The Provocative Church blog wrote about thoughts on Discipleship. Since it was so well written I am gleaning, simplifying and adding some of my own thoughts. Check out his site for other insights as well.
- Disciples aren’t made effectively in classes. Jesus didn’t disciple in a classroom. Disciples are made within the messiness of real life. There is no substitute for it. People want to see how faith intersects real issues, struggles and challenges in life. You can’t teach that in a classroom.
- Never equate longevity with maturity. It is possible to be in the church a long time but not have increasing evidence of Jesus’ indwelling. Any congregation can become a spiritual club, where graytops are merely infants in diapers.
- Charisma doesn’t guarantee transformation. Having spiritual manners — even some spiritual sensitivity — doesn’t make you mature. Nice people are adept at fooling others.
- Effective Discipleship is measured not by church attendance, but by the spiritual and physical transformation that happens around us in the environment we live in. Isn’t this want we want to duplicate?
- Spiritual Transformation. Dramatic changes in purpose, attitudes, behavior and lifestyle, characterized by actions of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control that reflect a commitment and obedience to Jesus Christ.
- Disciples create spiritual movements, the results of ordinary everyday followers of Jesus taking adventurous steps of faith in a grass roots environment to help facilitate spiritual and physical transformation. Changing lives is why most of us got into ministry. Running a Church has trapped us under its own load of responsibility making it difficult for most of us to thrive in a grass roots environment.
