The one thing I would tell all pastors: discipling men and women MUST be the priority of our lives.
You mean above preaching sermons, recording videos, traveling the country, lobbying for man's honor, and seeking out opportunity? Yes.
Why? Because Jesus Himself said it in "The Great Commission."
Our resurrected Lord appeared to His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” This is known as “The Great Commission” because it was Jesus’ final mandate to the Church. It displays, in essence, the heart and DNA of God for His Church.
When first reading it, “go,” “make disciples,” “baptizing,” and “teaching” all sound like verbs. But in the original text, there is only one main verb in the verse, “make disciples (matheteuo-be or become a disciple).” “Go,” “baptizing,” and “teaching” are all participles that gain their direction from the main verb in Jesus’ command. So Jesus’ command was for His followers to do for others what He had done with them, make learners of Christ of all nations. How does one do that? By going, by baptizing (which includes evangelism), and by teaching. A disciple is a learner or pupil of Christ.
I believe that making disciple-making disciples should be the work of all believers. The Great Commission is not merely a suggestion for vocational ministers; it is a command for all Christ-followers. No one is excluded. Whether one is a schoolteacher, construction worker, pastor, bank manager, politician, or stay-at-home mom, the priority of their life must be to train other learners of Christ.
Jesus entrusted to His disciples this glorious Gospel and believed that as they followed this new way of Kingdom living, others would become disciple-making disciples as well until the world would come to know Him through the principle of multiplication. It must have worked. You and I are followers today.
The process of making disciples is more about men than methods. These quotes from The Master Plan of Discipleship by Robert Coleman encapsulate my heart:
It all started with Jesus calling a few men to follow him. This revealed immediately the direction his evangelistic strategy would take. His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow. Remarkable as it may seem, Jesus started to gather these men before he ever organized an evangelistic campaign or even preached a sermon in public. Men were to be his method of winning the world to God. (pg 21)
This is why, we must say with E.M. Bounds that men are God’s method. Until we have such people imbued with his Spirit and committed to his plan, none of our methods will work. (pg 97)
This is the new evangelism we need. It is not better methods but better men and women who know their redeemer from personal experience -men and women who see his vision and feel his passion for the world - men and women who are willing to be nothing so he might be everything - men and women who want only for Christ to produce his life in and through them according to his good pleasure. This finally is the way the Master planned for his objective to be realized on the earth, and where it is carried through by his strategy, the gates of hell cannot prevail against the evangelization of the world. (pg 97)
Currently serving as a student pastor, I see youth pastors everywhere frantically searching for a new method from the latest, most popular youth pastor living. Our churches are eaten up with church-growth models, new initiatives, seeker services, and powerless fads. And in most cases, the problem is not finding a better method at all. We severely need to learn to make better men and women - disciples who are sold out to the commandment of making disciples of all nations.
Is that your mission or are you just trying to build a church, get another speaking opportunity, or get someone to brag about your preaching on facebook?
pcraig
Below is what was left of the house when it landed across the street. If you look closely to the right behind the man in the white shirt there is a black xterra. That suv was parked over 100 yards away in another driveway!
Literal "golf ball" size hail fell outside when the tornadoes were ripping through.
Telephone pole that was snapped in half - hanging over the top of the road of Ella Lane.
Below is the home I worked at for the first 5-6 hours of the day. When I arrived at the home yesterday morning, a lady and husband were trapped in the basement (you can't see it). As I walked over to the side, they were both crawling out. When the tornado hit their home the night before, they said God turned the couch over on top of them to protect them from the falling bricks. "Craig, I could not get the couch turned over. It was too heavy and bricks were flying everywhere. One hit me hard in the leg, and I fell down to cover my head. Next thing I knew, the couch turned over on top of me and protected me."
Archer Lane off Dalton Pike. The tornado bounced around all down this street. One fatality in a home to my right when I took this picture. Total houses were picked up and thrown all the way down this street.
Lots of work to do, prayers to be prayed, hands to be held, clothing to be given, new homes to build, love to be given, care to be administered - but most of all - people to be given the Gospel! There is always hope.
