Revolutionary Leader Podcast :: Discipleship, Part 1

jchatraw — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:14:47 +0000

Tri Robinson, author and pastor of the Vineyard Boise Church, shares some of his working insights on creating a culture of discipleship in a church with Revolutionary Leader podcast host Jason Chatraw.

The Heart of a Pastor

trirobinson — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:06:58 +0000

The heart of every pastor should be to raise up disciples who are experiencing genuine transformation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Motivation for church growth is vanity if not for the sole purpose of building a dynamic church body that authentically reflects the attributes of Christ. The desire for growth is one for depth and breadth – to see people come into a deeper relationship with Christ and a deeper revelation of His love.

Our church has taken to heart the commission of Jesus in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples. We are sincerely impassioned by receiving the authority that Jesus gave us through the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill this mission. Our aim is to see the people God has entrusted to us mature and grow in His virtues and the fruits of His Spirit. Our pastoral purpose is to invest in the lives that gather around us. Through the course of time and investment we begin to see lives reflect biblical truth in their marriages, parenting skills, interpersonal relationships, financial integrity, and all other practical aspects of living. This is for those desiring true discipleship – that they would grasp the power of the cross in their lives for the sake of salvation, healing and freedom. It is also for others – that our people would impact their communities, places of employment, and the world around them.

Examples of Discipling

A disciple is defined as a “learner” so the church must become an agency of spiritual education. Here are a few examples of this in the New Testament:

In Matthew 28, Jesus gave us the mandate to go and “teach them” to obey all that He commanded.
Jesus himself was referred to by his followers as “teacher”.
One of the qualifications for being an elder of the church as recorded in 1 Timothy 3 is that an elder must be able to teach.
Paul instructed both Timothy and Titus on how and what to teach, continually exhorting them on the importance of this facet of their ministry. Paul wrote to Titus, “But as for you, promote the kind of living that reflects right teaching” (Titus 2:1). He commanded Timothy to teach the truths that he had been taught and encourage the people to obey them.
Jesus also went to great lengths to rebuke false or wrong teaching.

As a result of this, we can see that education is one of the main thrusts regarding discipleship in the New Testament. Over the next several posts, we’ll be exploring what discipleship looks like and how we can do it in a way that brings about this transformation we desire to see God do in others and in our world.