family in one spot? Are we the ones sending … or being sent? The past decade or so has answered “yes” to all of those questions. We have physically moved twice to help new church plants get started. My husband loves this part of his calling: building something from the ground up. For the most part, I have enjoyed it, too. Even with the hassle of relocating the family, it’s exciting to be a part of a new adventure, something new you sense God wants to do.

Recently, however, the church plant we have served for six years is readying itself to plant another church. Having been sent, we are now discovering what it feels like to be on the “sending” end. It’s certainly exciting as the scent of a new adventure swirls in the air again, but it’s a little sobering, too. This time we are not the ones packing our bags. We’re the ones standing in the driveway, waving goodbye. 

Jesus sent them out

In Mark chapter 3, we find Jesus in the thick of his early ministry. The religious leaders plot to destroy him. The local crowds follow him, harassing him, in their desperation to receive healing. One night he couldn't even get into his own house to have supper because of the people surrounding him and demanding his attention.

Of course, Jesus would want to choose some friends to be close to him. Of course, he would want a small group of people around him who understood his mission and could help him accomplish it. These same friends could help him fend off the pressing crowds and protect him from being crushed by them. They could help him find food and lodging and assist with day-to-day life. Later, they are the ones he would turn to when his life is in danger.

So he called these friends by name and invited them to live life closely with him. We see the names of the twelve disciples in Mark 3: 16-19. Though Jesus did interact with the crowds, he poured himself more intentionally into a few. A handful of guys who were committed to following him and helping him. Companions. Friends. "And he appointed the twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him ..." (Mark 3:14).

But wait. Jesus didn't call his disciples to be with him just so he could have some buddies for support and companionship. Surely that was part of it, but it was much, much more.  I cut off the remainder of the verse earlier. Here's the whole thing: "And he appointed the twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons" (3:14-15, italics added).

Jesus knew his mission depended on the sending. He didn’t gather the twelve for the comfort of having friends he could do life with. He gathered the twelve in order to send them out to preach with authority. To change the world. To push back evil. To transform hearts so that the kingdom could expand.

My struggle to send

I like the gathering part of discipleship. Invite people in, focus on a few, fill their mugs again and again with freshly brewed tea as we talk about life and what we're learning. I like the "so that they might be with him" part.

Honestly, the "sending" is the part of discipleship I don't particularly like. Gather them in and then "send them out."  Focus on a few so they can go and do likewise. Fill all those mugs so that the people sitting around the table can go and pour themselves out for other people who do not yet know Jesus.  I know this is what it's all about. Reproduction. Multiplication. Growing the kingdom. Making disciples.

But I’m learning that sending well is hard to do. It’s hard to let people go -- to send them on new adventures while we regroup and start over. This is what we do as people committed to discipleship. We do what Jesus did. We gather disciples in, invest in them deeply, and then send them out to make more disciples. We wave goodbye.

Any parent of a teenager knows that this is difficult to do well. My oldest is beginning to look at colleges. The "sending out" is coming soon. My husband and I have spent nearly seventeen years investing in him and discipling him, but soon it will be time to let go. To send him on to whatever adventure God has next for him. Sending involves loss. We suffer personal loss, but we trust in great kingdom gain.

Mary’s struggle to send

Maybe that's a little of what Mary was feeling when she gathered up her family and went down to Capernaum to see what in the world her oldest son was up to (see Mark 3:21, 31-35). I'm sure she wanted to grab Jesus by the collar and drag him back home just like any self-respecting mom would want to do. Even Mary apparently hadn't grasped the fullness of the big truth: she had raised Jesus in order to send him out. Maybe she sensed that sending him out would result in his death. In her loss.

I'm sure that in the following years she began to grasp that hard truth. And since we don't have evidence of her continuing to follow Jesus around begging him to come home, she probably did the hard work of letting him go. She knew it was the right thing to do.  The kingdom of God depended, in part, upon Mary sending Jesus out well. Though she grieved deeply at the foot of his cross a few years later, I hope she had the sense of the great gain that had been purchased by her son’s sacrifice. Mary's sacrifice as a mother is a part of that redemptive story.

Striving to send well

A handful of women I have invested in on a weekly basis over the last few years is planning to join the new church plant. During the next few months, they will begin to break away from our community and begin the adventure of starting something new. Realistically, we will not meet weekly anymore. It’s time for me to send them out. We will still be connected in Christ, of course, but inevitably our relationships must change. Though I feel privileged to be a part of a church that is committed to planning new churches, I’m feeling the loss involved with the sending.

Hopefully, our discipleship times together have been saturated by the gospel. Hopefully, I have modeled something worth replicating. Hopefully, these women will carry the truth of the gospel with them to people who do not yet know Jesus. Though the loss of relationship hurts, these hopes breathe life. There might even be joy mixed with the pain of sending.

Let the Gospel Prepare You

The very gospel we have been fighting to believe together will help us through this next phase of discipleship. We remember that because God had so much love for the world, he sent Jesus into that world (John 3:16). God the Father suffered loss as he sent his son to save a people who would brutally kill him. But that loss led to great gain. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection have made a way for many, many lost souls to find their way home. As I remind myself of this gospel every day, I find the strength to release and send well.

Now as I fill the kettle and brew the tea, I remind myself -- the reason I invite people to sit around my table for discipleship is not so that I can gather a group of like-minded people together to live life with. It’s so I can invest the gospel in them, and send them out to do the same with others. It's hard, yes. But it's not about my comfort or my aversion to loss. It's about more and more people being gathered into the kingdom. So let’s enjoy the time around the table together. But let’s also remind ourselves why we’re sitting there: so that many, many more might join us at that heavenly table. Enjoy being together, but don't forget to prepare your heart to enjoy the sending.

---

Lindsay Powell Fooshee is married to John, a pastor at Redeemer Community Church and church planter with Acts 29. They are raising 3 great kids in East Tennessee. Lindsay holds an M.A. in Christian Thought from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and blogs regularly at Kitchen Stool.

---

To read more about sending out disciples, check out Proclaiming Jesus by Tony Merida.

For more free articles about gospel centered discipleship, check out Is Disciple A Verb also by Lindsay Fooshee and What is Missional Culture & Why Does It Matter? by JR Woodward.

Discipleship in the Sporting-life

One of the common frustrations I hear from Christians is often tied to a misunderstanding of what discipleship is. For many discipleship is some mystical journey that entails deprivation and discipline in order to reach a stage of enlightenment that few share. For others discipleship involves deep academic study, the mastery of ancient languages, and usually a few diplomas to hang on their walls. Some have made discipleship an add-on option to Christianity, like a sunroof on a new car. I suspect much of what underlies all this confusion is that we’ve twisted the concept of discipleship into something we wouldn’t recognize in ordinary daily life. We wouldn’t know what discipleship was if it stared us right in the face. And yet, we do know what discipleship is. We might not know how to label or categorize it, but discipleship is intrinsically seen in our passions for sports. Furthermore, the multi-billion dollar sports industry shows us just how good at making disciples we really are. The trouble for many of us is that we fail to translate what is common and ordinary for our daily lives into an understanding of what Christianity really looks like.  We’ve deeply separated the concepts of sacred and secular. We won’t allow ourselves to see how discipleship happens in everyday life.

Discipleship is always happening.  It might not be Christian discipleship, but we are always being and making disciples of something.  The question remains how can the sporting-life help us see what Christian discipleship is?

Discipleship DNA

In his book,  Disciple, Bill Clem identifies four strands of discipleship DNA. These traits show-up in the sporting-life on a daily basis. In fact, these four strands of discipleship DNA are lived out almost subconsciously by fans of particular teams or sports. By comparison, they show us what a life of Christian discipleship can really look like. Simply put, a life of discipleship gives us an identity, directs us in worship, gathers us into community, and sends us on mission.

Identity

I like to listen to sports radio. From time-to-time I will laugh about the way fans talk about sports and the teams they like. Inevitably they speak in the first person: “If we would have started a different quarterback, we would have won.”

My favorite is the off-season talk, “We just need to draft that great running back and acquire another hot free agent, and I am sure we will win the championship!”-as if the person talking has any influence in the front-office at all.

Why do they talk that way?  It's because sporting-life can give us an identity - so much so that we include our lives as part of the life of the team. Their victories are our victories. Their losses our losses.

As Christians our discipleship is about an identity as well. We were once defined as “no people” and ” and “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3). But because of the grace of God and the work of Jesus we are given a new identity.  Peter declares that who we are before God is now defined as a “royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God’s] own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). The Scriptures tell us that we are now loved, alive, raised up, God’s workmanship, sons and daughters, and so on (Ephesians 2:4-10).

We have a new identity in Jesus. Just as the sporting-life gives us an identity around a particular team or club, Christian discipleship redefines our identity from sinner to saint. When we think about Christian discipleship, we are calling people to live in this new identity and reality.  We are calling them to “put on Christ,” to receive his grace and turn from lost, dead and doomed to loved, redeemed and reconciled. Discipleship begins with identity.

Worship

Worship? At a football game? Seriously?! Yes, absolutely.  Think about it. Where in culture do thousands gather weekly and cheer, sing, cry, celebrate, and lift up the fame of another? It happens in sporting events all over the globe. Discipleship is about the object of our worship and the sporting-life provides an example of an object of worship.

We will talk about our teams during the week and how great they are. We decorate our homes, vehicles, faces, and kids with colors and logos. We want others in our neighborhood to know exactly who we think is the best and spend our team cheering for them. We cry when our team disappoints us, rejoice when they win, and every off-season deeply hope our team fulfills our wishes and expectations. Worship is a major aspect of discipleship.

So how is worship for the Christian disciple to be any different? We have a greater and better object to celebrate, sing over, rejoice in, declare, and exalt (Revelation 5:9-10). Jesus and his work on our behalf is worthy of much greater song, affection, devotion, and praise than any other object. One reason our worship of God is so anemic is because we don’t see and feel just how awesome and worthy he is. Discipleship gives us an object of worship. Christian discipleship gives us the Greatest One to worship.

Community

Sports fans are notorious for the communities they form around their teams and sports. It is estimated that American’s spent eleven billion dollars on Super Bowl parties this year.

We gather in homes, bars, stadiums, or anywhere with a TV so we can see the game. Rarely, do we do it alone. And for the occasional individual who travels to these gathering sites alone it won’t be long before they're surrounded by others cheering on the same team. The sporting-life brings us into community with others.

Christian discipleship is no different. We are not saved into individuality but into community. Our identities are marked as “a chosen race” and a “people for God’s own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). These are plural identities. When we live as disciples of Jesus, we are gathering into community because of his saving work. We identify with others because of the shared life of the gospel. We serve, love, forgive, confess, encourage one another because of the community God has formed by the gospel.

Discipleship is living together as a community in, around, and for the gospel.

Mission

It has always amazed me how sport franchises can have such a global following. Why do people in New Mexico care anything about the Premier Football (Soccer) League in Europe? It has to be because someone made them a disciple of a team. Someone went on mission and told them about the team, showed them some highlights, sat down and watched a game with them.

One person told another and showed them just how great Manchester United is. And the person being discipled believed it. The next thing you know they bought a kit and made the wallpaper on their laptop screen a team logo. They started going to the local sports bars and watching games and discovered there were other fans of the team and started hanging out and talking with them. Shortly thereafter the converted fan was telling his neighbor about the team and inviting the neighbor to watch the game. The next week the neighbor was seen applying a team decal to the tailgate of his pick-up truck. Disciples make disciples who make disciples.

Christian discipleship is the same. We tell people and show people the greatness and goodness of God (Romans 10:17). We live lives of compelling love and speak words of compelling grace to the lost (1 Peter 2:12). We invite them into our lives and our homes and into our communities and show them all that Jesus has done for us and in us and through us (John 13:34-35). We let them see us worshipping Jesus and declaring our affections and devotion to him. As this happens we pray that God would open their eyes to the beauty and grace of Jesus and that He would replace their identity as sinners with a new identity of grace. As that happens the cycle begins again. Disciples make disciples who make disciples.

Discipleship always demonstrates itself in mission. Whether it technological discipleship, celebrity discipleship, athletic discipleship, or Christian discipleship, disciples of something always find themselves on a mission to make more disciples.

Discipleship in the Sporting-life

A question remains though: how do we move and make disciples in a context where sports are the gods that are worshipped? How do we see lives transformed when folks are so captivated by the glory of youth and athletics that the glory of God can hardly be comprehended? A few brief practices are beneficial for walking into the sporting-life on mission for Jesus.

• Inhabit sporting spaces and places - We must be present in the lives of those being discipled by sports. We will never gain traction to earn respect and speak the gospel into the lives of those we never inhabit space and place with. Frequent a sports bar. Coach kids sports leagues. Be present in the lives and rhythms of a sporting community. I coached an under-nine soccer team and was able to get to know the parents. I didn’t know anything about soccer really. I just wanted to have fun with these kids and get to know their parents.  As the season passed, I was able to develop these relationships and see them become a platform for sharing the gospel.

• Invest in those consumed by the sporting-life - I speak of investment on several fronts here. Being involved in the life of another for the sake of the gospel will cost you something. However your investment will demonstrate the seriousness of the gospel. Buy tickets and go to games with lost friends. Spend time with them on their turf watching sports. Sign up to play in the city sports leagues. Wichita Parks and Recreation, for instance, offers all sorts of adult sports opportunities from basketball and volleyball to a wiffleball league. Even if you are not a very good athlete, the goal is to be investing in the lives of others.  Humble yourself and go as a missionary into these cultures. The key here is high relational contact. Be in their world.

• Be attentive to their lives beyond sports - It’s nearly impossible to share the gospel with someone while you are watching the Super Bowl. But the relational traction that you have developed with someone else while inhabiting and investing in them will lead to other opportunities beyond the game to share Jesus. Look for these areas. Don’t merely associate with lost people around sports. Listen to their stories, discover their life rhythms, include them in your everyday life.  Invite them into your story, and more importantly invite them, as your lives connect, into the story of Jesus.  Show them a better identity, a more glorious one to worship, a more faithful community and a greater and more valuable mission for life.

• Be patient, take your time - This is by no means an overnight process or event. It takes patience and endurance. It was two years before a friend that I was investing in through the tools of the sporting-life opened the door for me to talk about Christ with him. We can’t give up after a few weeks or the end of the season. Disciple-making is a long-term, low-key, intentional activity. Stick with it. Continue to inhabit their lives. Continue to invest in them. Pray for them and the opportunity to share the gospel all the while living out the implications of the gospel before them. Let your urgency be in prayer and before God and your endurance be toward your lost friends.

I’m convinced that we have muddled the concept of discipleship. We’ve made it sound like college calculus more than everyday life and have forgotten what ordinary everyday discipleship is. The reality is every human being knows a lot more about discipleship than they think they do. Sometimes is merely takes seeing how discipleship plays out in another context to make it more clear for our own. Jesus didn’t tell Peter he would never fish again. He told him that he would fish for a different catch (Matthew 4:19). In the same way, Christ hasn’t called us to reinvent the wheel when it comes to discipleship, he’s just called us to make disciples of a different nature (Matthew 28:19-20). Let’s use the practices and paradigms of sporting-life discipleship to engage in eternal, Christian discipleship. Let’s be disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus.

---

Jeremy Writebol is Christian who really enjoys sports. He is the husband of Stephanie, daddy of Allison and Ethan, and lives and works in Wichita, KS as the Community Pastor at Journey the Way. He is the director of Porterbrook Kansas and writes at jwritebol.net.

---

For more resources on how to share the gospel authentically, check out Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson.

For more free articles on making the gospel part of your everyday life, read: The Neighborhood Missions Startup by Seth McBee, Messy Discipleship by Jake Chambers, and Plant the Gospel, Plant Churches by Tony Merida.

Mission: Suburbs

Editor's Note: This is a repost of Mission: Suburbs. It appears here with the writer's permission. ---

The Great Commission that Jesus gave to His disciples is often quoted when discussing world missions. Jesus sends his disciples out to make more disciples.

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 28:18-20

I remember sitting in a seminary class and the professor began talking to us about the Greek and the idea that the word ‘Go’ in the Great Commission could really be read, “As you go” or “While you are going.”  This opened my eyes to an understanding that Jesus' command doesn’t only apply to world missions, but to living our lives as missionaries.  As we go, we make disciples.

This truth brings meaning and purpose to those of us who reside in the security of suburbia. This is not written as an opinionated diatribe towards those who live in the suburbs. I live in and minister to people of the suburbs. It’s a reminder that all peoples matter to God, and that you don’t have to go to obscure lands to make disciples. To be honest, if you are not an effective missionary where you are--as you go--then what makes you think you have any authority serving as a missionary elsewhere?

WE HAVE A MISSION IN SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS

To serve as a missionary in a suburban context has several inherent complications. People in suburbia enjoy their individuality and privacy. They are busy and often living beyond their means. We need to realize that we have a mission at hand, not in a far off land, but down our street, in our schools, in the stores and restaurants we patronize. There are people all around us who are separated from God and need to know and love Jesus.

The question is whether you will make disciples as you go, or will you wait for other, more professional people, to do it for you?

I often receive questions on how to be a missionary in a suburban context. Here are a few things to keep in mind as we consider our calling to make disciples as we go:

1. People Matter to God: This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s good to remember that God has sent us into the world as His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) to bring the message of reconciliation. We are not sent to only reach those like us, but to minister to all whom we come in contact with.
2. Places of Impact: We are creatures of habit. We all have places that we frequently go to eat, shop, and play. Remember, the people who work in these places are often dismissed, but this is a great place to start building intentional relationships. Not only is it important to minister to them, but also they can connect us with other regulars.
3. Go Out in Pairs: The mission we are on is a communal mission and an individual one. We are not just inviting people to ‘church’, but calling people out of darkness into light, from death to life, from isolation to biblical community.  Jesus sent his disciples 2-by-2, so we should be intentional about being on mission together. Examples of this include BBQ’s, play dates, library activities with kids, work out spots, etc.
4. The Golden Rule: Remember what it was like to be lost? If not, then you should begin there. Isolation from God may give the appearance of freedom, but ultimately leads to death. We need to do for others what we would hope they would do for us, especially when it comes to sharing spiritual truths.
5. People are NOT Projects: One of the most arrogant things we can do is to treat people as projects. People do not need to be ‘worked on’; they need to be loved on. What are ways that you can serve them, speak to them, and treat them in a way that communicates your love for Jesus and your love for them?
6. It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint:  We never know when God is going to regenerate a person. That’s not our business. What we are to be about is making disciples as we go. Befriending people, serving people, and pointing people to Jesus with our lives and our words. This could take years in some instances.  Perhaps it is just as much about your sanctification as it is about their salvation.
7. Jesus Saves People / You Are the Mid-Wife: I’m often stunned how bad theology leads to ineffective evangelistic lifestyles. People get paralyzed when they believe that they are the one’s to save people. What I mean is, when people believe that it’s up to them to lead a person to the Lord, they get stuck with fear or prideful with their ‘success.’ Keeping in mind that God is the sovereign King who is able to save even the hardest of people, should give us rest in His provision. Our calling is to be faithful to the Gospel, to share the faith, and to serve as midwives to those who are born again.

FAITHFUL & INTENTIONAL

These points are valid regardless of your context. It is important to note that while we are in a unique context living in suburbia, we are not relieved from the commission at hand. We must be faithful to present Jesus in our lives, words, families, and deeds.

We live in a fallen world that is in great need of redemption and restoration. The question is whether you will make disicples as you go, or will you wait for other, more professional people, to do it for you? Let’s not fall into the suburban stereotype of outsourcing local missions, rather, let us invest into our communities, connect with our neighbors, and continually strive to be intentional about seeing lives transformed by Jesus.

---

Casey Cease  is husband to his high school sweetheart, Steph, and they have a beautiful daughter named Braelyn and another little girl on the way. He serves as the Lead Pastor of Christ Community Church  in Magnolia, TX and travels and speaks throughout the United States. His first book about his tragic car crash and his journey to faith in Jesus, Tragedy to Truth, will be released February 2013 through Lucid Books.

---

For more ideas on missional living, check out Tony Merida’s Proclaiming Jesus.

For more free articles on missional culture and neighborhood missions, see What is Missional Culture & Why Does It Matter, by JR Woodward, and The Neighborhood Mission Start Up, by Seth McBee.

Meet Jill & Cliff (& The Holy Spirit)

Meet Jill and Cliff. They have a somewhat similar story, yet at this point they have very different outcomes. I have been in a relationship with Cliff for five years now. We met at a local coffee shop. Cliff and I have eaten many meals together, drank hundreds of cups of coffee, and spent hours just hanging out over the past five years. We have built a great friendship. One where we text back and forth about everything from the mundane to the important. Cliff is a guy I could go to if I ever needed anything, and I know he feels the same. I have only known Jill since January. When she heard about our little church plant, she decided to give religion a go. She showed up the second week of our core team gathering. Since then Jill and my family have had meals together, and spent time talking about the challenges and struggles she has had in her life. She is a single mom with three kids and has had a rough life the last couple of years. Church was kind of a last ditch effort to find hope.

Similarities & Differences

I have a deep love for both Cliff and Jill. They are good friends, ones I have been praying for and trusting Jesus to bring to faith. My method has been the same. I have shared the gospel with both of them on many different occasions. They both have had major needs, one is dying of terminal cancer, the other is struggling with a 10+ year drug addiction. Their need for God in their life is present, and both of them would tell you they need God.

Yet, in the midst of all these similarities there is a major difference. About two months ago, Jill put her faith in Jesus, after only being part of our church family for 4 or 5 months. No one person led her to Jesus. She did not say a 'sinners' prayer one day during a passionate plea from me. None of that happened. She just simply came to us and said she had faith in Jesus. She believed in all the things he said he did. She understood he had died for her sinfulness. He had forgiven her. He had risen again. She knew it all, and more importantly she believed it all with her heart and was willing to give her life over to Jesus. The only thing she didn't know was now what. She didn't know if she had to sign anything or say any special words. It was beautiful. The Spirit was working in her life!

Cliff, on the other hand, has heard the gospel. He has seen it at work in my life as I talk about struggles, about my past, and as he has seen me parent my children and love my wife. But he has still not placed his faith in Jesus. He has asked for a Bible and for me to study it with him, but that is as far as it has gone. I love Cliff. Cliff is not a project. He is my friend. He is my friend who I will earnestly seek God to bring to himself. Not for my sake, but for Cliff's. Jesus is the best thing that could happen to Cliff.

Time & Truth

The reason I compare these two friends of mine is that nothing different was done with Jill that wasn't done with Cliff. We did not have some amazing discipleship technique that worked on Jill, which we somehow forgot to use on Cliff. No, it's just how the Spirit works. The Spirit quickens who he will, and he tarries when he wants, and there is nothing we can do about it. All we can do is pray.

This is always a concern we must have when we think through discipleship. We must always factor the Holy Spirit into our equation. It is not that I failed with Cliff and succeeded with Jill. Far from it. God simply works in his way in his time. This is something I need to come to understand better. I need to realize that only by living a life that points people to Jesus will I have the chance to see God work in his timing.

It also gives me a deep hope for Cliff, and everyone else I know who is not submitting his or her life to Jesus. The hope is that the Spirit will work when he will work. It is not in my eloquent speech, or persuasive words. It is when he desires to lead those who he has called unto himself. All I can do is be faithful and pray and proclaim and display the gospel and sit back and wait.

When I think through the difference between Cliff and Jill, I can get frustrated. I remember sitting across from Cliff, asking God, “why?” What had I done wrong? It seemed like I had done everything right, from my limited perspective, yet Cliff’s heart was not changing at all, not in the slightest. I was looking at myself and becoming frustrated that I could not come up with the right things to say, or the right pitch. Later, I was re-reading Tim Chester’s book, You Can Change. Chester points out that, “Behind every sin is a lie.” (pg 73)

When I thought about the different outcomes between Jill in Cliff, I was getting discouraged and down, forgetting that God is good. I was forgetting these truths about Jesus, and believing the lie that it was in my hands to convince Cliff.

In the fifth chapter, Chester looks at Psalm 62.11-12 and points out 4 truths that we need to daily remind ourselves, when the lies assault us.

1. God is great – so we do not have to be in control.
2. God is glorious – so we do not have to fear others.
3. God is good – so we do not have to look elsewhere.
4. God is gracious – so we do not have to prove ourselves.

These four truths rushed in and brought comfort to my struggling heart that day. They were the very thing I needed to remember. These four truths are critical for my heart when I am in the midst of a situation as talked about above. We will all be in a situation that has the same storyline. We will fail at discipleship, in our own mind. Yet the truth is that in the midst of what we may label as a failure, God is still great, glorious, good and gracious. Each of us will have people that we invest time, money, prayers, all we have to show them Jesus’ love, and they will do nothing but cause you headaches. Whether Cliff ever comes to know Jesus or not, God does not change. I must never believe the lie that my value and worth is found in my fruit or in Cliff’s conversion.

---

Josh Cousineau was a youth pastor for over 5 years & is now the lead pastor of Redemption Hill Community, which launched in Auburn ME in 2012. Josh is married to his high school sweetheart, Anna. They have 3 amazing children (2 boys & 1 girl). Their daughter was adopted from Uganda in 2011. Josh blogs at http://joshcousineau.com

---

For more insights into evangelism & discipleship, check-out Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.

For more free articles on the discipleship process, read Street Grace by Jake Chambers, The Unqualified Disciple by Lindsay Fooshee, & Behold the Beauty by Jason Garwood.

Spiritual Warfare Prayer

Editor's Note: Two weeks ago GCD received a request from a believer in Ethiopia for biblical teaching on spiritual warfare. My first response was prayer. I ask our readers to join us in praying - as Paul does in Ephesians 3:14-21 - that we might all have the strength to be filled with the fullness of Christ's love, to feel the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Paul's prayer for strength (strength to know Christ's love!) fans the flames of spiritual revival, and this prayer for strength is all the more important when we come under attack from the forces of darkness that are arrayed against us. I've been praying for revival, and I'm doing it knowing what that means to the enemy. I'm praying for revival because we have a victory secure in Christ and because I long to see God's grace renew the lives of the people I love.

As folks here at GCD talked about how best to disciple a new believer in spiritual warfare, Winfield mentioned that Prayer Life has a chapter dedicate to Spiritual Warfare Prayer. To that believer in Ethiopia and to our brothers and sisters around the world, we offer this excerpt. As you read and reflect on the power of prayer, please unite with us in praying that we might all comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love, for in this corporate prayer lies both the surety of our salvation and the power to dispel the forces of evil.

---

“If you would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from Heaven. For who He giveth us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready succor those that fight manfully, and do trust in His grace.”  -Thomas A Kempis

One of the most important aspects of prayer is spiritual warfare. The Bible tells us that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle, and our advisory the devil is like a roaring lion seeking to destroy our lives. Paul says, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan and his forces of darkness are trying to destroy your life, and it is imperative that we learn to pray against these forces of darkness in order to gain victory in our lives. There are several things that the Bible tells us about spiritual warfare.

What the Bible Says About Spiritual Warfare

• We are in a real spiritual battle (2 Corinthians. 10:4; 1 Timothy 1:18)
• We are to resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9)
• We are to take authority over powers of darkness (Matthew 16:19)
• We are to cast out demons (Mark 16:17)
• We are to use spiritual weapons to overcome darkness (2 Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:10-20)

The Bible tells us about great individuals who were victorious in spiritual warfare, all of which are lessons for us today. The battle is either won or lost on the mountaintop in prayer. Throughout the Bible, the mountain is a symbol of prayer and a place to meet with God. Jesus regularly went to the mountains to pray, Elijah called down fire on the mountain, and Moses met with God on the mountaintop.

In Exodus chapter 17, Israel fought against the Amalekites in Rephidim. Moses went on top of the mountain to intercede for the people who were fighting the battle below. Whenever his hands were lifted up, Israel would prevail, but when his hands grew tired and fell down the Amalekites would prevail. It is the same way in our lives, whenever we lift our hands in prayer we will prevail, but when we stop praying we lose the victory. We need to follow Moses example of praying for victory over the forces of darkness on the mountaintop. Don’t grow weary in prayer, but allow the Lord to help you pray for victory in every area of your life.

In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat shows us how to prepare for spiritual warfare. When the great forces of Moab and Amon came to battle against Israel, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast in the land. 2 Chronicles 20:4 says, “Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord.” The first thing you need to do when you are in spiritual warfare is to ask help from the Lord. The Lord reminded them, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles 20:15). God wants to fight our battles for us. All we have to do is go to Him in prayer and ask for His help.

Steps to Spiritual Warfare

1. Pray Always

Paul tells us to “pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance” (Ephesians 6:12). The first step to spiritual warfare is to pray always. This means that we must develop a lifestyle of prayer. Even when we aren’t praying out loud we can still be in a state of union and intimacy with the Lord.

2. Be Watchful

Paul goes on to say that we need to be watchful. This means that we must have an awareness of what is going on around us spiritually. It also means to be sleepless, or wakeful. God calls us to be watchmen and watchwomen who will guard against the devil. In the Bible, a watchman would stay awake at night to make sure that the enemy didn’t attack while everyone was sleeping. It is our responsibility to be watchful in prayer.

3. Have Perseverance

Our prayers should be made with all perseverance! God doesn’t like weak, powerless prayers; rather He desires for us to persevere in prayer. James tells us, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). The word fervent is energeo, which means energy. We need to be fervent and energetic in our prayer life. Don’t give up until your prayer is answered!

4. Pray in the Spirit 

The only way that our prayers will ever have power is if they are in the Spirit. The Spirit intercedes for us and reveals the will of God to us (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit gives fire to the incense of our prayer. Jude says that we should build ourselves in the most holy faith by praying in the Spirit. (Jude 20). The Spirit will build us up, guide us in truth, and give us the strength to pray as we should pray. Let the Holy Spirit come and give you the power to pray today.

Reflection Questions

1. What are several of the things that the Bible tells us about spiritual warfare?
2. What can we learn from the stories of Moses and Jehoshaphat?
3. How do their stories apply to your current situation?
4. Take some time to discuss the steps of spiritual warfare from Ephesians 6:12.
5. What does it mean to pray at all times? Is this possible?
6. What does it mean to be watchful in prayer?
7. How do we pray in the Spirit? In what ways does the Spirit help us pray?

Concluding Prayer

Lord, teach us to how to use our prayer in spiritual warfare. Even though there is a battle raging between the forces of darkness and the forces of light, we know that You oh Lord are all mighty, all powerful, and all knowing. We acknowledge that you are in complete control over all things in our life. Strengthen our hearts to be strong and grow not weary in prayer. In your name we pray. Amen.

Laying Foundations for Spiritual Growth

When my two sons were young we went to Atlanta for the groundbreaking of one of the more famous skyscrapers. We had been reading about the project for months in the local papers and were excited to watch the construction of the “tallest building in the South”. As we arrived on the scene, the bulldozers were already clearing the site, but there was a viewing area for spectators with an architectural rendering of the completed structure emblazoned on the side of the construction fencing. “Wow!” my oldest exclaimed, “It’s humongous!” And indeed it was, soaring nearly seventy stories above Peachtree Street, it certainly promised to be a focal point of the city skyline. We faithfully trekked to the site and watched trucks haul away dirt and debris while other trucks delivered steel girders and other building materials. After several weeks of this vigil, one of the boys exclaimed in frustration, “Dad, when are they going to start working on the building?” (It was a question that I had pondered myself, because all that existed was a large hole and lots of mud.) Approaching a worker with a set of plans under his arm, I inquired, “Can you give us some idea when the building is going to begin?” His chuckle made it obvious the question had come up before. “It’s hard to believe it,” he said, “but this hole is the most important part of the building. We have to dig down several hundred feet and build a solid foundation to support a structure that’s over seventy stories tall. It will take several months to pour the concrete and sink the steel pillars, but then we’ll start going up. Once we start, it will rise pretty fast!”

The Bible compares living the Christian life with constructing a building. Just as there are phases in building a building, there are phases in the growth of a Christian, and the first phase is: “laying a foundation.” Our initial salvation experience is the beginning of a process of growth that lasts a lifetime. The success of our spiritual growth is determined by the strength of our spiritual foundation. Matthew 7: 24-27 asserts that the Christian life built on a solid foundation will withstand the storms of life. The tallest building in the South is still standing today. Believers who lay solid foundations are more likely to stand tall than those who fail to establish a solid base for growth. This foundations phase actually consists of four interconnecting parts:

1. relating to God,
2. relating to other Christians,
3. understanding truth, and
4. applying truth so that it transforms us.

Let’s explore these together!

Relating to God

Unlike other religions, the essence of Christianity is a relationship with God, not a set of rules. In John 17: 3 the Scripture affirms that eternal life is all about knowing God. It is thrilling to remember that God desires a relationship with us that will never end. The great news is that believers don’t have to wait for heaven to experience this. It begins the moment we accept Christ!

Having a relationship with God is not all that different from having a relationship with anyone else. As we relate to others, we get to know them better and the relationship deepens over time. There are specific situations that will help believers better experience a relationship with God. The first of these involves setting aside time for personal devotions, a quiet time each day devoted to prayer, Bible reading, and personal meditation. The Scripture promises in James 4: 8 that as we “come near to God, he will come near to us”. This “coming near to God” is not a religious duty, but a time for relational development. Of course just as good disciplines and habits can be beneficial in other areas of life, the more we remain faithfully committed to our quiet time, the more benefit we derive from it.

Another aspect of developing a relationship with God is attending public worship in a church that exalts him. Although we can worship God any place, any time, worshipping with other Christians deepens and develops our ability to relate to God. There are many different public worship experiences and not all churches structure them in the same way.

Worship that focuses on the greatness of God and includes times of singing praise, prayerful meditation, and Biblical preaching should be a priority. Ask God to help you find a church in your community and become a part of the fellowship. This leads to another important part of laying a good foundation: relating to other Christians.

Relating to Other Christians

God has placed us in his spiritual family, the Church, to encourage us, protect us, correct us, direct us, and provide for us. Again there are specific situations that help believers experience relationships with other Christians. Each of these plays a unique role in helping to form a spiritual foundation and each will require some effort. But they all are incredibly beneficial. Christians who do not have connections with other Christians tend to stop growing. (cf. Hebrews 10: 24-25)

In the first century there were very few church buildings. Mostly the believers met together in private homes for Bible teaching, prayer, and fellowship. There are benefits to meeting with large groups in public worship, but there is also an advantage gained from being part of a small group. The intimacy of the setting provides a place for relationships to flourish. Many modern believers have learned that meeting together in small groups helps to forge close relationships as members discuss Scripture, pray for each other, and share personal matters.

The term “mentoring” was coined by the modern business community to describe a relationship where a seasoned executive tutors a younger colleague in commercial practices. But long before mentoring was introduced to the world of commerce, it had already existed in the spiritual community as “one-to-one discipleship”.

In this case it describes an intentional relationship between a young believer and a more mature Christian who models the Christian life, answers questions, gives counsel, and helps the younger Christian stay focused on the priorities of spiritual growth.

Understanding Truth

One important priority for growth (and the third part of laying good foundations) involves developing an increasing understanding of God’s truth. The Bible is the Book of Truth for Christians, but it can appear overwhelming to a new learner. It was Jesus who proclaimed that knowing truth sets people free from the bondage of sin. Therefore, it is helpful to have a basic plan of study for learning the truths that we need to build upon, a plan that focuses on specific themes and principles of foundational development. A good beginning series of studies for young believers should include the themes mentioned earlier: truth that helps someone to know more about God, truth that helps people understand other people, and truth that helps someone to grow spiritually.

There are specific approaches to gaining an understanding of these foundational truths. The first is a curriculum of systematic instruction. This is the first of a series of “Pocket Principles” that are designed specifically for helping new believers lay solid spiritual foundations. If you received this “Pocket Principle” from a mentor or small group leader, continue to work closely with that person to discover and apply the other truths in this series.

Another way of gaining insights into living the Christian life is by reading. There are many excellent materials and resources available in Christian bookstores, libraries, and on the Internet. Your own informal reading will supplement your spiritual growth. But be sure to focus on the foundational themes mentioned above as a starting point.

Your local church is also an excellent source of content. Besides the weekly sermon delivered by the pastor or other teacher, many churches offer small groups devoted to helping new believers get established in the faith. Consult the churches in your area for opportunities to learn foundational truths.

Applying Truth

But as important as truth is in the growth process, it is not the information alone that transforms us. In fact other parts of Scripture warn us that knowledge by itself can be dangerous, leading to spiritual pride and the deadening of our hearts to God. This particular sin characterized the Pharisees who were enemies of Christ. It is only truth that is obeyed or applied to our lives that changes us and causes growth. Romans 12: 2 reminds us that it is a life consecrated to obeying God that is impacted by truth. When our minds are transformed in this way we help establish the will of God on earth. This is more than just knowing the truth, it is actually doing truth.

A skyscraper is an engineering marvel, but soaring high means digging deep and laying solid foundations. A maxim of the Christian life asserts that “you can only grow as tall as you grow deep”. Laying good foundations takes time and effort, but the benefits are worth it. The new believer needs to embrace experientially the truths related to knowing and understanding God and other believers.

The Foundations of Spiritual Growth

Applying truth will require becoming involved in specific situations that facilitate foundational growth. Establishing a time for personal devotions, joining a small group, locating an older believer who can come alongside you as an encouraging mentor, setting up a systematic plan of study , and participating in public worship are layers of spiritual brick and mortar that form this foundation. But these situations without a heart commitment to obey the truth will not suffice. Blessings to you as you grow!

• So where are you laying foundations?
• Where do you find is the best place to find a mentor?
• Have you made time for studying God’s word?
• What are some of the things you have done to help lay foundations for growing in your faith as a Christian?

---

Robert D. (Bob) Dukes is the President and Executive Director of Worldwide Discipleship Association (WDA*) headquartered in Fayetteville, Georgia. He is the author/co-author of many educational publications and articles including: A Biblical Framework for Disciple Building; A Practical Strategy for Disciple Building; Disciple Building for Small Groups; and Disciple Building for Life Coaches.  He serves as a founding member of The Steering Committee for The Pierce Center for Disciple Building at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston, MA.

WDA is an international training organization specializing in Christian discipleship. WDA establishes interdenominational training centers on university campuses, seminaries, and in communities around the world, and forges partnerships with other Christian organizations. WDA staff and associates equip current and emerging generations of leaders, and offer seminars and training resources to help local churches develop progressive discipleship strategies.

Editor's Note: This article is reposted with permission from WDA's Laying Foundations. This is the first Pocket Principle in the Knowing God Series. For more resources on digging deeper into a creative & restorative relationship with God through the gospel of Christ, check out Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship by Winfield Bevins. For more free articles of applying the gospel to your everyday life, read: Making Disciples is Not Just for Super Christians by Nathan Creitz, Meditating on God's Word - Memorization by Tony Merida, & Discipling the Disillusioned by Andrew Byers.

Is Disciple a Verb

We were a young church plant, still struggling to map out our DNA, our essentials, the values upon which we wanted to build our arm of the body of Christ. We had our definitive statements on paper, but we were puzzled about how to make them live and breathe. We knew what we felt called to, but living out that calling in real time was proving to be another thing entirely. We felt called to discipleship. To bring together a group of people who intentionally lived life together, encouraging one another’s spiritual growth. We wanted to enjoy Christ together, love other people well, and engage the world around us in a meaningful, life-changing way. We envisioned this type of intentional discipleship happening in small groups of 3 or 4, little cells of people spurring one another on to live the life Jesus called us to live.

We thought it sounded simple enough, but problems arose which clouded this vision and made us all see a little blurry. How do we convince people to engage in this type of intimate discipleship when they have never seen it done? How do we ensure that what goes on within those relationships remains gospel-centered and Jesus-focused? How do we form the groups? How do we incorporate newcomers? How do we encourage these discipleship groups to reach the lost?

We certainly weren’t suffering from a lack of interest. “Disciple” had become a buzz-word in our little church family, especially among people in their 20s. We would often hear questions such as “Are you discipling anyone?” or “Do you know anyone who could disciple me?” floating around in conversations. We rejoiced in the interest in discipleship but continued to struggle with how to make it happen in reality.

Is "Disciple" a Verb?

One summer, we decided to utilize a sermon series to tackle these problems and wrestle them to the mat. After each message, one of our leaders would facilitate a discussion in which anyone could ask a question relating to the topic. We were hoping to provide clarity about our vision of discipleship and what that could look like in our church body. A lot of great questions were asked that summer and thoughtful answers given in response.

One morning, however, a question was asked that stumped the facilitator. The question-asker was actually a friend of ours visiting from out of town. He had been doing a lot of thinking about discipleship himself and was intrigued with our discussion. After listening to questions regarding “discipling” other people he raised his hand and asked the question, “Is ‘disciple’ a verb?”

Silence.

I don’t know whether our facilitator temporarily lost his grasp of English grammar or whether the question honestly didn’t make sense, but the question stumped him. “Is ‘disciple’ a verb?” It was a little cheeky of our friend to ask it that way, really. It might have been more helpful to our discussion if he went ahead and asked the questions behind the question. What he was really getting at was something more like, “How is the word 'disciple' used in the New Testament?  As a noun, indicating a person, or as a verb, indicating an action? Are we using the term correctly? Or are we perhaps misusing it?”

Though our friend’s question wasn’t answered well that morning, it prompted me to do a little thinking and research. I knew what he was getting at. The word “disciple” or mathetes in Greek is a noun and is used in the New Testament as such. It refers to a person. A New Testament disciple is a person who is committed to learning from and following Jesus. But in contemporary church circles, it is popular to use the word as a verb: “So and so is ‘discipling’ me.”

So which is it? A noun or a verb? The question can be answered with grammatical ease. In the New Testament, mathetes is used as a noun: disciple, student, learner, follower. A closely related word, matheteuo, is a verb used several times in the New Testament, such as when Jesus instructs his disciples to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19).

The action of “making disciples” we have shortened to the term “discipling" - kind of a funny little word that spellcheck continually rejects, but it makes the point. Using “disciple” as a verb indicates the action Jesus commanded when he told us to “make disciples” of all nations. By “discipling” people, we are attempting to obey Jesus by “making disciples.”

The Real Question

But there is a deeper question underlying the issue of grammar. I’m not sure if our friend intended this question or not, but it’s a question I’ve been asking myself. Does the way we use the word “disciple” indicate something about our hearts? About our preferences? Do we prefer the noun of being a disciple or the verb of making disciples?

“Disciple” as a Noun

I can see dangers with an overemphasis either way. If people are more comfortable with “disciple” as a noun, then hopefully they are engaging their own discipleship well. They are seeking after Jesus in the Scriptures, determined to follow him and apply the gift of the gospel to their lives. But if there is no activity of discipleship directed toward others in their lives, I think they’re missing something. They may be taking responsibility for their own discipleship, but not the discipleship of others. They are not obeying Jesus’ command to “make disciples.”

I see evidence of this in our church body. We are a young congregation, both in the age of our church as a whole and in the age of the individuals. To be “old” in our church is to be over the age of 35! The people in this upper age bracket seem to engage their own discipleship well for the most part, but are often unaware that the droves of younger people around them need encouragement. They are more comfortable with being a disciple than making disciples.

“Disciple” as a Verb

But the danger can swing the other way as well.  When people shift the use of “disciple” from a noun to a verb, a new set of issues arises.  It is possible that this group of people is more comfortable with the activity of making disciples than with the state of being a disciple.  They spend their lives investing in their relationships with others, but neglect the most important relationship of all, the one with Jesus himself.

Jonathan Dodson illustrates this distinction well in his recent book Gospel-Centered Discipleship.  Dodson admits that at one point in his spiritual journey, “disciple became more of a verb than a noun, less of an identity and more of an activity.”[1]

He describes that when he was focused on “disciple” as an activity, it was as though he were standing at the top of the stairs of discipleship, looking down on the disciples in his living room. He was comfortable dispensing his knowledge to the eager disciples, but was not willing to come down the stairs and join them on eye-level. In other words, he was more comfortable making disciples than being a disciple.

I see this shift in our church family as well. We are all buzzing around talking about who is discipling who, focusing on the activity of discipleship. But are we as concerned with the importance of being disciples? Are we more interested in seeking a discipler than in seeking Jesus? Are we taking responsibility for our own spiritual growth? Have we forgotten that, regardless of who may or may not be discipling us, we are disciples of Jesus?

The Answer to the Question

So the answer our friend’s question is yes. “Disciple” is a verb. But “disciple” is also a noun. We must live out both senses of the word if we want to do discipleship well. We must take our personal discipleship seriously as well as the discipleship of the other people we’re connected to in the body of Christ. We need to be emphasizing the activity and the state of being of the word “disciple” if we’re to engage the process of discipleship the way Jesus intended.

We don’t have all our questions on discipleship answered in our church, but we’re growing. We’re encouraging the people in our church body both to “own their own spiritual growth” as well as engage in discipleship with other people.  We’re trying to consistently model both how to be a disciple and how to make disciples. That much of our vision, at least, is clear. As for the other blurry problems, well, I guess we need another raised hand after a sermon. Hopefully that next difficult question won’t involve grammar.

---

[1] Jonathan Dodson, Gospel-Centered Discipleship (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 16.

---

Lindsay Powell Fooshee is married to John, a pastor at Redeemer Community Church and church planter with Acts 29. They are raising 3 great kids in East Tennessee, soaking up the joys of toddlers and teenagers at the same time. Lindsay holds an M.A. in Christian Thought from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and enjoys teaching and writing about what’s she’s learning. She is passionate about discipleship and blogs regularly about it at Kitchen Stool.

---

For more resources on being a disciple and disciple making, check out: Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.

Free articles on disciple-making: The Image Conscious Disciple by Jonathan Dodson, A Story of Gospel Community by Seth McBee, and Discipleship 101: How to Disciple a New Believer by Justin Buzzard.