The major view today is that people encounter Jesus and grow\nas disciples in a church. It is interesting to note that there is a lack of Biblical\nexamples of this view of disciple-making. People met Jesus at the side of\nwells, in cemeteries, in the country and were discipled in homes, on hill-sides\nor walking from town to town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am not suggesting that Christ-followers did not\nsubsequently meet together and grow together and worship together. But what I\nam saying is that for too long now we have been viewing things through\ninstitutional lenses to the point where we believe that disciples need the\n\u2018institution\u2019 more than they need a direct, close, Spirit-led relationship with\nJesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following diagrams expand on what I am saying here and show a different way of looking at discipleship as it relates to the essential aspects of a disciple\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus began His ministry, His starting point was to\nmake disciples. As these disciples grew in number they formed into small\ncommunities. Later in the history of the church, larger corporate gatherings\nand buildings began to play a bigger role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though all three groupings have been a part of the\nhistorical development of the church, I believe Jesus had a reason for moving\noutside of the structured religious norm to begin something fresh and new. He\nestablished a pattern of making disciples who made other disciples, setting in\nplace the potential for unlimited growth of His church worldwide. Disciples\nwere grouped as the need arose and out of the rapid growth grew different forms\nof corporate gathering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was not until the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion that the corporate gathering encompassed all three areas and the building started to become the centre of all activity. The church today continues to try to delineate the three areas but, with the preeminence of the corporate gathering so entrenched (usually in a speci\ufb01c building), the process now moves in the reverse direction from what Jesus originally established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
We operate from the belief that, once a strong corporate\ngathering is established as the central focus, we then form small communities\nhoping that they will eventually bridge the gap with those who do not yet have\na relationship with Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has become my firm belief that this reverse process can\nnever work effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with these three\naspects of the disciple\u2019s life but they do achieve entirely different things.\nIf we plan to reverse the current process back to the model given to us by\nJesus, we need to clearly understand the purpose of each of these three aspects\nand ensure that every disciple of Jesus is aware of and equipped to ful\ufb01l the\nmandate of \u201cas you go, make disciples\u2026\u201d<\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Discipleship<\/strong>. At the beginning the journey is all about loving God,\nloving others and making disciples. At this stage loving God is a personal,\nintimate journey. Loving others is two-fold: loving people as I live and relate\nwith them in a small faith community and loving others with the compassion of\nJesus which motivates me to make disciples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Community<\/strong>. Based on the acronym made popular by Carl George, the\nsmaller community is about loving, learning, deciding and doing. Loving relates\nto living with others. Learning is discussing my life questions with other\ndisciples. Deciding is agreeing with others to make changes in my life. Doing\nis following through on decisions made as I share my journey with my small\ncommunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Corporate gathering<\/strong>. If I use the work of Dr. Robert Webber, the\ncorporate gathering covers four speci\ufb01c things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 The \ufb01rst is worship which\nstarts with God as omnipotent and far above our human attempts to understand\nand de\ufb01ne Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 The second is the preaching\nwhich God uses to reinforce the journey of discipleship. It is simply another\nopportunity to hear God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 The third aspect is the\ncelebration of God\u2019s work through His intimate connection with people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 The fourth aspect of the\ncorporate is the benediction and commissioning. It is the recognition of God\u2019s\nlove for me that compels me to make disciples. Coming in to worship, connect\nand celebrate; going out to make disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we start with the church essentially being the corporate\ngathering, then the smaller communities and the process of making disciples\nbecome systematised and mechanistic processes of the institution. If we start\nwith \u201cas you go about your normal life,\nmake disciples\u201d<\/em>, then the process becomes organic and relational. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My theological training facilitated the more institutional\napproach to making disciples but my initial connection with Jesus constantly\npulls me back to the organic, relational approach to discipleship. As I talk\nwith groups of Christian leaders about this important matter of making\ndisciples, I am surprised at how often my experience of the origins of my faith\njourney connects me with others who have a similar experience. It is also\nsurprising how institutionalised we have all become in our understanding and\napproach to how disciples are formed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The major view today is that people encounter Jesus and grow as disciples in a church. It is interesting to note that there is a lack of Biblical examples of this view of disciple-making. People met Jesus at the side of wells, in cemeteries, in the country and were discipled in homes, on hill-sides or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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