Approaching Greatness

I journey His Greatness
to trembling’s door.

There
meet His Goodness greeting:

"Do not fear, my child.
Approach
my throne with confidence.”

My Father is fear extinguished;
Perfect Peace is my reward.

Making disciples is evangelism, not sanctification

A statement like this raises two questions for me.

1. When is a disciple made?

2. When the church was commissioned to make disciples, what were we being called to do, exactly?

We tend to think disciples are made over a long period of time, the fruit of good training. But this verse in John 4 suggests disciples are made quickly, the fruit of a person's worship and surrender to Christ's friendship and authority.

So, where does 'making disciples' fit in the work of the church?

1. Make manifest the Gospel.

2. Call people to "Come, follow Jesus". Anchor to Him. (Make disciples)

3. Connect disciples to communities of disciples. Kingdom citizenship.

4. Organize and energize ministry to the Body of Christ and the world around us.

“Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John... ”

— John 4:1 ESV

Let’s explore

Suppose my wife, Elizabeth, and I make plans to vacation with another couple, the Browns. With excitement and anticipation we decide to travel to Australia.

The day finally arrives for us to board a plane and fly to Sydney. The first few days we explore New South Wales. We visit Circular Quay and the Opera House. We walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, wander through the Botanic Garden, and visit Bondi Beach. We make a day trip to the Blue Mountains.

After a few days, we decide to split up. The Browns have always wanted to see Australia's wild west. They fly to Perth and journey from there. Elizabeth and I, on the other hand, want to visit the more tropical areas in Queensland so we fly to Brisbane and venture from there.

After a week apart, we meet up in Melbourne to finish our vacation together before flying home.

From now on, when we and the Browns have coffee, we will talk about that vacation. There are parts of it we will remember together—shared experiences in Sydney and Melbourne. There are other parts of it we didn't share—experiences we can only describe to one another.

As Christians, our journey with Christ is a lot like this. There are things about the Kingdom we discover together—shared understandings. And there are other things we can only describe to one another. It's one reason why two people following the same Jesus can have such different perspectives and passions.