Discipleship in Three Forms

Reclaiming the Great Commission in Matthew 28 means recovering the New Testament mandate of every believer incarnating the timeless gospel of Jesus Christ in culture and “making disciples of all nations”. This will involve deconstructing various paradigms of disciple-making and re-establishing the New Testament model.

I’ve seen discipleship manifest in three forms:

1. Professional clergy are the disciple-makers, while the “laity” are the disciples. There is an understanding within this paradigm that the clergy makes the disciples and the laity serve as disciples in the local church functioning as the “servants of the house”, so to speak. Somehow it is perceived that this is the  “work of the ministry”. Disciple-making within these churches is not perceived as being the responsibility of everyday Christians. It is perceived to be the responsibility of ordained, professional clergy only.

Reclaiming the Great Commission-Not the Great Suggestion

Before ascending into heaven, the risen Christ gave his disciples a commission. They were to go and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19). They received that command as their personal mandate and as a result, the New Testament church grew and grew. Those early disciples spread the gospel and made more disciples (followers of Jesus), who in turn made even more disciples. A professor at Fuller Theological Seminary stated, “Declining numbers in many mainline evangelical churches have led many leaders to ask questions and seek assistance. What they have found, at least in part, is that healthy and dynamic churches are those in which the Great Commission has reclaimed its power. Mission in many of those churches has become the central organizing principle, where worship meetings and Bible studies now serve as catalysts to a more dynamic (redemptive) engagement with culture.”

The Fields Are White Unto Harvest

Ready Laborers

In Matthew 9 we find an account, not unlike many others, of Jesus going into all the cities and villages and teaching and preaching the Kingdom of God and healing every sickness and every disease AMONG the people. Verse 36 exposes the Lord’s heart of compassion for the multitudes who He sees are fainting, helpless, and scattered as sheep without a shepherd. His response to this desperate need is found in verses 36-37:

“Then He saith unto His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray (beg, petition) ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send (eject, bring, cast, thrust) forth laborers (toilers, workers) into His harvest.”

God’s Faithfulness to Deliver

There is a song by Nicole C. Mullen that I absolutely love! I even have it set as my ringtone on my phone because it is such an awesome reminder of God’s faithfulness. The song is “When You Call On Jesus” and the chorus goes as follows:

“But when I call on Jesus  -  All things are possible  -I can mount on wings like eagles and soar – When I call on Jesus – Mountains are gonna fall – ‘Cause He’ll move heaven and earth – To come rescue me when I call”

Today when my phone rang and I heard the words to that chorus,  I was reminded of Psalm 107 (one of my favorites!) where multiple circumstances are described that people can find themselves in either by reason of their own doing or by reason of things beyond their control. But the constant in each scenario, regardless of the particulars, is this powerful truth which is stated over and over again in verses 6, 13, 19 and 28:

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of  their distresses”

The Psalm closes with this statement: “Whoso is wise [if there be any truly wise] will observe and heed these things; and they will diligently consider the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord.” (Amplified Bible)

What an amazingly merciful God we have! May we ponder daily the loving kindness of the Lord knowing we can call on Him in ANY situation and He will deliver us.        –Bobbi

The Ekklesia

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. The word “church” in that Scripture is translated from the Greek word “ekklesia”. I used to wonder why Jesus used it to describe His church. Paul uses it as well. I thought, why do they make so much of it? I mean, it’s not a uniquely Christian term. But it seems that they saw something about it; some hidden uniqueness that would  describe what the followers of Jesus would be like.  One of the definitions of “ekklesia” describes a gathering of citizens in an ancient Greek city-state. It is a secular term and has to do with an assembly of those summoned and called out of one sphere or group to form another entity or group. But further investigation uncovered something interesting about the “raw material” of that word  with which they began.

Welcome To Our Blog

By way of introduction, I’m Jim Hoag. My incredible wife, Bobbi, and I have lived in the Burlington area of Vermont for the last 13 years. Our two sons, Zach and Nick, (two of my all-time heroes) are now awesome men of God starting families of their own. Our journey with the Lord has included pastoring a local church, home-schooling our sons, and a variety of ministry opportunities provided by the Lord over the past 31 years. We curently are part of a core group planting a church in downtown Burlington called “Dwell Missional Church”, after John 1:14. We enter the blogosphere convinced that you are never too old to blog and, in addition,  enjoy the Ramones.

In creating this blog, Bobbi and I simply seek to honor Jesus Christ by adding our part to all the other bloggers and churches who are bringing glory to God. Our desire is to encourage and build up the body of Christ as we press on to follow Jesus. We will blog about a variety of things, but specifically what the Lord is emphasizing to our hearts. Currently, that includes mission and the glorious GRACE of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that the church of Jesus Christ is at its very foundation a sent community, an organic church, founded on grace, characterized by presence “among”. (John 1:14, Acts 4:33, Acts 20:24, Acts 1:8). 

May you be built up in your most holy faith and in your relationship with the Lord through the entries on this blog.