|
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy spirit, so that you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. -1 Thessalonians 1:6 We are called to disciple. Period. This is not an option or a special gift that is only given to a few. Discipleship is not a 12-week program that we graduate from. Discipleship is simply doing life with others in light of how God is revealing Himself to us. Discipleship is sharing our stories and prayers of how the gospel is transforming us.
If I may say broadly, discipleship is imitation. Discipleship is a willingness to be imitated and a willingness to imitate others who are striving to be like Christ Himself. So what are some roadblocks. Why are we afraid to imitate or let others imitate us. (1) Idealization Heroes in the past have always let us down. Remember Lance Armstrong? Bill Cosby? Ravi Zacharias? Our fear is that our Christian friends will fail us. Many of us can't bear to enter into a relationship that may fail. But we must enter into our church life resting on the promise that the Lord will provide Spirit-filled relationships. (2) Christian Imposter Syndrome Many times we don't feel like we are living the Christian life. You may not be. But you also may be! Don't let the devil get a foothold in your life and isolate you from others. Perhaps all you need is people around you helping you to follow Christ. (3) Compassion Fatigue Are you exhausted from caring for others? Don't recharge by spending time with yourself. You need to spend time with the Lord. Read Scripture and be in prayer. Praise God for His love and compassion for you. Then with much wisdom enter back into the life of the church. (4) Unrepented Sin The most serious of these reasons is that we have unrepented sin in our lives. Sin prevents us from the Lord and the fellowship with one another. But here again is where brothers and sisters can help. Confess your sins to the Lord and to one another. Let the Lord's forgiveness and grace set you on right path again. Perhaps some of these (or all) roadblocks ring true for you. The gospel frees us from all of these and allows us to enter into other people's lives. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy spirit, so that you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. -1 Thessalonians 1:6 Charles Barkely once quipped in a Nike Air Commercial, "I am not a role model." Maybe marketing powers were responding to Gatorade's Michael Jordan commercial "Be like Mike!" But the debate in the NBA in the 1990's of the role of these larger than life figures played out on the TV screen. Are these men role models? If so, to what extent?
A similar question is being asked in the church. If I want to grow in my faith, where are my role models? And in what capacity should they be in my life? Now if you have grown up in the church, you have heard of the term discipleship. And this is the proper term that should be employed. Jesus states in Matthew 28:19, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations." We should not fear being disciples nor being disciplers. This is the call of the church. But the tendency today is to look for mentors, coaches, and dare I say spiritual "gurus" to help us on our journey. These terms connote a specialist who can help us gain certain spiritual skills or tackle certain spiritual issues. Now, these are not necessarily bad, but when they become primary in our discipleship, we lose the sense of wholeness and fullness. We use the term discipleship because of what it literally means. We are followers of Jesus. Our call is to follow our Savior individually and corporately. We are to learn how to surrender our hearts to the Lord and learn how to love others well. The proper context in becoming a disciple is the life of the Church. We learn here how to express worship to the Lord, what it looks like to properly repent and be restored, and how to share the gospel. The health of the local church is paramount to develop healthy disciples! But how do we build a healthy church life? By building Christ-centered relationships. And we do it, one relationship at a time. |
Archives |
|
© COPYRIGHT 2019 CHRIST COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |