BLOG 10/22/12. WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY? YOURS!

BLOG 10.22.12. DISCIPLE-MAKING: WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY? YOURS!

In the two recent Blogs, I have been asking you: Whose responsibility is that of your disciple-making? The answer to that, right up front, is that it is primarily yours if you are a follower of Jesus Christ. It is yours and no one else’s, primarily. As I have stated in those two previous Blogs, it is always a huge treasure when a larger community is so equipped that the Word of Christ dwells richly in its whole fabric. It is always a source of blessing when there are those teaching shepherds who have great skill in communicating both in word and example.

Likewise, it is even more of a blessing when you have a smaller band of those with whom you walk the path of discipleship, and for whom you are accountable, and for whom you are responsible.  God’s intent in the church is, after all, to recreate the human community into that which it is intended to be.

But, even when both of these blessings might be present, it comes down to you and me as the individual members of those bodies to be engaged in the disciplines of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (cf. Romans 8:29). Larger and smaller communities are made up of those individuals such as we, who by our baptism into Christ have vowed to be his faithful disciples—and that is choosing the path of transformational and obedient engagement with God’s word and Spirit. We cannot “pass the buck” to someone else!

So, where to begin? Well, let’s acknowledge that being made a disciple is work. One cannot be passive. We, who are authors, have a humorous rule that states that writing begins with deliberately putting one’s butt in the chair and beginning (the B.I.C. rule), so with the disciplines of being transformed into Christ’s likeness. You put your butt in the chair, you pray for the Spirit’s help, and you begin to absorb the content of that wonderful gift of God’s word in the Bible.

And there are incredible resources available to this generation that no one has ever had before. There are translations and paraphrases. There are accessible commentaries and study Bibles that help one over the humps. In this information age we can even download these on our iPads or computer and have at our fingertips more resources of Biblical insights and scholarship than the church before World War II ever had.

Let me suggest several such resources for those who may not have ever explored this. There are several good study Bibles with all kinds of helps, such as the NIV Study Bible. My favorite is the newer ESV Study Bible since I am attracted to the accuracy of the English Standard Version. Beyond this I would commend two larger (but worth the expense) resources: The New Bible Commentary, and The New Bible Dictionary (Inter-Varsity Press). With these at hand you have easily understandable helps to guide you through the Biblical landscape, the cultural stuff, the implications and understanding of what is being said by the Biblical authors.

It is the church’s faith that God has chosen to make himself and his will known to us in the words of Holy Scriptures. We cannot succumb to our own laziness or excuses or indiscipline and make this someone else’s responsibility. It begins with us. And you will find, with a great host of disciples from over many centuries, that it is journey rich in discovery and transformational power.

Whose responsibility? Yours!

Have you got questions? Feed them to me and I’ll try to give some answer, hopefully.

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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