Jesus Loves the Church

Just in time for the book's release (today), I finished reading Jesus > Religion. I will admit that I wanted to be on the "street team" to review it because I love to read and wanted a free copy!  However, with each chapter, I realized that Jefferson Bethke had really written something that will awaken the church and go down in history as one of the "greats" in Christian literature. 

Not only that, but his ideas and concepts in this book are right in line with what stirred in me to feel passionate about discipleship and create the Disciple Us space to promote building God's kingdom.  This final chapter was no exception.

He begins by sharing the excitement and anticipation of his own wedding, that took place during the writing of this book.  In the beautiful experience he detailed, he parallels his wedding to that of Jesus and the church. "That is the beauty of marriage. Every time you go to a wedding, you are seeing something deeply reflective of something else. The splendor and beauty are just shadows, a mist of what is to come for those who trust in Jesus. At every single wedding, Jesus is pulling back the curtain on eternity and whispering, 'That’s me and you!'" (Page 182 & 183).

And to further illustrate who Jesus' bride is, he shares, "The Greek word for church is ekklesia, which means a 'people called out.' What I love about that definition is it has nothing to do with a building. Church in America is viewed as a brick building with a cross on top. Church in the New Testament is a group of people with the power of Jesus in them unleashing grace on anyone and everyone they encounter" (Page 183).  

He points out that the bad experiences we may have had with "church" aren't indicative of what "the Church" really is all about.  "I saw that the church wasn't a museum for good people; it was a hospital for the broken. Jesus wasn't trying to create a place to show off his shiny employees; he wanted a place where his children could be healed" (Page 186). 

He detailed a time, after he began his relationship with Jesus, where he reached out to a mentor - a discipler.  This person accepted his weakness, his mistakes, his authentic self - and helped him grow closer to Christ in the process.  THAT is the church.  

While there are many buildings full of people, claiming to be the church, and some of them are following Jesus to the best of their awareness, my most amazing experiences within the body of Christ have been outside of an official brick and mortar building and on a day other than Sunday.  The Church is not limited to a building and a day.  

It has to be church when the only thing that is bringing

diverse people into the same room is their love for Jesus.

Not their jobs. Not their socioeconomic statuses. Not their races. 

But their mutual love for Jesus. 

That’s when you know

it’s the church  

(Page 189).

May we BE the church.  May we know that Jesus loves us, his bride.  May we learn to seek HIM.  

Thank you, Jeff, for this amazing book! I would encourage everyone who wants to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus and in their awareness of what it means to follow Him, to read this book.  (I saw Jeff say that if you couldn't afford it, he was willing to send you a PDF copy for free!)

Thanks for following the journey of reading this book... stay tuned...

What is Discipleship?

In the Bible, the use of the word disciple was in direct reference to those who followed Jesus.  It was beyond a belief in who He was and what He was doing - they went with Him where He went, learned from Him, ate with Him, taught with Him, performed miracles with Him.

Paul and Timothy were a great example of this model as well.  Paul was further along in his spiritual journey and Timothy was just coming into his spiritual abilities.  Paul took the time, effort and care to invest in a relationship with Timothy.  He trained him into becoming a more equipped and capable young man by teaching him what it looked like to be a follower of Christ.  He went on to lead a community of Christ followers, without the direct help of Paul, equipping and training others.

In modern terms, it was much like an apprenticeship program - a person follows after one who is experienced and skilled, observes and learns from them, then puts into practice those skills in their own work. And quite possibly, as they become more skilled, they can, in turn, teach others the craft.

Discipleship should be centered around Jesus and having a relationship with Him. He is the Lord, the Master.
Relationship with others is part of discipleship as well - "go, and make disciples" can't be done alone or without impacting others.  It translates, really, into being a disciple-making disciple.  Not only following Jesus, but pointing others to Him as well.

This process is life-long, as Ephesians 4:13 points out: "...until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

What has Jesus done in your life? How has following Him blessed you? As you have grown in Christ, what about your life has been different or improved?  How have you been refined? How have you gained more ability in manifesting the fruit of the Spirit? These are things that can be shared with others who might go through the same things you have already experienced. And beyond your words of testimony, your life can be an example to others of what it looks like to follow Jesus.

So, while we are on the road to maturity in Christ, we can help others through our experience, wisdom, hope and example. We can point them to Jesus.  That is discipleship. So be it!

Ekklesia - Following Jesus as Lord

In my discipleship group through INSTE, we are studying "the Church" this week.

Ekklesia - the assembly of those who have been called and follow that calling.  THIS is the Church. Not a building. Not just people who show up on Sundays. The gathering of people who have been called AND who follow that calling.

Who called us? Jesus did.  It's His bride, the Body of Christ, that we are talking about.  So, if He called us, that would mean it is Him we are following, right?

I think sometimes people stop at confessing belief in Jesus.  They accept that He is their Savior, but do they accept that He is also their Lord?

A lord is defined as: one having power and authority over others (Mirriam-Webster Dictionary). A great example of an earthly version of a lord that helped drive home the concept of lordship was Lord Grantham on Downton Abby. In watching the first episode, I saw the servants of this grand English house, most of them completely devoted to serving their “Lord” of the manor.  Everything they did from the moment they woke up to the moment they went to bed was in service of this Lord and his family.  (You can read more about this comparison here.)

I'm convinced that if every Christian who has confessed belief in Jesus Christ also lived each day as though He was their boss or Lord, "discipleship programs" wouldn't need to exist. We would be ever aware of expressing the fruit of the Spirit and pointing the people in our lives to our Master through their observance of what we say we believe by how we behave. They would want that fruit as well (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - Galatians 5:22-23).

But until that is true for every believer - until they become disciples as well - our job and goal is to help people recognize that as the Ekklesia, the Church, our eyes should be fixed on Jesus, our Lord, and our actions should represent Him.  As we build each other up, through discipleship, this can happen!