Discipleship

          There was a missionary from Kenya by the name of Uzele Mesa who was a missionary with Christian National Evangelism Commission. Uzele was in the pulpit explaining one of the difficulties he was encountering in the country of Kenya. Uzele was an evangelist and people would come from miles around the meeting place to spend several days listening to the preaching of the Bible. Many were being saved but there was a problem. There was not enough money, nor people, to purchase and use “follow up” material for the new converts. After their conversion, they were being left to fend for themselves, so to speak, in their new found faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” 

          We often hear of the word, “discipleship” in the church and it involves the training up of new converts in their new found faith. There is no magic pill that one can take that will instantly produce a mature believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some groups that have come up with what is called a “catechism” that can be used to educate new believers. It is a system of about 150 questions, more or less, that are centered on training the new believer. Some still use catechisms while others have just changed the name to “religious education.” Certainly many books have been written by various groups that are concerned with the matter of discipleship. Many groups for young people have been centered on discipleship such as the Navigators, Campus Crusade for Christ, Inter Varsity Fellowship and others. Many people do not have access to these resources and are still floundering in their new found faith. What they do have, however, is access to other believers such as you and myself and the huge group of Christians that attend numerous churches in the world. Notice the passage for today that declares that the ministry of the pastors and teachers was for the “perfecting” of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. That puts the responsibility on the shoulders of believers like you and me. After all, we are a part of the “Body of Christ.” There is not enough time for people to “look for the pastor” or some great teacher, to help explain what the new believer is to do. The task is up to us. The Pastor/Teacher needs to disciple the people in order for them to disciple others and still others as life goes on. Paul told Timothy, in Second Timothy 2:2 “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” That means, Paul, Timothy, faithful men and others. That's four generations of the discipleship. That is our instruction. It is not an example of the Blind leading the Blind, but each believer declaring what God has done for them in their lives. Every believer is at a different level of spiritual life and each one can disciple someone else. Has God blessed you in the past couple of days? Have you been blessed by a sermon or a message or has God done something wonderful in your life? Don't keep it to yourself, begin sharing it with others. You may not have the Topical Memory System down or know all of the training of the 2:7 courses but you do know what God is doing in your life. Share with other. Praise God that He is in the business of perfecting the saints.