Reconstructing Church & Discipleship: Doing? Knowing? Being?

[Reimagine Curator]

What Does It Mean to Imitate Jesus? Our last post was not a to-do list.  Yes, we challenged America’s churches and Christians to take Jesus’ words more seriously.  Unfortunately, too few of us act as if we believe He actually meant what He said.  The early Church’s “fathers” sought to imitate Jesus, have the mind of Christ, and walk in His footsteps.  An honest interpretation of the verses we listed in the article would compel a radical shift in our actions and behaviors.  However, none of those outward changes are possible without inward transformation.  In other words, no amount of Knowing or Doing will suffice unless rooted in Being – in communion with the Father.  We can’t be disciples of Jesus without adopting the posture and power that fueled Him and His ministry. Doing… A church focusing disproportionately on Doing risks members relying on their own effort and willpower.  Jumping from Knowing to Doing without Being results in rules without (or at the expense of) relationship.  Self-righteousness, legalism, and (perceived) judgementalism alienate “outsiders”.  A Doing mentality increases performance pressure, incentives to conceal flaws, and attempts to rebuild the “veil” (of perfection) that Jesus’ death tore.  Instead, God’s grace should foster transparency about weaknesses so others can see Christ through us.  For pastors, a moral failing in a Doing church jeopardizes the entire institution, particularly with today’s church growth paradigm where “success” is highly dependent on a single individual. Knowing… A church focused on Knowing, with or without Doing, can develop a theological superiority complex, frowning on the less “enlightened”, fracturing an already fragmented body of Christ.  Pride, even about understanding of Scripture, doesn’t translate into a humble reliance on the Father.  In those cases, wisdom in the head never reaches the heart.  On the other hand, a wide knowledge gap between pastors and congregants can inhibit Being as well.  Relying on a weekly sermon and occasional small groups as a church’s primary discipleship methods fosters and preserves knowledge gaps.  Jesus confronted religious leaders who concealed the “keys to knowledge“.  Dependence creates consumers to attract and retain.  Empowerment creates Kingdom employees to equip and deploy. When the seminary graduate is the only one in the room trusted to provide the correct answers, members are relegated to inviting friends to hear the Gospel from the “professional”, who usurps their rightful responsibilities.  Centralizing evangelism and discipleship severely limits personal growth and church leverage – exchanging multiplication for addition.  God speaks to each of us, so we deserve to be heard.  Our voice may be the only one that can reach coworkers, neighbors, and friends unwilling to accept an invitation to a church service.  The APEST (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) are called, but all are commissioned (to make disciples).  God expects much more of us than most pastors do.  A wide knowledge gap relegates a member’s role to obedience, “church chores” that build institutions but (maybe) not the Kingdom. Being… Knowing about Jesus should lead to knowing Jesus.  Christ-followers only fully grasp and fulfill their biblical mission when Knowing transitions into Being.  Disciples become Jesus’ hands and feet when they study His life extensively (Knowing), fall in love with Him (Being), and honor Him by their actions (Doing).  Head knowledge without genuine faith, as well as faith without works, is dead.  In Matthew 7 Jesus says “depart from me” to those who tout their intellectual understanding and religious works yet live a double life because they never surrendered to the Lord.  1 Corinthians 13 describes as “clanging cymbals” those who Know and Do but aren’t rooted and grounded in love.  Truly grasping God’s love for us should change how we live and how we love.  If so, then obedience is an automatic response requiring no conscious effort.  We rejoice in the Lord’s commands.  Our motives are purified by the blood of Jesus as we abide in Him.  We don’t have to go through the motions or check boxes, hoping our moral house of cards doesn’t collapse under its own weight.  There is tremendous freedom in fully relying on God’s goodness and not our own, which will always fail. Embodying “church” between Sundays requires Prayer, Care, and Share.  We want opportunities to demonstrate God’s love to open doors for evangelistic conversations.  To imitate Jesus, we must Do as He did – acts of kindness as a servant.  We have to Know enough about Scripture to answer hard questions non-believers ask.  More importantly, we must Know and Do with the same heart and purposes that drove Jesus.  That state of Being demands a level of depth and devotion to the Father that few churches request of congregants in America’s consumer culture.  It’s far easier and less risky to teach from the pulpit (Knowing) and ask them to engage in church activities (Doing).  Can you imagine – or have you ever heard – a church presenting this honest picture of what Being entails according to Jesus?… rearrange our lives around the spiritual disciplines Jesus modeled wait until we receive (and then rely on) the power of the Holy Spirit don’t take any significant action until we ask and hear from the Father learn the lost art of intentional solitude to be alone with God (pray and listen) practice the presence of God where we’re attuned to Him at every moment embrace silence amidst all the noise, unaffected by our frantic surroundings speak only what we hear from the Father, wasting no time on frivolous words meditate on Scripture for extended periods to grasp or internalize its meaning worship and praise the Lord regularly as a personal practice, not just at church desire to pray unceasingly (or all night occasionally as led by the Lord) ruthless self-examination, understanding our weaknesses and temptations always looking to Jesus for strength, well aware of our inabilities without Him absolute surrender compelling submission to and alignment with God’s will genuinely, unconditionally loving Jesus and others more than ourselves depend and trust in Christ alone because the world can never save or satisfy more confidence as we release our grip, relinquishing control over outcomes abiding in Jesus, complete in Him, connected like a branch to the Vine The foundation for our personal study and public behaviors should be a special, love relationship in close proximity to the Father.  Becoming like Jesus is an ongoing, divinely driven process by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Otherwise, trying to act like Jesus is a self-improvement plan implemented by human effort.  Trying, no matter how hard, can’t produce spiritual transformation.  Obedience flows naturally from Being as self-interest abates and the Holy Spirit fills the vacant space. How Churches Can Promote Being… Church leaders often err on the side of either Knowing, Being OR Doing.  Even emphasizing two of those can come at the expense of the third.  Leaders that subscribe to contemporary church growth models tend to stress Knowing and Doing – particularly internal aspects of those (e.g. the pastor’s knowledge and members’ engagement).  Those churches tend to centralize around a building and weekly event, and therefore are unlikely to… portray Being accurately, concerned the items listed above are too challenging encourage members to share what they know instead of extending invitations serve the community year-round rather than seasonal “outreach” debunk the myth pastors have a more direct, deeper connection to the Lord realize members aren’t experiencing authentic transformation Jesus modeled commission church members as Kingdom “employees” between Sundays talk much about abiding, dying to self, sanctification, and repentance Churches should treat congregants as the biblical definition of the Ekklesia – its embodiment and not its customer (to attract and retain).  Only then will they be willing to provide an authentic picture of what it truly means to imitate Jesus – Being so in love and in tune with the Father that Knowing and Doing are foregone conclusions. It’s Your Turn… Have you seen a church present Being as depicted in this blog post?  Does your church put Being before Knowing and Doing, ensuring biblical knowledge doesn’t sit idle or spring into action without depth in Christ? The post What Does It Mean to Imitate Jesus? appeared first on Meet The Need Blog. Read in browser »

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