Disciplship II

In my last post I talked about discipleship and how we as a church were going through a process of evaluating what we were doing as a church, what was effective and what was not. The conclusion I came too was pretty much summed up in the following statement.

“Quantity cannot replace quality. It wasn't most of Jesus metaphors and teaching that got across to the twelve, in fact most of the time they didn't understand what He was saying. It was the walking with Him in good and bad, everyday life stuff where Jesus rubbed off on them. Time and the Holy Spirit are the key. Maybe we would be better served to make sure the things we are doing are Spirit filled and lead and that we are giving them the time and effort before we go throw other things on the plate.”

I wanted to make sure and clarify what I meant by that statement so that there is no confusion.

Many times as Christians and ministers we are always looking for the next best thing, what is working best in other churches and then implementing the same in our situations? The problem with that is that it often leads us to another program that will most likely not change our current need of Spiritual nourishment. True discipleship doesn't come from a program it comes from the Holy Spirit’s work in us and through us! That doesn't mean that programs in and of themselves are bad or are not used by God to help the discipleship process. Rather it is a matter of what is our focus. We would be better served to seek God’s direction in what works best for our ministry scenario in where God has us serving. Than to imitate something that has worked somewhere else.

One of the great things about what the Navigators have been walking us through as a church (although it can seem somewhat tedious at times) is that rather than just coming in and implementing a program they have lead us to take the time to really seek God. To evaluate what we are doing that is working and what we are doing that is not working. Will we be implementing new processes as our new discipleship plan for our church unfolds? Of course we will! Some things won’t change. Some new things will be implemented. But none of those things will remain or be implemented just because they have worked before or somewhere else. It will be because we have sought God! We have gone through a lengthy evaluation process. So whether it be Sunday school, small groups, triads or quads, bible studies or prayer groups it won’t just be a cafeteria of options for people to pick and choose. It won’t be a program implemented just because it has worked somewhere else. No it will be a deliberate effort of the local body of Christ who has spent months praying and seeking God’s desires for this local body.

Hopefully every ministry opportunity, every fellowship group or study group, every time we come together as a church it will be intentional God lead and orchestrated times where we grow together. Where our members are not coming because it is the next thing on the list, rather because people are meeting Christ and growing in the faith. Or in keeping with the theme of the previous blog everything we do has great quality and brings nourishment to the soul!

As I sat there in our meeting I couldn't help but get excited because as I heard people speak I wasn't just hearing that we were adding more quantity to the things we were doing. I was hearing quality as I heard the testimonies of members who’s lives were already being changed by some of the things that this discipleship process has brought about!