Keeping Our Focus on What Matters Most
Keeping our focus on discipling people to be followers of Christ and fishers of men requires determination and sacrifice. That is why it is so easy for us to drift into conventional and comfortable Christianity in which we end up simply attending church meetings, if that. The Russian government recently passed a bill forbidding Christians to share their faith outside of a church meeting. It still awaits Putin’s signature before becoming law; nevertheless, it is ominous in its intent. Quoting from the Free Republic
:
Christians in Russia won’t be allowed to email their friends an invitation to church or to evangelize in their own homes if Russia’s newest set of surveillance and anti-terrorism laws are enacted. The proposed laws, considered the country’s most restrictive measures in post-Soviet history, place broad limitations on missionary work, including preaching, teaching, and engaging in any activity designed to recruit people into a religious group. To share their faith, citizens must secure a government permit through a registered religious organization, and they cannot evangelize anywhere besides churches and other religious sites. The restrictions even apply to activity in private residences and online.
My question is whether or not such a law would make much of a difference to the average American Christian? It seems like many would simply decide that it places no real restrictions on their current activities. However, the law certainly would be a challenge to any true disciple maker.
If we follow in Jesus’ footsteps, most of our ministry time will be outside of the church building. In fact, the early church did not even have church buildings. Their ministry took place primarily in the market place and in homes, which would be in direct conflict with the proposed Russian law. Jesus never intended for ministry to be focused in or limited to a church building. Here is a quote from Luke 10, when Jesus gave instructions to his disciples as he sent them out in pairs.
These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. Luke 10:2 (NLT)
Those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior are not generally open coming to a church meeting. To effectively engage them, we must go to where they are, which Jesus called the “fields.” Rather than heed Jesus’ command to get involved in people’s lives outside the walls, we prefer to meet weekly in our Christian meetings for a number of reasons:
- I t is easier. Attending a meeting where the general length of time is restricted and where others do most of the work is attractive to the average consumer Christian.
- It is less risky. Face it: most of us do not enjoy hanging out with people not like us. We would much rather be with other believers than engage people who may disagree with us or even oppose our message.
- It is less costly. Most churches ask very little from their members: come to meetings, tithe, and serve in some capacity in the church programs. True discipleship requires us to sign a blank check without knowing in advance when, where, and for how much Jesus will cash in on our commitment. Serving in a food pantry, for example, is much more attractive and less costly than befriending a poor family and getting involved in their lives. One never knows what will be required in the latter. True disciples get involved in other people’s lives, because that is where true transformation takes place.
Life is filled with so much busyness and contains so many distractions that we can easily go a week between church meeting without effectively getting outside of our routines to engage people who need Jesus. It takes strength and determination, qualities found in the Holy Spirit in great abundance, to lead an “other-centered” life built around making disciples. It is not something that will accidentally happen. It must be pursued.
I don’t know about you, but I plan to be intentional this week in my service to King Jesus. I want to engage people and be involved in their lives. Who knows, maybe Jesus will do something wonderful! Why don’t you join me? After all, we only get one shot at this thing called life. Soon it will be over, and the Lord will ask us how well we used our time here on earth in pursuit of his kingdom and righteousness. What will we tell him: “I went to church?”
To read more of Pastor Pete's meditations, visit his Blog - www.discipleship-journey.org.
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