How Discipleship Gets Lost in Inferior Terms and Concepts

Matthew 28:18-20

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ^Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

There is a trend going around the human services field toward mentoring. The culture has also picked up on this concept of mentoring and the church has followed the trend. The moment we identify a group of “at risk” teenagers’ social workers make a plea for mentors. This use of mentoring is a reactive response toward a need to train and/or help a group of people who are at risk or in need. The basic definition of mentor, as described in the Encarta Dictionary, is “somebody, usually older and more experienced, who advises and guides a younger, less experienced person.” This definition is less reactive to a problem and is more proactive toward advising and guiding, before there is an issue. Once upon a time this concept of mentoring was used positively. Sometimes we still use mentoring positively, and when we do, it looks more like apprenticeship, which is also similar to mentoring. This term apprenticeship for many is interchangeable with mentoring. Apprenticeship is a more positive and specific term, however, and refers to “someone being trained by a skilled professional in an art, craft, or trade (Encarta Dictionary).” Apprenticeship seems to address practical and concrete skills, while mentoring seems to address general guidance and advice for the inexperienced.

Now, there is nothing wrong with mentoring or apprenticeship, however, as Christians we are not called or commanded to mentor or apprentice, we have been commissioned to make disciples. “What’s the difference?” might me your question, and it is a good one. The simplest answer is that discipleship encompasses mentoring and apprenticeship and takes it to the next level with whole life transformation and becoming more like Christ. If discipleship is done correctly, it will include mentoring and apprenticeship. True discipleship requires time commitment and deep transforming relationships with practical application and outcomes for all those involved. God’s power and presence dictate and facilitate these outcomes and everyone involved is transformed through Christ’s presence and power. “Jesus is with us, even unto the end of the age.”

I read an article recently that a friend of mine suggested that got me thinking about discipleship and mentoring and what the differences and similarities are. The name of this article is “How Mentoring is Different than Discipleship.” Reading and questioning this article alongside an older and wiser discipler or mentor, or as an apprentice, we discovered many similarities and differences between the two terms. We agreed and disagreed on several points, but came to a joint conclusion that many followers of Jesus have no idea what discipleship actually means, and if we do not know what discipleship means, then we cannot and will not effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ. We must define and understand discipleship. I came to several other unmistakable conclusions after interacting with my friend and this article, and thinking through discipleship; mentoring and discipleship are not the same, discipleship encompasses mentoring and apprenticeship, discipleship has gotten confused with church programming, true Biblical discipleship has been lost, and we must recapture the meaning and practice of true discipleship.

Defining and Understanding Discipleship

Jesus commanded us to “go and make disciples” in Matthew 28:18-20. I love how Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message: “Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: ‘God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.’” What sticks out in this translation is that in order to make disciples of Christ we must be commissioned by Jesus, we must go out, we must train everyone we meet, we must understand that discipleship is a way of life and train within that context, everyday life and living, we must baptize them, we must instruct them in practice, in other words, discipleship is hands on and applicable, there is skill involved, and finally, we must disciple in the power and presence of Jesus, as Jesus is with us enabling and empowering us.

Peterson interprets the word disciple as training. Simply put, a disciple is a learner. A disciple is someone who receives training “in this way of life.” According to The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, the word disciple is defined this way: “27.16 μαθητής^b, οῦ: (derivative of μανθάνω^a ‘to learn, to be instructed,’ 27.12) a person who learns from another by instruction, whether formal or informal—‘disciple, pupil.’ ‘No pupil is greater than his teacher; but every pupil, when he has completed his training, will be like his teacher.’ (Luke 6:40).”

The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament goes on to say that to be a disciple is “to be a follower or a disciple of someone, in the sense of adhering to the teachings or instructions of a leader and in promoting the cause of such a leader—‘to follow, to be a disciple of.’” This idea that we are to follow someone in discipleship has a deeper meaning as the followers of Jesus, His disciples, “at once left their nets and followed him (Mark 1:18).” The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament continues, “In many languages the appropriate equivalent of ‘to follow’ (in the sense of ‘to be a disciple’) is literally ‘to accompany’ or ‘to go along with’ or ‘to be in the group of.” This is a much more active and engaging view of what discipleship is. This requires a depth of relationship and commitment that transcends a Sunday service, a weekly discipleship teaching, or a program on discipleship, or a Bible study. True discipleship does indeed require the skills and aspects of mentorship and apprenticeship, as we cannot have true discipleship apart from depth of relationships and practical application.

We tend to have a fragmented view of discipleship. We have divorced the practical training and application, which includes a depth of committed and intentional relationship, from discipleship and we have been left with just instruction. Jesus did not do this with His disciples. Jesus continually modeled His life for His disciples. Jesus was present with His disciples, His life was the lesson. He taught them and allowed them to do His work as well. Jesus ate with His disciples and spent copious amounts of time with them. Jesus lived with His disciples and walked along side of them as they followed along with Him.

Mentoring and Discipleship Are Not the Same

The article, How Mentoring is Different than Discipleship, makes the point that mentoring is different that discipleship. I agree with this premise. However, the article goes on to describe mentoring as an advanced form of discipleship. This is a false premise and makes assumptions of discipleship that are simply not true. The presupposition is that somehow discipleship is a program that does not include mentoring and apprenticeship, we will talk more about this in the section on how discipleship has gotten confused with church programming. Mentoring is not advanced discipleship. Mentoring and apprenticeship are critical elements to discipleship and discipleship is not complete without these components.

The author of How Mentoring is Different than Discipleship is talking about discipleship when they speak of mentoring and they do not seem to know it. This seems to be a common mistake we make. We speak a lot about concepts such as mentoring and programs as a church, but what we are really grasping at is the need for discipleship. Mentoring and apprenticeship are the p-nut butter and Jelly to the same sandwich of discipleship. Somehow the author is making a divide and discipleship is being fragmented into something that it was never intended to be. We do this as well as a church. How are we getting here? My initial response to "What is happening here?" is that Biblical Ministries Worldwide, the people who put out this article, has a weakened view of discipleship, or they think that discipleship is no longer a term that is doing justice to the magnitude of what discipleship is. In other words, they do not think that discipleship is relevant, so they want to make it relevant and add mentoring to it, as if it were not already there. Instead of reinventing something we assume is incorrect, incomplete, or no longer relevant, in this case discipleship, we should seek to understand and practice the magnitude of what discipleship truly is.

Discipleship Encompasses Mentoring and Apprenticeship

How can someone disciple someone else without practical application in their training through mentoring and apprenticeship? They cannot! Discipleship in its truest and most Biblical form requires practical and hands on application. Discipleship requires life on life interaction and major time and resource commitment. Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We have taught discipleship in the church as if it were a lesson. Being a disciple is a way of life. It is caught more than it is taught, as the cliché goes. Mentoring gives the picture of a life touching a life. Somehow discipleship has lost this same image and the church has allowed this to happen. However, discipleship requires life on life interaction and practical application that far exceeds that of mentoring. Discipleship includes mentoring and apprenticeship.

Jesus never fragmented discipleship, apprenticeship, and mentoring. True discipleship is holistic. There wasn’t a single part of someone’s life that Jesus was not interested in bringing under His Lordship. Jesus fed His people; He healed their diseases; He taught them; He connected with their families; He met them where they were and loved them enough not to leave them there. Jesus went to parties and turned water into wine. Jesus dines with sinners and saints alike. Jesus sent out His disciples and commanded them to make disciples. He gave away His life, and work, and ministry to His followers after having spent years with them equipping them, and teaching them, and modeling for them what He desired for them.

Discipleship Has Gotten Confused with Church Programming

Discipleship is not a program! Discipleship is life on life investment. We used to do this thing at the church that I grew up in called “Discipleship Training.” What this was, basically, was a Wednesday night Bible study. Someone would teach and you would come and listen. There was no participation at all. Rarely was there any practical application. Sometimes there was a discussion, but that was about it. I can’t ever remember even knowing what a disciple was back then, let alone a discipleship program. Was I being programmed to be a disciple? Is this what discipleship has come to? No wonder we are looking for something else to call it. We are confused about discipleship. Discipleship in many of our churches has been reduced to something similar to what I am describing, a program, or a class. This is not God’s intention for discipleship. Discipleship should be a life adventure, the greatest life adventure!

One of my fondest memories from my time at this church was when the leadership let me lead and helped me know what to do. There was encouragement, and instruction, and then I was allowed to participate. This never happened at the “discipleship training,” but it happened as adults at that church came along side of me and taught me and helped me do leadership tasks. I was shown what they were teaching me. The formal discipleship program never made me a disciple. People pouring their life and relationship with Christ into me and modeling what it meant to be a Christ Follower; this is what made a disciple out of me.

True Biblical Discipleship Has Been Lost

“So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!—to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others (2 Timothy 2:1-2).”

There must be a correlation between the lack of understanding of discipleship and our lack of Biblical knowledge as a church and our lack of understanding scripture and our lack of understanding discipleship. It seems that we are becoming more and more Biblically illiterate and we therefore do not understand the dynamics of what discipleship is. Paul, writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-2, encouraged his “spiritual son” to throw himself into work for Christ and to pass on that which he had heard from Paul. Paul encouraged the church leaders to teach others. The prerequisite for the leaders to teach was that they be competent. What makes a leader competent? I have heard it said “You cannot teach what you do not know.” This is such a true statement. Teaching begins with knowledge. Discipleship also begins with knowledge. A disciple is a learner. A disciple is someone who follows and learns from Jesus and teaches and makes disciples of Jesus. This begins with us and our understanding what it means to be a disciple of Christ ourselves. We cannot accomplish discipleship without first sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from Him. We must understand the word of God before we can follow the Word of God.

Recapturing the Meaning and Practice of True Discipleship

My friend made the point that “We toss around discipleship as if we know what it means.” I tend to agree with him. If this is true, we must define our terms and commit to seek understanding and education as to what discipleship is. We must pursue understanding of what Jesus meant when He said, “Go make disciples.” If it was so important to God Himself that the last command He gave to us was to do this, then it must become equally important for us to study and do.

We must understand the Biblical definition of discipleship as the church, as Christians, and as leadership. We need to fight to recapture the meaning and depth of discipleship. The word disciple is used over 269 times in scripture, the word Christian is only used 2 times in scripture, and the term mentoring, well, mentoring is not used once in scripture. This is an interesting fact and has great significance. I think we like the term mentor because we understand it more in our cultural context, or we think we understand it. If we understood discipleship, however, we wouldn't want to worry ourselves with mentoring, because the term would be found lacking by itself and we would discover that in true discipleship, mentoring is encompassed.

I am not comfortable with the watering down of biblical terms, or in this case, replacing the Biblical term discipleship with one we think is better, mentoring. When we begin to replace discipleship with mentoring, we begin to water down the true biblical meaning of discipleship by assuming that mentoring is a superior term. This leads to inferior concepts. Mentoring leaves out, or has the potential to leave out, biblical truths. Jesus’ command to make disciples included “teaching them to observe everything that I command you.” Mentoring does not necessarily include this facet. However, I do like mentoring, if it is in the context discipleship and teaches the word of God and the life of Christ.

Mentoring on its own has the potential to leave out important components of discipleship like becoming more like Jesus, biblical knowledge, leadership, and preparation for ministry. Discipleship has something to do with mentoring and leadership and more, though some fans of mentoring believe that it does not. The term discipleship is a much richer term, and encompasses apprenticeship, leadership, teaching, mentoring, learning, modeling, instruction, Christ-likeness, knowledge of scripture, obedience to scripture, transformation, an understanding of gender roles, civic duty, and so forth, and I could go on. Mentoring is our societies grasping at a discipleship equivalent. We have a superior term and it is discipleship. We just have to reclaim our term by restoring its meaning back to it. We must be Disciples of Christ who are making Disciples of Christ.

I appreciate the way mentoring is described in general and the way it is described in the beginning of the article How Mentoring is Different than Discipleship. This description, however, is of discipleship. We as a church, corporate, have had the tendency to dumb down discipleship so that it is easier and it takes us off the hook and relinquishes us of our responsibility. If discipleship is simply a class, then I can teach it an hour a week and be done with it. If discipleship is a program, then I can put it on. Real discipleship; however, requires real work; it requires a relationship; it requires a real commitment of time and resources; real discipleship is a way of life; it requires an investment; real discipleship requires us to be real disciples. I think that many of us cower at this responsibility and commitment. I confess that many times I do.

Recapturing the Meaning and Practice of True Discipleship: A Meaningful Reconciliation

There are varying understandings of what discipleship and mentoring means. These terms are being thrown around these days in many circles. There is indeed a distinction between the terms discipling and mentoring. While these two are not the same, a discipleship relationship in it truest form will include mentoring and apprenticeship.

In How Mentoring is Different than Discipleship, there is a two columned chart included that assumes much about both discipleship and mentoring. The chart is under the title A Meaningful Difference. The chart begins with two major fragmented assumptions about discipleship and mentoring that I will address specifically. These two major assumptions are: Assumption one, that discipleship is broader and more basic, or simple, than mentoring. Discipleship is just focused on getting believers grounded in their faith, living a God-honoring life, and being equipped for general ministry. And assumption two, that mentoring is somehow advanced discipleship and that it is focused on preparing faithful, fervent and gifted emerging leaders for mature, capable and fruitful leadership, as if Jesus’ command to make disciples did not include these elements.

I have recreated this chart below adding a third column, which I might entitle A Meaningful Reconciliation: A Clearer Vision of True Discipleship. In this chart I reconcile the above assumptions that are made about discipleship and mentoring with hopefully a clearer and truer view of what discipleship is supposed to be as we find it in scripture and as it is modeled by Jesus.

A Meaningful Reconciliation: A Clearer Vision of True Discipleship

Click here to enlarge the chart below:

Seeking to follow Jesus as His disciple, and to make disciples of Him,

Robbie

Works Cited

http://www.biblicalministries.org/index.html

How Mentoring is Different than Discipleship, http://www.biblicalministries.org/resources/Materials/2003-10%20How%20Mentoring%20is%20Different%20than%20Discipleship.pdf, © 2009

Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:327

Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:469

The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Mt 28:18-20

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Mt 28:18-20

Petersen, Paul. Out of the Depths of a Thinking Man’s Brain. © 2009

Spotter

“God is my spotter!” is what the cool t-shirt read.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” -2 Corinthians 12:9

When I was in middle school, a bunch of friends and I decided we would get physically fit. We got together a sweet set of weights from various places and from one another’s homes and we brought them all over to my garage where we started lifting. There were really no health reasons behind why we wanted to do this, we just wanted to have bigger muscles to “impress the ladies.” When we would lift we would try to see who could lift the most weight, for the greatest amount of repetitions, for the greatest effect. We would really push ourselves to the limit. We desired quick results. Sometimes we would attempt to lift more than we were able. We would get stuck under the unbearable weight and yell, “Spotter, please!” and our spotter, the person standing behind the bench press, would grab the barbell and lift the weight to the bar holder on the bench, rescuing us. Without that spotter, there would be many times that I would have been crushed by the weight that I was unable to bear.

Our walk with Jesus in this world is like this. We need a spotter to help us carry the burdens that would otherwise crush us. We cannot function in our own strength. To the extent that we do function within our own ability, we will accomplish only that which we are able to do, which is not much, and is still by the sheer grace and gift of God.

The Apostle Paul had a weakness that he said was the only thing that gave him bragging rights. Paul had to carry a weight around that he was unable to bear. This weight was a weakness of some sort, a handicap, a sin, or an infirmity of some kind. No one knows what exactly it was that Paul was struggling with “bench pressing,” but whatever it was, he was stuck with it. Paul stated that God’s strength was made perfect in his weaknesses. God was his spotter. Paul was unable to bear this weight on his own, but with God, his weakness was turned to strength, God’s strength.

Paul spoke about his weakness, and God being his spotter, in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.^ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Our desire, much like Paul’s, is to impress ourselves, and others, with our own strength and self sufficiency. Most of us desire and attempt self reliance. Many times we are the ones who are attempting to be strong in our own rights, by our own efforts, and for our own glory. We think if somehow we have it all together and are strong we will be somehow superior. The truth is we have nothing on our own, and the only thing we can brag about is our weaknesses, just as Paul boasted in his weaknesses. It is when we find ourselves outside of our own abilities that our spotter can lift our loads on our behalf. If it is God who is our spotter, then there is nothing we cannot lift. Our weaknesses are the places where God’s strengths can be realized. It is when we are at our wits end that we can realize that we are not God and that we need God. We do not lift the burdens of this life on our own, nor can we, or should we. God’s strength is indeed made perfect in our weaknesses.

“When I am weak, then I am strong!” Spotter, please!

Robbie

Works Cited

The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. 2 Co 12:7-10

Don't Do it Yourself

Romans 8:12-14

“So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!”

I did some plumbing once for my Grandfather, who is a Baptist Minister. I had no idea what I was doing. I had a new plumbing book, a blowtorch, and some other random tools and set out to replace an outside faucet. I failed miserably. When Granddad heard me “cussing the pipe” under the house he started laughing at me. I didn't hear him, because of the cavernous echoes of my own obscenities from the lonely crawl space. When I emerged from the underworld of the soul killing doom, covered in mud, and with torched fingertips and a bad attitude, he simply smiled at me and said, "Robert, you can't be a plumber and a Christian at the same time!" So true, if Christianity is about not cussing, moral perfection, or following the law perfectly, then I can’t be a plumber and a Christian at the same time.

We also can't be religious, trying to earn God’s favor by our own works and effort, and be Christians at the same time either. The notion that we can save ourselves or "Do it ourselves," needs to die a quick death. There are some projects that I must call a plumber for, because that skill is beyond me. When it comes to our sin dead life, it is God Himself who we must lean on and call out to. It is God's Spirit that we trust will call us, and save us, and make us new. God will do it. We cannot.

There is nothing for us in a “do-it-yourself spirituality.” We are doomed to failure if we go that route. We must die to ourselves and awaken to God's Spirit beckoning life. God has a plan and a purpose for us. There are places He would have us go and missions that He will equip us to fulfill. We owe the flesh, ourselves, nothing at all.

Giving plumbing and religion a funeral and getting on with new life by God’s grace, power, and strength!

Robbie

Scripture Cited

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Ro 8:12-14

Worth

Matthew 10:29-31

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”


I have been thinking a lot about worth lately. How much are we worth? What is our value? Where do we get our value? Mark Yaconelli says that we are consumers who get our worth through what we have or consume; he says that we “are our appetites,” and that we are imprisoned within our material world (Yaconelli, p. 19). Marcus Borg, in The Heart of Christianity, says that we get our worth based on the “three A’s of our western culture: Appearance, achievement, and affluence (Borg, p. 116)." It seems as if both of these authors are attributing worth to an outside source or reference point. Worth is based on something else, someone else, or something other, as it is compared or contrasted.

There is an old saying that goes like this: “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” This statement says that worth or value, like beauty, “is in the eye of the beholder.” It seems as if we ascribe value to something based on something else and that this value can fluctuate from one situation or person to another. For example, when we total the monetary value of the elements in our bodies and the value of the average person's skin, we arrive at a net worth of about $4.50 (www.coolquiz.com). Now, no one would take $4.50 for their life or give up their lives for $4.50. Value here must be contingent on something else; something outside of ourselves and our lives must give us value and worth. So how much are we worth?

It must be true that we are worth a lot more than we are worth. There is a paradox occurring. I am worth $4.50 and I am priceless. . . Our worth has been determined by our creator. As believers and followers of Christ, God has ascribed to us our value by the price that He paid for our redemption. Redemption is from the Greek word, “ 629 ἀπολύτρωσις [apolutrosis /ap•ol•oo•tro•sis/] a releasing effected by payment of ransom. REDEMPTION: deliverance or a liberation procured by the payment of a ransom (Strong)” We were bough at a price. God paid our debts and literally laid His life down for us. The statement that is made by God here is clear and strong, “You are worth my own life.” God has bought us with Himself. He gave His life for ours while we were in our sins and actively rebelling against God (John 3:16-18, Romans 3:23-27, Romans 5:6-11).

Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us, whom we have from God, and that we are not your own. We were bought at a price; and therefore should glorify God in our bodies and in our spirit, which are God’s. We are worth far more than we are worth. Our value rests on God who is worth far more than we can imagine or conceive.


The U.S. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils has invested a lot of money and many a hard-earned tax dollar in calculating the chemical and mineral composition of the human body, which breaks down as follows: 65% Oxygen, 18% Carbon, 10% Hydrogen, 3% Nitrogen, 1.5% Calcium, 1% Phosphorous, 0.35% Potassium, 0.25% Sulfur, 0.15% Sodium, 0.15% Chlorine, 0.05% Magnesium, 0.0004% Iron, and 0.00004% Iodine. Additionally, it was discovered that our bodies contain trace quantities of fluorine, silicon, manganese, zinc, copper, aluminum, and arsenic. Together, all of the above amounts to less than one dollar (www.coolquiz.com)!

Jesus said this about our worth in Matthew 10: 29-31: “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” God tracks the hairs on my head! I don’t even do that! I have no idea how much hair is on my head, but God does. God counts them. God tracks the lives of little sparrows, and I am of more value than they are according to Jesus. I am of more valuable to Jesus than I am to myself. Wow!

We are also of more value than other parts of the creation. Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they (Matthew 6:26)?” Jesus also said, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep (Matthew 12:11-12)?” God values us more than animals and religious holy days. My $4.50, my junk, is God’s treasure.

Knowing that we are valuable to God, that it is God who has given us our worth, may we pray as Paul wrote in Colossians 1:12-17:

“Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

We exist because God wants us to exist. Our value is found in God. Our worth has been ascribed to us by our creator, in whom we have our value. When we are found in Him, we will be found priceless as He is and we will find our purpose and meaning in Him.

Finding my worth in Jesus,



Robbie


Works Cited

Borg, Marcus. The Heart of Christianity. Harper San Francisco, 2003, 116.

http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/worth.asp

Strong, James: The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G629

The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Mt 10:29-31

The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. 1 Co 6:19-20

The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Mt 6:26

The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Mt 12:11-12

The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Col 1:12-17

Yaconelli, Mark. Downtime: Helping Teenagers Pray. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. 2008, p. 19.

Salt and Light – Hang Time

Salt and Light – Hang Time

© 2008, American Anglican Council Weekly Update, October 24, 2008, By: Rev. J. Philip Ashey

When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, they were, like sheep with no shepherd. Matthew 9: 36

In the pressured, stressed academic and extra curricular life of the teens of Herndon, Virginia there is one scheduled weekly event which the teens themselves consider mandatory. It happens at the Church of the Epiphany, Wednesdays, 3-5PM where about 20-30 kids come together from public schools, Christian schools, and home schools for “Hang-Time”. What happens there? Nothing, and everything –pizza (of course) and while Christian music plays softly in the background a survey of the room reveals someone asleep on the couch, a chess game, homework, conversations, video game challenges, even a spontaneous jam session on the stage complete with keyboard and sound system. There is a group lounging while they watch a Christian video. Mixing and mingling with the group are young college age leaders who came out of the “Hang-Time” themselves.

Robbie Pruitt, the Youth Leader at Epiphany who began the program bases it also on God’s call for Sabbath rest – rest from the demanding, overscheduled, weary lives these teens live. Robbie points out “Scripture commands us in many different places to rest and Jesus Himself modeled this rest when He withdrew to solitary places to pray away from the crowds (Luke 5:16). The lack of structure makes this a place of respite.

In the last 15 minutes or so, when they come together for scripture and prayer it is in the safety of a circle of trusted friends. Sometimes Robbie shows a short contemporary Christian DVD—“Nooma” from Mars Hill Church, and Revolution are among his favorites. These are short lessons with high impact. Prayers are requested for school work, conflicts with parents, sick friends, and those struggling with broken homes. “Here,” Robbie says,” we are learning to make our lives a living testimony that simply says, “It is not about me, it is about Jesus.” We are taking the control away from ourselves and putting it in God’s hands and because of this we can rest in His strength, and learn from His direction.”

Robbie Pruitt sees this time each week as a way of building long term relationships with the kids. He sees himself as a “visible shepherd”: one whom the “harassed and helpless” can come to for conversation, counsel and prayer. But, he says, the key is consistency: just being there every week, present and available in the name and the power of Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs, Robbie sees the focus on establishing a consistent, prayerful presence with the few, not the many, making each teen feel singularly important. He estimates that about forty different teens come when they can. When they can’t they can always visit “Hang Time” on Facebook. The program has also expanded other youth ministries - the kids consider themselves a family and so when a youth retreat happens they often come together.

When asked about Hang-Time it was described by one teen participant as”less in your face - food, games, and videos, extremely spontaneous, extremely fun, and extremely chilled”.

You can find more information about Hang Time and Epiphany’s Youth Ministries at http://www.epiphany-herndon.org/Youth/

“Hang Time” is a wonderful example of how missional churches major on relationships. Why? Because that’s what Jesus did. Jesus spent his entire public ministry focused on a small group of twelve disciples—and much of it on the road “hanging out” with them. In our internet world, where relationships are decentralized and genuine community is diminished, Jesus is calling his church to be a place where we can offer real community, in Christ. Churches are mission outposts that offer genuine, caring, Christ-centered relationships.

As Robbie observed, some youth who cannot and will not attend church show up at Hang Time almost every week. They are on the way to becoming followers of Jesus Christ, because they have discovered genuine Christian community.

We call it the Church.

Have you and your church considered how you might become a missionary outpost that majors on relationships—just like Jesus? Who are the harassed and helpless in your community, your neighborhood, your workplace? May Christ give you his heart, the heart of the Good Shepherd, to hang out with a purpose!

Yours in Christ,


Rev. J. Philip Ashey
Chief Operating Officer
American Anglican Council

Boxes, Bills, and Benevolence

Untitled Photo © 2009, by Jillian Lee

“Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.” The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go. Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” (Mark 10:21-23)

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20).”

“Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.” Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost (Luke 19:8-10).”

“Across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than $1 a day; 3 billion people live on under $2 a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean drinking water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electrical power (Sweet, p. 104, 105).”

Last week I spent $15.76 at Staples on 10 file boxes to put my files and old school notebooks into. I drove in my car to get these boxes. When I returned to our townhome, I packed the boxes with the lights and the ceiling fan on while listening to Pandora radio on my desktop computer; it was streaming through my high speed cable internet connection. I then stored the boxes in a closet and threw all the trash and unwanted files and notebooks away, to be picked up later by the trash collection company on Tuesday.

One of 1.3 billion could have lived for 16 whole days on just what it cost me to buy those boxes.

My car is worth $8,228. The gas costs $46. a week. Insurance is $656. a year.

Every month our electric bill runs us about $108. and our cable, phone, and internet service costs about $190. We pay roughly $1100. a year in neighborhood association dues which includes our parking, lawn care, and snow and trash removal.

If you only add the numbers that I just mentioned above, someone could live for 10,343.76 days at a $1. a day. This equals to about how long my wife has been alive, around 28.3 years. This is equal to some people’s entire lifetime in the third world, poverty stricken, parts of the world.

I wonder how many people could live for how long on what we spend in a year if we were to calculate an entire year’s budget total. What if we lived more simply or with someone else and actually made some of this living happen?

I spend around $55. just on coffee, sugar, and creamer every month. This does not include any stops to Caribou Coffee or Starbuck’s. That is 55 days of life for someone, every month.

The Bible says nothing about not smoking cigarettes or drinking coffee. However, if you smoked a pack a day for a year for 30 years, it would cost you around $54,750., about an average American living in Northern Virginia’s yearly wage, just above our “poverty level.” That translates to around 150 years of life for people who live at a $1. a day. This is about two to three average lifetimes, maybe more if you are smoking a pack a day or if you live in a third world country.

This is yet another reason why I do not smoke cigarettes. Coffee is my drug of choice.

The Bible does say something to us about loving our neighbor as ourselves: Jesus said, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them (Matthew 22:37-40).”

Jesus also said, “It’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom (Mark 10:24-25).”

One of my favorite verses that I focus on when I worry or want to get all worked up about how I am living and how I can best serve, and follow God, and help those who are in need, is Matthew 6:33, which says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” I am left wondering, “Am I seeking God first? How well do I love God? Do I desire Jesus more than His blessings? Do I love others and myself enough to seek first His kingdom? How can I love my neighbor if I don’t love God or myself; if I love riches over God, or if I don’t love God above His blessings?”

If the poor are blessed and have the kingdom, and we are so “rich,” where might God be leading us?

Seeking His riches, His kingdom, and His blessings amongst the poverty of this world’s riches,



Robbie


Works Cited

Untitled Photo © 2009, by Jillian Lee

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Mk 10:21-23

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Lk 19:8-10

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Mt 22:37-40

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Mk 10:24-25

Sweet, Leonard I. Summoned to Lead. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2004.

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Lk 6:20

The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Mt 6:33

Hang Time

“Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, defines hang time as referring to a number of things: Hang time generally refers to how long something stays in the air: In basketball, the length of time a player stays in the air after jumping, either to make a slam dunk, lay-up or jump shot. In American football, hang time is the length of time a punted ball flies through the air.” In the newly popular summer sport of wake boarding hang time is flying through the air after hitting a sweet wave, or jump.

In Rock climbing hang time is referred to as the time that is spent hanging from a hold on a rock face or wall. It is also referred to as resting on ones equipment, the rope, the anchors, the harness and everything in-between to rest and to regain ones composure to finish the hard work of a difficult and challenging climb. It is also popular in the sport of rock climbing to “log some hang time.” This is something that can be purposefully done by initiating a fall in order to test the equipment and to become more comfortable with risking challenging moves in climbing, demonstrating confidence in your belay partner, and pushing your physical and mental limits. Hang time also naturally occurs in rock climbing when a rest is needed or a mistake is made during the climb and the climber accidentally falls. During hang time the belay person, a person holding the other end of the rope and taking up the climbers slack and anchoring the climber, assumes full responsibility for holding the climber in place safely for a rest or safely lowering the climber down for another shot at the climb.

On Wednesdays from 3:00-5:00pm the youth ministry at Church of the Epiphany does what we call Hang Time. At Hang Time, the youth of our church have the opportunity to “log some hang time.” What we mean by this follows more closely with the climbing definition of hang time. The youth of our church are actively being obedient to God in a moment of Sabbath rest and recreation. They are deliberately showing up to Hang Time to have fellowship with one another, to rest, play games, pray together, and to demonstrate trust in God with their week and their lives. By resting and having intentional confidence in God, our belay person, and in our equipment, the fellowship of believers, the reading of the scriptures and prayer, we are bringing honor to God. We are making our lives a living testimony that simply says, “It is not about me, it is about Jesus.” We are taking the control away from ourselves and putting it in His hands, and because of this, we can rest in His strength, learn from His direction, scope out our life’s proverbial climb in Him and with Him, and execute that climb of life beyond our own physical and mental abilities, because of His rest, and His abilities. Jesus never just leaves us hanging He gives us the rest we need; He walks us through, and climbs beside us showing us the way.

Scripture commands us in many different places to rest and Jesus Himself modeled this rest when He withdrew to solitary places to pray away from the crowds (Luke 5:16). Hebrews chapter four verses nine through twelve speaks about this hang time rest; it says, “The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey, or the climb, we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, and not drop out through some sort of disobedience. God means what he says. What he says goes (Hebrews 4:9-12).” So, come “log some hang time” with us at Hang Time on Wednesday’s from 3:00-5:00pm, or log your own Hang Time weekly, and get the well needed rest and direction you need in the middle of your week and follow the direction of our Lord Himself who is a God of hang time, Sabbath Rest.

In His Rest,


Robbie

Calling

Ezekiel 3:14-15

“The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I went bitterly and angrily. I didn’t want to go. But God had me in his grip. I arrived among the exiles who lived near the Kebar River at Tel Aviv. I came to where they were living and sat there for seven days, appalled. ”

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Eze 3:14-15

I am entering the formal discernment process for the ministry and am about to start meeting with a discernment committee to discern whether or not God is/has been leading me into full time Christian service as a minister of God and His word. Calling is confusing to me and has been. I am still wrestling with what it is and with what this means and I have been in the ministry for around 15 years or so. I feel like I am supposed to be doing what I have been doing for as long as I can remember, and spend the majority of my time and life serving God. “Have you received the call?” some people ask. “I think that I am supposed to be serving God with my life,” I tell them, “. . . but I never got a phone call or anything like that.”

I love to meet people who are unfamiliar with being “called” into full time Christian ministry. They usually have all sorts of expressions of perplexity on their faces when you tell them what you do. They come at you with questions like: You work at the church, is church a business? What do you do Monday through Saturday, you know, the rest of the week? So, what is your real job? I would love to have your job working with nice people all the time, it must be great huh? You get paid for that? Shouldn’t that money go to the poor? Is there a school that teaches what you do, or can anyone do it? The looks of silence and bewilderment are even better. These looks imply, or tug at my insecurities, and say, “Couldn’t cut it in the real world, huh?” or “Those who cannot do, teach.” or “Isn’t that nice.” or “cute.” or “I guess if you can’t take the real life, you have to live in a fantasy world.”

The prophet Ezekiel makes me feel like my calling is genuine, because I can identify with Ezekiel. Ezekiel 3:14 and 15 says that Ezekiel was taken away by the spirit of God and that he went “bitterly and angrily,” because he did not want to go. Ezekiel went because he was in God’s grip. When Ezekiel arrived at the place and people to whom he was called he sat there looking around appalled for seven days. Now, if that is “calling,” I can relate. I am “called.”

The truth is I love my job and “calling” and it is difficult and trying. I can do other things and have, but these things have made me more miserable than not working with God’s people, who, yes, can be appalling, and I am one of them. My work is both rewarding and challenging. However, I have never lived more truthful and grounded than when I am in God’s word and serving Him out of obedience. I am a carpenter by trade, but I would much rather build up relationships, and lives, and to lead people to the God of the universe than to build structures.

My undergraduate studies were in psychology and human services and I found out later that a Bible College Education makes secular schooling look “like a walk in the park.” I love to teach and I love to do and am good at both. I have found that “nice” and “cute” does not always get the job done and begins to stray away from who Jesus really is. Ministry, I have discovered, is done with skill, precision, boldness, love, complex proficiency, and with much grace and power that comes through God’s very own presence working in you, through you, and despite of you in the moment.

Ministry can and does consume every waking moment Monday through Sunday. There is always something more to do, a call to be made, a person to visit, a meeting to go to, a person to counsel, a study to be done, a wedding to be preached, a hospital to visit . . . Can anyone do it? No. Ministry is as real as it gets. You can sleep, but it never does. It is work, and in this world, it takes a paycheck to get by and I do get one for what I do. The poor do need the money though, and so do I, so that I do not become another one of them.

The church, the people, is not a business, but the building and bureaucracy is run like one, a nonprofit one, and with this comes all the joys and struggles of “the real world” and a “real job.” Sometimes it’s nice. Sometimes it’s not. St. Augustine said this about the church, “The Church is a whore, but she's my mother all the same.” Some people say that there are hypocrites in the church and I would agree with them. “There are hypocrites in the church and there is room for many more.” When you deal with people it can be ugly. People can be appalling. I am one of them; I can be appalling. People represent lives and relationships and lives and relationships in this sinful and fallen world are messy, and broken, and this is why we need ministers to point people to the God of the universe. We need people pointing to Jesus so that we can get the salvation we so desperately need from Him.

Ezekiel followed this call to lead others back to God and he encountered God in the process. I cannot think of anything of greater value or significance in all the world in which to give myself to, even if I go bitter and angry at times and am appalled at myself and others in the process. It is God’s Spirit who lifts me and carries me there. It is God Himself who has “called” and who has me firmly in His grip.

Heeding “the call” amidst its appalling nature,



Robbie