a Comment on Scott's Thoughts

The following is my comment on Scott Coats' blog post from yesterday, which was based on the devotional he led before our Administrative Council meeting this week. I thought he made some great points.

Scott, you did an awesome job with the devotion at Ad Council - well told and good content. Your point was perfect for this moment in the life of our church, and the terrific follow-up questions zero us in on the goal of making disciples. You are spot on to emphasize that discipleship is a lifelong process. So many never receive the wise encouragement you heard, and are left with that bereft feeling of “I thought everything was going to be different now that I’ve been baptized!”

Can I broaden our understanding of Jesus’ “go make disciples” just a hair? The broader part is in the “making” of a disciple. I loved the illustration you used at the meeting - if I remember you said, “getting saved is not the finish line of a race. It is more like the starting line of a marathon, a lifelong journey.” You are right, discipleship is a journey – yes, the part about “people in the door and butts in pews” is indeed ancillary, but getting them to the starting line is a crucial first step in the taking of that journey.

I learned one way to approach this passage in a class focusing on the verbs: Go, Make, Baptize, Teach, Remember. Each part is an essential role of the church. That framework has helped keep me centered when things start to get wild around here.

 “Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing^xthem in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember,^xI am with you always, to the end of the age.” ^x~ Matthew^x28:18-20

The main job of the church, according to these last words of Jesus in Matthew, is to “make disciples.”