The Importance of True Genuineness in Discipleship: Part I – Why Genuineness is Important

Society today is inundated with insincere motives and some just flat-out fake people.  The “reality” television shows have given us “showmances” that are developed only to gain an advantage against another contestant or for entertainment purposes.  We constantly hear about politicians that are found in midst of the very sin that they condemned in public.  Our lives are filled with people and influences that are just plain disingenuous.

People in general are in need of a fresh breath of authenticity.  Most folks today are searching for something real, something genuine.  In generations past the issue was credibility, in the sense of establishing that you knew what you were talking about.  In this generation, where a vast amount of information on any subject is literally at your fingertips, the issue seems to be more about if you are “real”.  That is to say, are the concerns that you espouse are your true concerns, or are you simply attempting to fill a hidden and personal agenda.

Christianity is always in opposition to the fallen world.  Whether it is freedom from heartless rituals like in Jesus’ time, wholesomeness in the face of sexual depravity as in the early church, integrity in the face of corruption as during the time of Luther, or sincerity in the face of duplicity as in today’s culture, the Church of Jesus Christ has always stood opposed to the sinful state of the culture around it.  It is this tension between the Gospel and the sin depraved creation that draws people; Christ offers what the world cannot.

We must work prayerfully and diligently to guard against insincere motives when dealing with this generation.  If we do not our message will de indistinguishable from all of the other “static” in the lost person’s life that promises “real change.”  It is not good enough just to check our motives, but we must ensure that we do not project the appearance of an ulterior motive.  To do anything less is to risk not reaching this generation and failing to fulfill the great commission.  The next step, now that we understand why the relationship between genuineness and discipleship is vitally important, is to look at what we need to do to make sure that our message of hope is received and not disregarded as “spam”.

Thoughts on Discipleship and Evangelism

Traditionally, evangelical Christians have done a poor job of discipling people post-conversion. I have heard story after story from folks who were intensely evangelized, only to be abandoned once they had prayed a prayer, participated in believer’s baptism, and joined a church. The prevailing attitude seem to be that once someone has made a decision for Christ, they should know what they need to do and do it without too much involvement from other Christians. The biblical witness of the first disciples seems to contradict this idea. How many times did Jesus have to guide the disciples back on track?
This lack of continued discipleship has resulted in many Christians (who are not doubt converted and eternally secure) living lives in defeat and not becoming effective witnesses for Christ. God’s redemptive plan does not end with a person’s conversion or salvation; His plan is for us to participate in His glory and join with Him is his work while we are still on earth. This means that we should be joining God in his plan to seek and save the lost. If a new believer, or an old on for that matter, is not effectively discipled their ability to participate in this work is greatly hindered.

After carefully and prayerfully evaluating this situation, I believe that the reason that we fail to effective disciple folks post-conversion is our disproportionate focus on evangelism and misunderstanding of the process of discipleship. I am not denying the importance of evangelism, but we must see it as part of a larger process and not our overall goal. In speaking with other Baptists in regards to discipleship and evangelism I have often asked the question, when does discipleship begin in a person’s life? Most people have answered that discipleship begins at the moment of a person’s conversion (fig.1). Their reasoning usually is that a person cannot be a disciple until they have been regenerated and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. I understand where they are coming from on this point, but I think that this is the reason that we miss the mark in discipleship. You can disciple someone, join God is His work, as soon as God has begun His work in their life. This work begins pre-conversion and is what leads people to the Savior.

Evangelism must be viewed a part of a larger process, the process of discipleship. When we make evangelism our goal we bring all of our resources to bear upon it and begin to neglect other parts of the work. To me it appears that evangelism is the first part of the discipleship process and both begin at the same point in time, the first time a Christian enters into a non-Christians life (fig.2). This is the biblical example of discipleship. When we see the disciples initial call from Jesus we must understand that this was not their first exposure to Him or the principles that He was teaching. These men would have heard of this man Jesus of Nazareth, of the things He was teaching and doing, and might have even heard Him teach. This initial exposure was the beginning of their discipleship. When Jesus came to them personally was the point in time that God extended His divine and eternal invitation.

We must remember that we are not called or commissioned to make converts or Christians; that is God’s business. We are called and commissioned to make disciples and to teach others about what Jesus has taught us. This teaching must not end at the point that the person makes a decision for Christ, but must continue for the rest of that person’s life. Evangelism is an extremely important part of Christian life, but it is only that, a part. We must ensure that evangelism is an integral part of the overall discipleship process, without an undue emphasis on any part over the others.

Baptist Polity and the Local Association

This morning I read a blog post (HERE) from a Pastor about the some of the purposes of the Baptist Association.  I greatly appreciated the post because I believe that many of us have forgotten where we came from, so to speak, as it related to the reason why we Baptists do some of the things that we do.  I have been debating publishing this post for the last week or so.  It has the potential to be controversial and some may take it out of context, but after prayerful consideration I humbly submit my thoughts on this subject.

If we wholeheartedly believe that our Lord commissioned us individually and corporately to take the Gospel to every person; if we believe that the Church is the body and bride of Christ and that the local congregation is the manner in which God has chosen to carry out His business of spreading the Gospel to the world, our focus should be on accomplishing this task though the local church.

Undoubtedly, more can be done to advance the work together than we can do on our own.  Not to mention that cooperation strengthens our witness with the world around us.  Understanding that “a three-fold cord is not easily broken” we should strive to work together, to cooperate with each other to accomplish the Great Commission, motivated by the greatest commandment.

One characteristic that our Baptist churches have that is somewhat unique to our denomination is that a Baptist church is autonomous.  Cooperation is voluntary and each local congregation is free to define its own faith and practice.  If a local church makes a decision to stop cooperation, they are entitled to do so.  But we must remember that “no man is an island” and by extension no church that is made up of said men is an island.  We are all part of one Body and serve one Lord.

I would encourage each one of us to prayerfully examine ourselves; to ask God to search our hearts and reveal to us if we have been cooperating with the other members of the Body as He would desire us to, or if we have been placing our own desires and agendas above His.

I look forward to serving Jesus along side of you all and may grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Another Encounter from the Kentucky Trip

I want to share another experience from Kentucky this past week that moved me. But, in order to get to it I have to give you some background to put this encounter in its proper context.

There is a heavy influence of Arminian theology in the region of Eastern Kentucky where we were ministering. Most of the folks that we encountered either belong to a Freewill Baptist Church or a Nazarene Church; with most of the youth we were working with belong to the latter. From what I understand, the Nazarene Church teaches conditional security (the doctrine that that believers are kept safe by God in their saving relationship with Him upon the condition of a persevering faith in Christ) and entire sanctification (that a person can live a life no longer under the influence of original sin and that sin should be a rare exception for the Christian). While I am not wholly equipped to make a theological argument for or against either of these doctrines, I do believe that they are in error based on the manner in which they are put into practice. What I observed were several people who I believed had truly trusted Christ for their salvation, but were living defeated lives because they had been deceived into believing that, based on their actions, they had renounced their faith and were destined for eternal punishment. They had given up on living a Christian life because they were unable to live without being overtaken by sin, however briefly; the very reason that we must trust in Christ (not our own power) for our salvation. They had no understanding of the hope in Christ for their continued sanctification and eventual glorification. But, I digress.

The encounter I want to share with you occurred during the Bible lesson that my friend and co-laborer for Christ, Bill Clements, was teaching to the youth. All of the youth loved Bill and were very adoring toward him, while I had limited interaction with them. During Bill’s lesson one of the girls asked a question regarding what we as Southern Baptist believed about eternal security. I took the opportunity to give her a brief, but thoughtful, answer and provided her with some verses to support my belief and Bill moved on with the lesson. After the lesson I noticed it seemed that the girls outlook toward me had changed and I saw her acting toward me as I had seen the youth act toward Bill. At first I could not account for this change, but after I had some time to reflect I came to realize that the only explanation was our short conversation about the doctrine of eternal security. I realized that it was not my theology that this young lady appreciated, but merely the fact that I had taken a moment and provided her with a sincere answer to a question that she deemed important.

I would encourage each of you to make sure that we are taking the time to answer the questions that our young people have, and answer them with sound biblical truth. We should all be ready to give a sound answer to someone who searching for one.

Thoughts From My Trip

I am writing this post while traveling back from Kentucky and I just want to share some thought about my experiences during the past week. We traveled to eastern Kentucky with a group from our association for a week of ministry to the community there.

We distributed food bags, hygiene kits, school supplies, clothes, and shoes to those in need in that community. We held VBS at the community park everyday for the kids and had crafts, recreation, class, and music. One of the ladies in our group is a professional hair stylist and was able to provide more than sixty hair cuts to men and women in the community; and some of the guy with us changed the oil and performed other minor maintenance on the people’s vehicles. Most importantly, we did all of these things out of love and for the glory of the Lord Jesus. Our desire was to show the people in the surrounding community the love of Jesus, the same love that was shared with us. During the week we have several people make a profession of faith in Christ; we also had the opportunity to plant some seeds and water others.

One encounter that comes to mind is with a man whom I will call Fred. We met Fred while we were going out into the community prayer walking and witnessing. Fred had a stroke about six years ago, is disabled, and lives in a government subsidized housing complex in the community we were in. During out first day out we didn’t get to speak with Fred personally, but a friend who was taking care of him who was outside of his apartment. His friend told us a little of Fred’s story and we prayed with the friend and went on. The next day we found ourselves back in the complex handing out hygine kits (consisting of a towel, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc.) and stopped at Fred’s apartment. This time his wife answered the door and invited us in. Inside we met Fred who was dressed in a hospital gown and seated in a wheelchair. As we spoke with Fred we learned more of his condition. We also learned that while in the Hospital recovering from his stroke Fred has trusted Christ and was baptized in a tub at the Hospital. As we spoke with Fred he shared how the Lord had been faithful to him throughout his recovery and how the Lord had brought him peace, joy, and comfort. It was so encouraging to hear how this man had met the Lord in a hospital and stood faithfully on Jesus’ promise to never leave nor forsake us, His people. This man, who is mostly confined to a wheel chair, did not complain about his situation or act downtrodden, but he was full of joy and thankful for all that God had done in his life.

There were countless other things I want to share with you all, and may share more over the next couple of days. I hope that Fred’s story has blessed you as much as it did me. It never ceases to amaze me that even when we go in the name of Jesus to minister to other people we end up getting ministered to. God is Good!

How can I get to know Jesus?

Everyone is searching for something to satisfy them. Some look for satisfaction in the bottom of a liquor or beer bottle, some look for satisfaction in extramarital sexual relationships, some turn to drugs, some to money. The common thread that we all share is that we are looking for something to fill a void deep inside of us; and the one common thread in all of those things that I have listed that people use to try and fill that void is that they are only temporary. We need something that lasts longer that any high that earthly pleasure can bring, we need something eternal. What we are truly longing for is a relationship with the God who created us. Mankind once enjoyed that relationship, but it was broken off long ago. In order to set the relationship between us and God back on track we must be reconciled to Him. That reconciliation is only made possible in the person of Jesus Christ and the atoning work He did on the cross. For us to take part in the forgiveness offered by God who loves us, we must establish a relationship with Jesus. The first step in getting to know someone is to meet them.

Therefore the first question one must ask is: How can I meet Jesus?

You can meet him on The ROMANS ROAD....

God wants everyone to come to salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Eternal salvation is more than just a plan, it is a MAN. The person of Jesus Christ. The following verses show us why we need salvation and how we can get it. It is a free gift. . . we are saved by God’s grace.

Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We all have sin in our hearts. We all were born with sin.
We were born under the power of sin's control.
- Admit that you are a sinner.

Romans 6:23a - "...The wages of sin is death..."
Sin has an ending. It results in death. We all face physical death, which is a result of sin. But a worse death is spiritual death that alienates us from God, and will last for all eternity. The Bible teaches that there is a place called the Lake of Fire where lost people will be in torment forever. It is the place where people who are spiritually dead will remain.
- Understand that you deserve death for your sin.

Romans 6:23b - "...But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Salvation is a free gift from God to you! You can't earn this gift, but you must reach out and receive it.
- Ask God to forgive you and save you.

Romans 5:8 - "God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!"
When Jesus died on the cross He paid sin's penalty. He paid the price for all sin, and when He took all the sins of the world on Himself on the cross, He bought us out of slavery to sin and death! The only condition is that we believe in Him and what He has done for us, understanding that we are now joined with Him, and that He is our life. He did all this because He loved us and gave Himself for us!
- Give your life to God... His love poured out in Jesus on the cross is your only hope to have forgiveness and change. His love bought you out of being a slave to sin. His love is what saves you -- not religion, or church membership. God loves you!

Romans 10:13 - "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved!"
- Call out to God in the name of Jesus!

Romans 10:9,10 - "...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
- If you know that God is knocking on your heart's door,
ask Him to come into your heart.

Jesus said,
Revelation 3:20a - "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..."
- Is Jesus knocking on your heart's door?

Trust Him to save you, ask Him to come in to your heart by faith, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Open the Bible to the Gospel of John and read what the Bible says about Jesus, about you, and about being born again.

God will help you. He loves you.

You should to join with a local church where God's word is rightly preached. The Bible says that we are to desire God's word like a baby desires mother's milk.

Another important follow-up step is Water Baptist. Water baptism is one of the ways you first show that you have been joined to Jesus. This is an action, and actions will not save you. However, it is an act of obedience and a symbol of commitment. The symbolism is this: When you go down in the water you show that you have been crucified and buried with Him, and when you come up out of the water you show that you have been raised to walk with Him in newness of life. (See Romans chapter 6)

You have been born again. (See John chapter 3)

Your body has become God's temple, the Holy Spirit now lives within your heart.

Forgiveness is yours in Jesus, and you belong to Him.

You were sin's slave. But now...

You are a child of GOD!

John 1:12 - "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name!"

If you have questions please contact me and I will do the best I can to either help you or get you in touch with someone who can.

Sin vs. Fried Chicken

After reading a post by Jeff Peterson over at The Lighthearted Calvinist (HERE) I got to thinking, and yes that can be dangerous. I got to thinking how sin interferes with our enjoyment of the creation that God has given us (fried chicken included). Our sinful nature will not allow us to enjoy what God has provided for us, but causes us to want more and more.

When you stop for a second and really take inventory it is amazing what we take for granted. Some people claim that we take things for granted because (in America) we have so much. I submit that our ungratefulness for the things that we have is not a result of the bountiful provision that we enjoy here, but a result of our fallen condition. Even the person who is living in squaller has something and without the regeneration that comes through the ministry of the Holy Spirit cannot truly applicate it. If we cannot appreciate the love of a sovereign and holy God, we cannot appreciate what He has graciously provided for us.

It is a sin problem and a sin problem has only one solution, the atoning, substitutionary work of Christ upon Calvary's cross.