And, for most of us, for generations we have boiled that down to 'inviting' folks to 'church' or, in rarer cases, trying to genuinely help somebody (in hopes, - let's be honest - that it would sufficiently 'soften' them so we could - you guessed it - 'invite' them to 'church'...)
So I got to thinking about Jesus' words near the end of His life, which his friend (the tax-collector-turned-disciple) recorded at the end of his account...
"As you go, disciple all the nations and
baptize them and teach them what I said"
We call that the great commission... and it used to seem that the command was to 'GO' (most likely because of a less than accurate translation: "Therefore GO and make disciples...") but in the above translation (which is a more literal translation from the original Greek text), the command seems to be to "DISCIPLE" and "BAPTIZE" and "TEACH"... the 'going' is a sort of incidental and assumed verb...
sorta like, "while you are at this living day-to-day stuff, disciple and lead and model and baptize and teach more, etc"...
anyhow, it made me think of how God endeavors to lead people to His Son through us; it reinforces in our minds the Jesus model...
so, it occurs to me that we (I) should consider what that means.... and what 'means' do we employ... and what 'ends' are we trying to 'get to'...
kinda puts a different light on it, right? the 'ends', according to scripture, is not necessarily to get someone to attend worship with you... and the 'means' (again, according to holy writ) is not to GO, but - while you are going - to model Christ and teach and baptize...
Please don't misunderstand this point... I have written often in this space about the importance of worship and the Sunday time that God has, in His unparalleled wisdom, set aside for us to edify and uplift each other while praising and worshipping Him...
but I don't believe we can infer from this 'great commission' that we are called to GO and produce more church attenders! We are called to model Jesus to others - everyday - so they will see in us something different than everyone else. And, having seen that, they will be drawn to the One whom we imitate...
So I said all that to ask a simple question: how can we best fulfill that commission?
And I would suggest that it is how we conduct ourselves while others are watching... specifically, how do we handle conflict and bad news and bumps and slights at work? Do we blow up and sull up and give up and, well, act like everyone else? ...or do we act like we know who's driving this bus, and we trust that He knows the best route?
THAT (to me) is where this discipling happens... and THAT is at least a part of the answer...
And it is really really hard sometimes... but, by definition, we (the ecclesia) are literally 'called out' to do just that...
That's when people can get a true glimpse of our faith in action...
Blessings!
3 comments:
why didn't you just address it to me instead of everyone? yea, I got it. thanks!
love it! never noticed it is AS you go..esc
Luke 23:26-43. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ. While studying the gospels over the last few weeks Luke's account of the crucifixion is the only one that mentions the criminal who was saved. Cant' help but believe Luke's background as a physician didn't help him realize the amazing compassion that Jesus possessed.
Jesus was hanging there bleeding in pain on that cross but His words were, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." What compassion, what love, what mercy! Through this love, the criminal that hung next to Him chose God. "I tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise!" Yeah!! That's what it's about! He chose God because of Jesus's actions Jesus didn't cry out save me, or how dare you do this to the Son of God, nor did He try and save himself!
That amazing love is the same love that we should show to everyone around us. The world is not looking at us when we look all nice and pretty walking in to "church". They are looking at us in our everyday actions. Especially, when times get tough. Now wouldn't it be nice to show them that we Trust and Believe in our God. Maybe try and share with them a little bit of our faith in our EVERYDAY actions as we are "out about going" not merely our religion??
Amazing love....that as Jesus took His last breath, by His actions a lost soul, a criminal at that, was saved! Now that's something to shout about! No matter how "bad" we are He's there ready for us to accept Him and he gladly invites us into paradise with Him.
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