What is Discipleship? To All Generations

Continuing beyond the incarnation, there was Jesus and the Apostles, Paul and Timothy, Paul and Titus. These continued the discipleship model into our modern age. Let's look at some examples, beginning with Jesus, the Son learning from his Father and carrying that theme into the apostolic work and beyond.

Smack dab in the midst of a long run of prophecies concerning the messianic age, we find Isaiah 50:4-5:

The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
The Lord GOD has opened My ear;
And I was not disobedient
Nor did I turn back.

My opinion is that this describes the relationship of the coming Messiah with his Father. Jesus was a disciple of his Father. The Father was his mentor. Continuing the theme in John 5:19-20, Jesus says of this relationship:

"... Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel."

Jesus used the same mentoring relationship with his disciples, who would later become the apostles who became foundational in the building of Jesus' church.

Jesus' parting words to the apostles were the schema by which the apostles would apply all they had learned and establish the church among the nations, from Matthew 28:19 -- "Go and make disciples of all nations...." Discipleship was the paradigm in which evangelism and brining the nations back under his authority would happen.

Some examples of this discipleship paradigm in action. First Paul writing to churches he planted:

He treated them like a father training his children:

1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 -- You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

He encouraged them to be like their heavenly Father (like father, like son):

Eph 5:1 -- Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

Pay attention to my "son" Timothy -- he will be just like me being there."

Philippians 2:19-23 -- But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me.

In his communication to his ministry associates, he communicated the father's mentoring and discipling was the acid test for doing the same work in God's family, the church:

1 Timothy 3:2-5 -- A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober
minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

Titus 1:5-6 -- For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.

The point here is that "discipling" is the paradigm, "even to the end of the age." The pastor is a like a father training God's household. The way he becomes that is by how he trains his own household. Discipleship is "baked in". It is a standard feature, not an extra-cost add on. Discipleship, like parenting requires personal interaction. Sadly, we have adopted a classroom paradigm for training the household of God, teacher up front, students in the seats dutifully being lectured to, then going their own way.

What is Discipleship? Focusing on Moses as a Model

We are exploring what "discipleship" means and how it relates to a 21st century person. I have asserted that discipleship is a mentoring relationship between God and man (and person-to-person) and that this relationship is the warp and woof of life.

This was evident in God's walk with Adam, and among other, Enoch, Noah, the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), Joseph -- Jacob's son, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Daniel, Nehemiah and Jesus. These are all "high spots" on the landscape. Of course, between each raised point there were countless others in the scriptures or not who had the same sort of thing going on in their experience of life.

Psalm 103:7 states that God "made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the sons of Israel." Exodus 33:7-11 talks about the tent of meeting outside the camp. This is where Moses went to have his "sit-down" face-to-face meetings with God, his friend. When Psalm 103:7 talks about God's "ways" it is talking about the "why's" of life. "How come" this and "how come" that. It is also talking about 'what makes things tick". God was letting his friend Moses in on the "behind the scenes" reasons for what was happening and giving Moses the rational for proper decision-making. The sons of Israel only saw what God did. Moses got to know why he did it.

Packed into this narrative is mention of Moses' future replacement, Joshua. Joshua was Moses' aide. After Moses had his sit-down with God, Joshua would hang around so he could get some of the same. No mystery why he became Moses replacement in the future. Joshua was a disciple, too.

What is Discipleship? A Recurring Theme and Working Model

In the last post, I talked about the relationship that Adam had with God in the garden. My point was that Adam was God's steward of the earth and that he was a mentor to Adam in that work. The text points out that God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day calling out for Adam. I would take this to be a normal activity between the two.

Other notable examples are:

Enoch, who "walked with God" and was so pleasing in relationship that he disappeared -- having been taken into God's presence in the unseen realm to continue their relationship.

Abraham, who was a friend of God and with whom God made enduring covenants. Abraham was the subsequent "model" of a trusting relationship with God.

Joseph, who God raised up from being a dreamer to being one who could reveal the meanings of others' dreams. God took this gifted young man, who excelled in all he put his hand to, and made him into the ruler of Egypt, second only to Pharoah, but only after taking him through years of hardship because of others' jealousy. God "worked with" Joseph to get him where he was destined to be.

Moses, who God spoke with as a man speaks with his friend -- face to face.

David, of whom the psalmists later wrote in Psalm 78, God "chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands." God used David's menial responsibilities to train him for great things.

In David's writings, you find an entire psalm (Psalm 25) which puts forward God personally teaching his people who want to learn his ways. God told him, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go. Do not be like a horse or mule who requires a bit and bridle." (Psalm 32)

In Daniel, who like Joseph before him was a trusted servant of kings, who excelled in all his doings. God worked with him to be a revealer of mysteries to gentile kings who respected him.

In Jesus, who as a man had a disciple's relationship with his Father in heaven. The nature of this is foretold in Isaiah 50:4-6 and lived out in the pages of the gospel accounts as day-by-day and night-by-night Jesus gets alone with his Father.

In the apostles, as Jesus worked with them in his personal way and in which they worked with the people who God united with them as they lived out their callings.

Much more could be said and there is a wealth of detail about this disciple-relationship with God himself. Have you ever considered that God may want to teach you in such a way so you can bring the life and lifestyle of his Kingdom into the world around you?

To recap simply, discipleship is the true nature of man's relationship with God. It was before the fall and it is for those restored from the fall. To assume that the only concern of people is to get their "peace with God" and then wait till the afterlife for the good stuff entirely misses the nature of life with God as it is intended to be.

What is Discipleship? Original Intent

Continuing with the theme of Discipleship: I wrote previously about the Doctrine of Original Intent. This is not a church doctrine, it is typically used as the methodology of interpreting the Constitution. "What did the Founding Fathers mean when they said ..." The competing view of constitutional interpretation is to see it as an evolving document that -- sort of like silly putty -- can be bent and shaped to mean new things in relation to new challenges.

I prefer to approach the scriptures with a "doctrine of original intent" -- taking Genesis chapters 1 - 3 as the seed bed for the rest of redemptive history up to and including the return of our Lord in glory. If we get the first three chapters wrong, we skew the whole rest of the story.

How does this sync up with discipleship? It is my belief that discipleship could be the defining characteristic of Adam's relationship with God. God had created Adam to be his "manager" of creation. In doing so, Adam had to learn the ropes. Who would teach him? The Creator, of course. God was the one who knew how it all worked and what He wanted Adam to accomplish with it. With that in view, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God came "walking in the garden in the cool of the day." I believe that this was an example of "mentoring" times that He shared with Adam prior to the fall.

Is this all stated in the text? Not in so many words. As we continue this series we will look at other things later in history that point back to this.

What is Discipleship?

Christians toss around "lingo" a lot. Many times we use words which if we were asked to define, we are unable to, or we find that our definition differs from how others would define it.

Discipleship is one of those words. What is discipleship? How we answer that is pretty important because the Great Commission (another lingo phrase) as it is given in Matthew has "making disciples" as the central, focal thing for us to be engaged in "till the end of the age". By contrast, Mark's version focuses on "preach the gospel" to all creatures.

Now if we unpack those two accounts there is a wide difference in how they are fulfilled. Theoretically, if we could rent helicopters and fly over every habitation of mankind and broadcast the message, the Four Spiritual Laws, or the Roman Road or some other device, the job would be done -- if we go by Mark's version. Conversely, unless we confine the term "making disciples" to a my-mouth-to-your-ear activity, there is a lot more to it. The first involves words, the second involves living life, in fact, as I will deal with in future posts, it is all about life, not just words.

I have been keeping up with a series of articles written by John Armstrong of Act3 Ministries dealing with this subject. What is discipleship?

Armstrong says, "I am convinced that we have reduced the meaning of this extremely important word to: (1) Learning information from the Bible, or content about faith, and; (2) To relating our lives to the local church and its programs. In the process we have emptied the word disciple of deep meaning and allowed people to profess a faith that does not require them to imagine what can or should be done as radical followers of Jesus Christ."

In other words, we have removed discipleship from the messy arena of daily living and we have made it a matter of passing on information and participating in church activities.

Being a disciple is life-engaging. Making disciples should be, too.

In my next few posts, I will try to follow the theme of discipleship through the narrative of the Bible and show that it is "baked in" to spiritual life, not tacked on.

Rearranging the Furniture of Creation

In my last post, I talked about how as God created everything, it was part of his designed purpose for each thing to reflect a facet of Himself, his character. Even mankind had a unique purpose of being his image-bearer. Everything seen, of this creation, temporal, points to the unseen and eternal.

Considering the fall, when Adam and Eve chose to break God's covenant of life with them, new realities had to be reflected in the "furniture" of creation. The reality of death and decay now had to be reflected in all things, again, in part as a testimony to mankind. This is implied in Romans 1:18 and following. All created things now reflected this tendency. Creation was still beautiful but it was broken. God promised to redeem it. (Think about reclaiming something from the dumpster and making it useful again).

Likewise, his image-bearers, as living models of the relationship between God and his people, needed to act out new realities.

For Adam, bearing fruit no longer was automatic. The investment of toil, sweat, etc. could be met with thorns and thistles. This is reflective of Hebrews 6 where it is noted that blessings can be poured on a piece of ground which only grows thorns and ends up being cursed.

For Eve, childbirth was no longer the EZ button that it would have been. It would come with travail. Likewise, we, God's people bear fruit with travail. It is not easy. Paul commented on the correlation several times in his epistles.

So again, God has continued to use everything, everything to be a constant reminder of himself, his character, his eternal purpose. More than anything, it testifies of his faithfulness. In a nutshell, his only requirement for Adam and Eve was "trust and obey" like the old hymn says. So it is for us. He is trustworthy.

Learning Styles... God Has Covered All The Bases

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life. 1 John 1:1

But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Titus 2:1-5

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Ephesian 5:28-32

Most people are aware of the "Doctrine of Original Intent" -- which is a view of the American Constitution which seeks to look at what the Framers meant, rather than trying to mold the constitution into something different. I have a similar perspective toward the Bible. I tend to go back to what God said was "very good" in Genesis 1 as the "gold standard". God himself said it was. That is where my perspective of discipleship is formed. Indeed, I think everything that comes afterward needs to keep an eye "looking back" to keep later things in perspective.

There are things that were present in that nascent world which repeat over and over again as the story unfolds regarding God, his "image bearers", love, betrayal, loss and restoration or redemption. Genesis 1 itself says that God placed the lights in the heavens to mark days, nights, months, seasons, and most of all -- to witness to his day-in and day-out unchanging covenant love and faithfulness. Romans 1:18 appeals to those things when it says that every man ever created "knows" thing about God from the things he has made.

I have enjoyed reading Through New Eyes by James Jordan recently. A major premise of the book is that God has placed everything in creation to be symbols, types and testimonies, including us -- His imagebearers. God gave us symbols for our eyes to see and be reminded. He spoke to mankind the specifics of his character and will (prior to Guteberg, the scriptures were mostly listened to rather than read, because only the scribal people had them) and acting out (doing). There is something there for every learning style. God really, really wants us to "get it".

The three scripture passages are examples. 1 John 1:1 says concerning the Word of Life (Jesus) that we saw, heard and touched. Titus 2 has us speaking/hearing, observing and acting out. Modeling his redeemed lives. Ephesians 5 is perhaps the most honoring example of all the role modeling and the passage itself links it back to the Garden in Genesis. Man and wife have the awesome privilege of modeling the relationship between the loving and redeeming God and ourselves, his respectful and responsive people. We become part of that great "testimony" that God has drenched all of creation with concerning himself.

Speaking Our Language

Discerning what "God's will" is can be a daunting task. My mom gave me a book called "Decision Making and the Will of God" many years ago, before I married Cindy. I think she may have been hinting. One major principle that book elaborated on was what I would call "concentricity" -- working inward toward the bulls-eye with concentric circles. Outer circles would be broad, generalized principles that each inner circle made more specific until you had it narrowed down to a fairly clear decision.

That principle serves decision making well. Should I steal my neighbor's property? Not according to the Ten Commandments. Should I waste my boss's resources? There is no "Ten Commandment" that specifically says not to, but as I look at more "refining" principles in the scripture, I finally end up with a "no, I should not" answer.

What about the decision my mom was alluding to when she gave me the book? Using concentricity, I could determine that Cindy would indeed be an excellent choice for a wife, but -- MY wife? If I asked, would she say "yes"? That lay beyond the scope of the principles. Ultimately my decision had to lay just outside the boundaries of my comfort zone.

Scriptural principles like concentricity can serve us well for many decisions. For some, ultimately we need to be able to "hear" God's voice. I want to note that in Acts 2, even though the Holy Spirit could have had the disciples speak in Aramaic (or even Hebrew) and everyone in the crowd would have understood them, God chose to foreshadow the sending of the Gospel to the whole earth by speaking it in the national language of the various nations represented. He "spoke their language".

A similar point is evident in 1 Corinthians 14 where Paul says that if the bugle call is indistinct, how will the troops know what to do in the battle? They need to understand what the bugler is communicating.

That brings me to my point. I have believed for many years that God works with each of those who will let Him -- working with us as His disciples. As we walk with Him, we develop an instinctive recognition of the patterns He uses to teach us and lead us. He wants us to be able to recognize what He is doing. This gives us that additional "tool" we need when we have gone as far as concentricity can take us. Have you recognized Him "speaking your language"?

Benaiah in Reverse

I have long appreciated the stories of David's mighty men -- especially that of Benaiah in 1 Chronicles 11:22-24. In fact, back in the late 1970's, as friend and pastor Bill Woods and I were discussing a project for mass outreach using pop radio music (hold your fire, please!), Benaiah was -- at least in my thinking -- the model for what we intended to do.

No one would argue how music especially, but arts and sciences (humanities) in general affect the human spirit. Maybe even more so today, people have "their song" or "their artist" and they both identify with these things and let them influence their choices. Often, music has been used as an instrument of evil to influence people wrongly into doing things that are destructive to their own lives and others' around them.

In our plan, music was the "weaver's beam" being used by the Egyptian giant to attack. Like Benaiah, we wanted to take the weapon from his hand and turn it around and use it against him (not against the people but against the Evil One).

Though our idea focused specifically on music as an outreach, history is filled with the work of Christians in all areas of culture who believed God wanted them to use their gifts, talents, interests, to glorify Him and make their community a better place. The litany would be too long, but would include Christians who nursed the sick during plagues in the Roman empire while the Romans ran for cover, J.S Bach writing music for God (much just music, not a musified gospel tract), William Wilberforce persistently putting forth anti-slavery legislation in Great Britain year after year until it passed, George Washington Carver using his gifts in research to find ways to benefit poor people and the community as a whole with his many experiments, Lord Kelvin and many men of science who contributed to medicine and hospital care and the founding of schools for the common folk and universities for those who want to learn more. The list is endless.

These men (and women) took the weaver's beam from the enemy and used it to defeat him, as Romans says, to "overcome evil with good." They didn't run for cover and teach others to do the same. They took their talents into the fray. They were like Benaiah. Unfortunately, acts like this have fallen out of fashion and have been called "polishing the brass on a sinking ship". We have given those areas of cultural development back to unbelievers because they have become "unspiritual". They (the enemies of Christ) now own those institutions and we think it is supposed to be that way. It is like Benaiah handing the beam back to the Egyptian and saying, "Sorry, I was mistaken, here is your weapon back," then letting him run us through.

God grant me to be like Bach, like Wilberforce, and many more as well. I want the weaver's beam back!

Facets of God's Communication

We live in interesting times where my home, like many in America, has an abundance of Bibles. Different translations shed light on meanings of God's word. We have leather, hardbound, vest pocket size, pocket size, study editions -- even online -- which I use frequently. All this, for what? Paul, in the opening of his letter to the Romans lets me know... "to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake" (Romans 1:5). Simply put, God speaks that we might trust and obey... that we might build a life that honors Him.

Psalm 119 is an acrostic -- what is that and why did the psalmist use a gimmick like this? An acrostic, as this psalm exemplifies, is verse where each line or each section starts with the same letter. In the first section of Psalm 119 each couplet begins with the Hebrew letter aleph. All the couplets in the next section begin with the letter beth and so on. Why use this method? One reason is to make it easy for the hearer to memorize and recite. In those times, written scrolls of scripture weren't abundant in homes the same way Bibles are in ours. Scripture was often read to the people who recited and committed to heart.

Verses 1-8

You want to be happy (blessed)? Live a blameless life! How do I do that? Live in accord with the Law of the Lord. Unfortunately the words "Bible" and "happy" seem out of sync in our world -- but God says that is the way you get there from here. Blameless? Me? That sounds like setting the bar pretty high. Not if you know the difference between sinless and blameless. No one on our best day or on our best behavior will ever be sinless during this lifetime. To be blameless, though, means that when we fail, we make things right. Titus lists this quality as a characteristic of a man who has learned to manage himself and take care of others. He is not sinless, but when he does err, he makes sure things get straightened out.

The apostle Peter says in his first letter, 1 Peter 2:2, that we should long for God's communication like a baby roots for breast milk, so that we can grow up in our faith. "Failure To Thrive" is a condition in infants where they do not grow and gain weight. It is not normal! Growth is normal for babies and should be for those who trust God and listen to Him.

The next seven verses describe God's communication with us. It is like a diamond with many facets. So, likewise, different words are used to describe different facets of his communication. It uses these words: testimonies, precepts, statutes, commands and judgments.

God gives us his testimonies. He has "packaged" his communication in the form of a story. Call it "The History and Future of God's Dealings With Men". How's that for a title? If He wanted to give us a book of systematic theology to memorize, He could have done that -- but He didn't.

In that story, He is revealing his "ways" (119:3) What does that mean? A good example is found in Psalm 103:7 "He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel." His "ways" are the "what" "how" "why" of his doings. He wants us to understand Him. Part of being a learner, a disciple to God is finding out "how things work" and living in line with this understanding. Moses wanted to know those things, the rest of the camp was content just to see God do things and not wonder.

Another facet, precepts (119:4) have been ordained by God. They are not optional. In fact, this carries the idea of specificity -- "specific" instructions. They are to be followed diligently. What does that mean? It means carefully and persistently.

The thrust of the facet statutes (119:5) is like our word "prescribe" - a prescription. God has a prescription for us. There is a shift in the psalmist's conversation here. He goes from talking about "them" and "they" (who walk in the law of the Lord) to "me". The things that "they" are doing he wants for himself. "Oh that my ways -- what makes me tick -- was anchored in your statutes." It expresses a longing of the heart.

The next facet (119:6) is commandments, communication He has authoritatively given to govern our lives. The psalmist's longing expressed here is that they would prevent him from shame as he looked at the panorama of God's communication.

Do you ever have to make a "judgment call" about something? The next facet -- judgments -- are God's judgment calls regarding many things we encounter in life. This verse says that as we learn them, they will cause us to praise Him with an upright heart. How, oh how, can I have an upright heart? Pray, pray, pray for one. God wants you to ask.

The psalmist wraps up his litany of "facets" with this commitment: "I will keep your statutes" -- and acknowledges that he needs God to be with him to make it happen.

How You Do The Things You Do

Interesting thought (at least to me!) reading Romans 12 today. Paul is instructing the Roman believers about using the Holy Spirit enabled gifts that each one has received in Christ. (Pause: Is there a connection between these and the stewardship requirements in Matthew 25:14-28?)

As Paul lists examples of spiritual gifts (I don't believe that this list or the list in 1 Corinthians 12 is exhaustive, just exemplary) he starts out with a one-to-one "what > how" relationship:

If prophecy > prophesy according to your faith
If you minister > with ministering
If you teach > by teaching
If you exhort > by exhortation
If you give > by giving liberally

Then he breaks the mold:

If you lead > by diligence
If you show mercy > with cheerfulness

In thinking about these last two and his change of tack, I can see that leadership is a situation where one would be prone to saying "oh, what's the use..." Paul says "keep on keeping on." As for showing mercy, the demands on caring people, on caregivers can be great. I know from my own experience that it can wear you down and you have times where you do what the other person needs but you do it by "grinding it out" -- no joy. Paul wants to remind us that cheerfulness is the way to deliver mercy or care -- all the time, by God's enablement.

U-571 and Godly Leadership

I have written before about the film U-571 and what we might learn in regard to duty. Ever since I saw it the first time, I have appreciated it as study in the dynamics of leadership.

I was thinking about one of it's key thematic elements this morning. Lt. Tyler (Matthew McConnaughy) finds himself thrust into command of a sub on a dangerous mission, after having been denied his own boat. He had been denied his own sub because skipper recognized that Tyler wanted to be "one of the guys" with his crew and the war-wise skipper knew that in crisis, Tyler would be called on to make command decisions that would endanger, even to the point of death, the men who followed his commands. Skipper didn't know if Tyler had the mettle to handle those kinds of decisions. The skipper having been correct in his observations, the plot essentially follows the maturing of Tyler in the make-or-break of battle.

What struck me this morning was thinking about the advancement of the rule of Jesus Christ over the lives of men. It is a person to person thing. It is our tendency to follow the rules of polite culture and "keep it to ourselves". We go about our daily work, talk sports and weather and go back home. The really serious ones among us are guiltily concerned about get those gospel "zings" into the conversation.

In reality, if we are serious about having "Jesus is Lord" over every facet of life, we won't have to worry about whether people "notice" or not. Additionally, and this is where the leadership thing comes in, we refuse to "keep it to ourselves" because regardless of what polite culture says, TRUTH is truth for me and you, not I-have-my-truth-and-you-have-yours. In other words I will pursue what may be uncomfortable for me and for you because it is a responsibility, not because it is convenient. It is part of the leadership I believe God wants every man to pursue.

More than that, if we are called to leadership, we will need to be sure that what we are leading others to do is the right thing, THE TRUTH, not just my truth. Their lives will be affected by it one way or the other.