•8:22 AM
Here is a great quote I read this morning over at Between Two Worlds in regards to Ministry progress:
The measure of how ministry is progressing in your church or fellowship, and the way to evaluate whether you are making progress, is not attendance on Sunday, signed up members, people in small groups, or the size of our budget (as important and valuable as all these things are!). The real test is how successfully you are making disciples who make other disciples. Are we seeing people converted from being dead in their transgressions to being alive in Christ? And once converted, are we seeing them followed-up and established as mature disciples of Jesus? And as they become established, are we training them in knowledge, godliness and skills so that they will in turn make disciples of others?This is the Great Commission—the making of disciples who obey all that Christ has taught, including the command to make disciples. And this is the touchstone of our faithfulness to Christ's mission in the world, and the sign of a healthy church: whether or not it is making genuine disciple-making disciples of Jesus Christ.
(HT Between Two Worlds)
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3 comments:
I echo the concerns mentioned by some at Between Two Worlds, by this definition both Isaiah and Jeremiah did not make progress in much of their ministry. We are charged to go and make disciples, but ultimately we cannot make a person a disciple because only God can change hearts. As a person who ministers in a difficult setting where few people are open to the gospel at all. I do see increasing discipleship among those who are part of the congregation I minister to, but not new disciples being made. A quote like this, while beneficial, at the same time can be very harmful in making people think they are failures when they are not because they are being faithful to the commands of Christ even when there are no visible results.
Point well taken. It's good to hear from you, hope all is well up there in the North.
A friend and fellow Navigator introduced me to "being dead in transgressions and alive in Christ" in Ephesians 2 at Iowa State 2 years ago. For a time, he invested time and prayer into me and introduced me to descipling.
After a while, I felt a strong desire to be discipled more and to disciple others. I think it would be great to stress this in church as well because it is personal and sincere and shows Christ in a powerful but humble way. I think sometimes we avoid being too involved in someone else's life and consequently forget about discipling alltogether. Perhaps that is what this post aiming to revive.
I agree with the above comment. However, I think discipling is too important to feel discouraged by.
Only God changes hearts, and I think that discipling is not possible if you forget that. But our part is clear: "go and make disciples of all nations." This is done by presentation of the word and time invested and fronts removed and prayer, not by changing hearts. God does that. Jeremiah and Isaiah were before the Great Commission. Our -ministry- should model Paul's; giving up everything to establish churches and disciples. Others in the church have other spiritual gifts, but I think of ministry as descipleship.