In Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus commanded his disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that he has commanded them.
We have reduced this to teaching new believers all about the commandments. But becoming a disciple is not about a body of knowledge, but about a lifestyle of obedience, of following Jesus 24/7.
The core skill we teach the new believer, therefore, is how to hear Jesus voice, how to recognize when he is speaking and then the importance of obeying what he is saying to them. The life of intimacy with God is of critical importance.
discipleship has been at the forefront of my mind lately in considering our house church in Chicagoland. So when I saw this title, it really was confirmation of what the Lord Jesus had been speaking. Jesus didn't say go into all the world and "start churches". Church is a byproduct of discipleship.
Posted by: Rusty Wimberly | 08/28/2010 at 04:36 AM
"The core skill we teach the new believer, therefore, is how to hear Jesus voice"...
Growing up, this statement was always just a Christian cliche because there was never pratical teaching on it. Granted it is different for me know since there has been recent teaching on this amongst house churches (at least in Denver), but I hope that you are able to expand on this for others who may need it.
Bless you and may the Lord continue to speak to you for this blog and may you continue to listen :-)
Posted by: nick | 08/29/2010 at 08:37 AM
Rusty, I totally agree with you. Church is the result of making disciples, not the other way round.
Nick, thanks for the encouragement. I wrote a series of blog posts earlier this year (starting on Feb 17th) on listening to God. Here's the link http://bit.ly/dxyXQc
Posted by: Felicity Dale | 08/31/2010 at 06:34 AM