President’s Challenge
Make Disciples, Not Decisions by Blaine Donaldson, President
Tese days many leaders in our Fellowship are asking questions about the quality of our disciple-making. I personally have been asking similar questions. A number of years ago I was challenged with the title of this article — the thought that Jesus commanded us to make disciples, not just to get people to make a decision for Christ. Ironically, the phrase “make a decision for Christ” is not found in the Bible. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples.” Te word disciple is very
familiar in evangelical common parlance. It simply means to follow Jesus. Most of us are comfortable saying, “I am a disciple of Jesus” or “I am a follower of Jesus.” However, we find it awkward to define what a disciple is. What does a disciple look like? What things must be true of all who are actually disciples of Jesus? A problem with these kinds of questions is that when we look
to the Bible and create a list of characteristics, we start to wonder whether we ourselves are even disciples, let alone the new con- verts. People who are asking these questions on a leadership level are asking questions such as: • Has everyone in this church been discipled? • Do our programs produce disciples? • How do we define someone as being discipled? • Does discipling take place more effectively through church, small groups, or one-on-one mentoring?
• Do we need a church-wide discipleship program which should engage each member?
• Can we evaluate our level of success with respect to disciple- making? Is there a way to objectively measure this? I recently read Te Complete Book of Discipleship by Bill
Hull. He suggested that six transformations need to take place in the life of a disciple. Tese include:
2 Fellowship Focus, July/August 2016 July 13–16
Aug. 13–26 Aug. 28
Sept.16–26 Oct.
• Transformed mind: Believe what Jesus believes • Transformed character: Live like Jesus lives • Transformed relationships: Love as Jesus loves • Transformed habits: Train as Jesus trains • Transformed service: Serve as Jesus serves • Transformed influence: Lead as Jesus leads It may be debatable as to whether this list is exhaustive or even
the best way to classify discipleship. I would like to add items like Transformed worship: Worship as Jesus worships. However, I do appreciate the use of the term transformed. Becoming a disciple is a work that the Holy Spirit does from the inside out. Te work of the Holy Spirit in our lives will look like this when he is being successful. While we have many questions about disci- ple-making, let us be reminded that this is a core ministry of the Holy Spirit. As we seek the Spirit, his guidance, and his power, this is what we can accomplish in our churches. Tis article is not meant to give definitive answers, but to
make FEBC people aware that many in our Fellowship are asking these kinds of questions. It is my hope that we will be able to start an online forum where we can share some of our thoughts with each other and allow iron to sharpen iron.
President Travels FEBC Convention in Omaha, Nebraska Vacation Ordination Service at Abbotsford, B.C. Saskatchewan Ministry Trip Manitoba Ministry Trip
FellowshipForward.org
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