Slide 1 : CM585 - Discipleship
Online Real Time Chat #4
Information from Hull : Information from Hull Turn to page 309 in the Hull text. Read through the nine statements Barna gives based on research about why congregations do poorly. Which one/s stand out to you and why?
Turn to page 310 in Hull. Look at what makes churches effective at disciples-making. What stands out? Any connection between the two lists?
Turn to page 307 in Hull. Look at summary of the best of 5 models (churches with effective discipleship). Comments on this information?
Share your Experience : Share your Experience Share some specifics about what is happening in your discipleship (one-on-one) experience – joys and struggles.
Let’s do this one at a time.
(The reflection for this is due next week.)
Rebecca Pippert : Rebecca Pippert “Our problem in evangelism is not that we do not have enough information; it’s that we do not know how to be ourselves…Our uneasiness with non-Christians reflects our uneasiness with our own humanity.
(Talking About Jesus Without Sounding Religious. Pippert 2003, 6)
Sharing our Faith with Non-believers : Sharing our Faith with Non-believers Evangelism is not a project, but a lifestyle; non-Christians are not objects of our evangelism (something we do) but authentic people
How can we speak of evangelism in such a way that it does not separate it from the discipleship process? (make it two distinct things, instead of one continuous process)
How did Jesus relate to non-believers? : How did Jesus relate to non-believers? Relationship rather than religious activity or legalism (Pippert 2003, 25)
Establishing relationships was God’s basic strategy for reaching people. “Loving God, our neighbors, and ourselves” (Matt. 22:37-39)
God did not send a telegram or tract, but sent His Son to communicate the message. He still sends men & women before he sends tracts & techniques.
Jesus was open and transparent with people, relating lovingly (Can you imagine Jesus throwing a gospel spitball to the woman at the well? “God bless! But don’t come too near. Your life is just too messy!”)
Slide 7 : 2. Radical identification/radical difference without compromise (Pippert, 27)
Jesus responded first by noticing what they had in common.
He loved others and showed real emotions, went to weddings/parties, dined with unsavory characters, enjoyed people, his love was extravagant – never cautious or timid or like they were a project
But he also called his disciples to be different; identification with the world does not equal being identical to the world.
Our difference will be seen in our Christian character, our conformation to God’s moral teaching, our obedience to Christ, by our devotion and love for God, by the fact that we do not judge others but serve them.
Real Community Affects Evangelism : Real Community Affects Evangelism Evangelism incubates in the climates of hospitality, in the places of conversation, posing questions, listening to the strangers in our midst.
The missional church evangelizes primarily by immersing the unchurched in the experience of community. In this community they see, hear, and feel the reality of the faith or “catch” the faith.
Ministering to this Culture : Ministering to this Culture Spiritual formation in a secular age begins with focusing on people and not programs. (Hammett)
To minister to this culture Christians need to assert the countercultural nature of Christianity & seek points of contact with people who live in culture
Churches are beginning to respond to our culture with a countercultural Christianity & a missional view of the church is emerging. This means:
The church believes society is their mission field
The church’s approach to ministry is servanthood
Evangelism is seen as a process, a journey one takes through stages of spiritual development into a deeper walk with God
Slide 10 : In a missional church, Youth work is not just a party (it involves prayer, Bible study & worship)
A missional church rejects the association of the church with entertainment, marketing, and corporate business models
The missional church is reading both Scripture and culture with new eyes
It challenges cultural norms and standards
The people of the church are real and open about their own struggles (telling their own narrative)
Looking at “The Story”, then sharing “My Story”, and providing a safe place to admit the gap between the two and a path for bridging that gap.
Christ and Culture : Christ and Culture Constantine offered to unify the church with the state so that reverence for one would rub off on the other…The church of the 4th century accepted “the deal” Constantine offered, not realizing perhaps, that it was a deal with the devil…the way of Jesus has been abandoned for the way of Constantine. (206)
We have a choice between Jesus or Constantine. Who will we follow?
Jesus or Constantine? (Carter) : Jesus or Constantine? (Carter) Two Kinds of messiahs (suffering servant OR political messiah)
Two views of the cross (identify with Jesus in suffering OR as a symbol by which to conquer the world/trusting in military power)
Two kinds of church (missional/countercultural/clear line of distinction between church & world OR an institution that serves the religious needs of society/defined and limited/ focused on ritual)
Two kinds of eschatology (forward looking OR backward looking)
Two kinds of discipleship (deliberate choice to acknowledge Jesus as Lord OR a good and loyal citizen of the state)
We today face the same choice, the same temptation as did the church of the 4th century.