Thoughts on Discipleship by Al Reid

Reposting this article. Well worth your read.

In all things...balance.

Making disciples of JESUS or of ME? Thoughts on Disciplemaking

“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Jesus

“Christ is not valued at all, unless He is valued above all.” Augustine

“Be followers of me as I follow Christ.” Paul

“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus

Those of us who take seriously the Great Commission recognize how Christ’s charge compels us not to make converts on a superficial level but Christ-followers in all of life.

But we who make disciples must remember our own fallen state. Though pure in motive, without great care we may in the name of disciplemaking focus too much on making those we disciple like us rather than like Jesus. True, Paul said to those he discipled to follow him as he followed Christ, and there is a sense in which one of the best ways to show a disciple how to follow Christ is by demonstrating such a life. But we must be aware of our own biases as we lead others.

As we make disciples we need to be careful to be balanced, to be holistic in our training. All of us have personalities and passions that mark us. God has made us unique, but our goal in disciplemaking is less to note our uniqueness and more to make much of Christ. If we do not take care we will inadvertently push those we follow to pursue our personal passions more than Jesus. I would submit that three areas must be at the heart of our disciplemaking, mentoring, and for that matter, all our teaching and preaching, as well as our witness in the world:

–Orthodoxy, or right belief—we must affirm and guard fundamental teaching of Scripture.

–Orthopathy, or right affections—we must have a deep love for God and for others.

–Orthopraxy, or right actions—we must demonstrate our faith effectively in how we live.

In other words, we should be discipling others (and ourselves) to give glory to God through our head, our heart, and our hands. This is hinted at in Luke 2:52 where we read our Lord grew in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man. We see this in the earliest description of life in the church in Acts 2:42-47:

Orthodoxy: they gave themselves to the apostles doctrine.

Orthopathy: they were praising God and having favor with the people.

Orthopraxy: they sold their possessions and distributed to those in need.

Here is how we must take care not to make followers of us rather than followers of Christ. We all have a tendency to favor one of these more than the others.

You probably know some believers who love to study doctrine or some subset of theology, from apologetics to a specific theological trend (eschatology, etc). Sometimes these folks given to such interests display a less than gracious capacity to relate to others or to put to practice their faith in the real world. And, sometimes they would rather argue their theological convictions than take time to hear yours.

Others have a great heart for people and really love God, but the idea of a doctrinal study gives them chills. They have affection but do not value truth.

Then again, some just want to know how to “do” the Christian life. These are the activists, jumping from one cause to another, sometimes running over people who do not share their affection for said cause, and often not able to articulate why they have such an activist bent biblically. You may be given to one of these than others, but take care: if you focus on one in your disciplemaking to the neglect of the others, you are not making followers of Jesus.

You are making followers of you.

Consider this formula:

Orthodoxy + Orthopraxy – Orthopathy = legalism. The Pharisees were keen on preserving the truth and on doing their religious duties. But they did not love people. They still don’t.

Orthopraxy + Orthopathy – Orthodoxy = liberalism. You have heard the expression a “bleeding heart liberal.” Liberals love to talk about their love for people and their causes, but loathe to talk about doctrine and changeless truth.

Orthodoxy + Orthopathy – Orthopraxy = monasticism. Monasteries seek to preserve a pure faith They love those inside their safe walls. But they do nothing to change the world around them. I know many churches who function this way, gathering together regularly, loving their fellowship, standing on the promises while they sit on the premises of their church facility, but who do so little in their communities that if they vanished from their communities no one would notice.

We must be aware how we as individuals and how our churches focus on one of these to the exclusion of the others. In fact, entire Christian traditions tend to do this:

–Presbyterian and other Reformed traditions, Bible Churches and the like generally focus on orthodoxy, giving great emphasis to the doctrines of grace.

–Pentecostal and Charismatic churches focus on orthopathy, being known much more for their passionate worship and emotional emphases. Study the history of Pentecostalism and you will read very few books on doctrine early in the movement.

–My tradition, the Baptists, focus on orthopraxy. After all, we have a program for pretty much everything in the Christian life. Want to be a witness? Take a FAITH evangelism course. Want to grow spiritually? Do Experiencing God. Name an area of growth and I guarantee you we have a how-to manual for it.

We need balance. Not a milk-toast, generic version of each, but a bold, unashamed passion for truth, for God and people, and a burden to live out our doctrine and our affection in an effective manner. I want to dig deeply into the riches of God’s Word, have a heart for my Savior and the people for whom He died that is apparent to all, and be able to live the faith in this culture in such a way that believers and unbelievers alike see that there is no better way to live. Or to think. Or to love.

Understanding this not only helps our disciplemaking with those who have come to follow Christ, it can help our evangelism as well. Some people we meet need to be shown theologically the truth of the gospel. Wait, everyone needs that! But some also need to see and sense the great love of God for them in addition to the propositions of the gospel. Further, some need to see how our faith actually works in the real world, how following Christ affects our daily lives and decisions. The effective gospel-bearer will learn to explain the gospel in such a way that one sees its truth, senses its heart, and realizes its practicality in a broken world.

Be busy making disciples. Just be busy making disciples of Jesus, with all of our hearts, our minds, and our activity. Such disciples may make people take notice. It did in the early church. And it will today.

Pastoral Burnout

Here is a piece from my friend Ricky Jones. He is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Tulsa. He too, is an A29 planter. I thank him for being honest and forthright about burnout.

Pastoral Burnout
by Ricky Jones on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 1:10pm

I have spent the past few months thinking almost exclusively about burnout. Watching my friends spin out of control, and ministers more gifted than I leave the ministry frightened me. Plus, knowing my own heart and feeling the pressure and exhaustion of the past five years forced me to wonder how much longer I could go on.



What makes burnout such a big deal for pastors? Why don’t I see it in other professions?



Finally, last week it hit me. If a dentist burns out on his job he can turn away from it, or compartmentalize it with no detriment to his soul. But a minister can’t do that. There is only one source of true life and revival. Jesus is the only fountain of living water; there is no other stream.



When Jesus seems more like your boss than your savior, he no longer provides rest. When reading the bible, rehearsing the gospel and praying feel like drudgery, there remains no other place to go for true rest. You can force your wife to restore you, but she will fail and you will resent her. You can divert yourself with crosswords or puzzles, but the work you put off only increases as does your desire to escape it. Bored, exhausted, resentful and unwilling to turn to Christ, the only respites left lead to death: alcohol, porn, or worse.



What is the answer? Well what attitude got into this mess in the first place?



Luke 15:27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’



Somewhere along the way I started being the only one who cared about the church. I started being the responsible one bearing all the weight. Now, for all these years I have served God without disobeying, and I never was given a time to celebrate. No one really noticed. God stopped being my loving father, and started being my boss.



So what is the way out? I don’t know for sure, hopefully I’ll know more this time next year. But right now I know where it starts. It starts with repentance, asking God to forgive me for counting the blood of Christ a small thing. I need him to forgive me for considering the ministry a burden and not a wonderful blessing. I need Him to forgive this self righteous pharisee.



A funny thing happens when I repent like this. God stops feeling like my boss, and starts being my redeemer again. Prayer doesn’t feel like work, but more like my only hope. And Jesus becomes this dead man’s only source of life again.

My description

I found this on Justin Taylor's blog. He quotes from John Newton. It describes me...and you if you are a believer.

One of My Favorite Descriptions of the Christian Life

I am not what I ought to be.
Ah! how imperfect and deficient.

Not what I might be,
considering my privileges and opportunities.

Not what I wish to be.
God, who knows my heart, knows I wish to be like him.

I am not what I hope to be;
ere long to drop this clay tabernacle, to be like him and see him as He is.

Not what I once was,
a child of sin, and slave of the devil.

Thought not all these,

not what I ought to be,
not what I might be,
not what I wish or hope to be, and
not what once was,

I think I can truly say with the apostle,

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

—Cited in Letters of John Newton, p. 400.