Many have taught about how the disciples left their careers behind to follow Jesus into full-time ministry that day, but they forget the other instances of the disciples fishing for fish later in the gospels. It wasn’t a career change or the sacrifice of a job to which Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John that day. He called them to fish for people, and to make people a superior priority to fish.
One of the mistakes we make in modern ministry leadership is to see people who walk through the doors of our churches on Sunday mornings as potential helpers, come to assist us in the fulfillment of our mission. If we’re not careful, we begin to assess the usefulness of people based on their appearance, their talent, or their apparent zeal and commitment to spending time doing churchy things.
What if instead of seeing people as a means to accomplishing our mission, we viewed people as the mission. The difference is subtle but important between “thanks for coming to help us grow” and “thanks for coming so that we may help you grow.” Does this mean we don’t expect believers to get involved, invest their lives, and serve others? Of course not. There is no real spiritual growth without serving others. It’s simply a matter of being sure we aren’t inadvertently using people for our purposes rather than helping people discover the purposes for which God wants to use them. Read more
You are exactly right. Jesus never intended for believers to come and sit but to go and serve, more importantly, go and share the gospel.
ReplyDeleteMike Breen said, "If you seek to build the church, you rarely produce disciples, but if you seek to make disciples, you always get the church."
I started a Discipleship Webshow devoted to answering the question: How do I make Disciples?
You may find it helpful.
Sorry. Here is the link: www.replicateministries.org. The show is called Replicate TV.
ReplyDeleteKeep making disciples who Make Disciples!