Going, then, disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit. Teaching them to be keeping all, whatever I direct you. And lo! I am with you all the days till the conclusion of the eon! Amen!
Matthew 28: 19-20, Concordant New Testament
It was a pretty proud day for me, I was finally being accepted into the group. One morning during late services I took the step and was submerged into the holy water and became...a baptized Christian. The pastor who conducted the baptism is none other than my dear friend to this day. But enough about him, this day was about me and the leap I had taken into becoming a member of the group. Now I was someone. No longer was I expected to show up once in awhile as if testing the waters. No, now I was expected to be in my pew each and every Sunday interacting with the rest of the congregation. No longer was I expected to simply show up for services. No, now I was expected to find my niche in the church and use that as my service to the Lord...and the congregation. The more I thought about it, this whole baptism thing carried with it a whole lot of responsibilities on my part. These were things I had never been made aware of in my baptism classes. It seems that I had entered a new life altogether. The church was my family now. Of course, over time my enthusiasm for my new home faded until I eventually cut my ties with the brick and mortar church I had been a part of for years. I want to point out that I did not break ties with those in the congregation, and more than a few remain friends to this day. However, as far as the God factory was concerned, I was outa there. I came up with the God factory moniker some time ago as I thought of my years in the mainstream church. After all, what is the purpose of the modern mainstream church but to mass produce believers who will go into the world and speak the gospel. Well, what the church calls the gospel. My first hint of the God factory came when I began seeing the push for discipleship classes in church. A good friend of mine was very involved in the discipleship ministry, and he has maintained solid connections with many of those he spoke to during his time in the church. I tried a few times, but I wasn't too successful in speaking the paradigm of the church. It all seemed to false, too contrived to me. If I had been a better salesman, perhaps I could have pulled it off.
"You are the light of the world. A city located upon a mountain can not be hid. Neither are they burning a lamp and placing it under a peak measure, but on a lampstand, and it is shining to all those in the house.
Matthew 5: 14-15, Concordant New Testament
In the essence of being truthful, Jesus does tell us to go into the world and disciple the nations {Matthew 28:19}. But what does this mean for the common, ordinary church taught Christian? Are we to approach the world as we were in the God factory, that knowing the Lord comes with its own set of rules and expectations? Is this the gospel Jesus and His disciples spoke to? First off, let's define what a disciple is. The cheap Google dictionary defines a disciple as a follower of student of a teacher, leader of philosopher. Is it any wonder, then, that the followers of Jesus were referred to as disciples? That's what they were! They were followers of their teacher Jesus. So, what is Jesus speaking to when He instructs His followers to "Disciple the nations?" Well, I believe that He meant for the nations of the world to become as they were, followers of the Son of God. But there's more. Contrary to the textbook messages the God factory produces on how and when to disciple others, Jesus comes out and proclaims all we need to know. "Teaching them to be keeping all, whatever I direct you" {Matthew 28:20}. We are to speak what Christ spoke to His followers. THIS is the gospel. There is a reason by which Jesus chose and communed with His disciples. That they, being followers and direct observers of the Son of God, would proclaim to all the world what they had witnessed. This is the gospel of Christ Jesus which we have today. We don't need the how to manuals of the God factory in order to speak to the life of Jesus. We don't need a rehearsed speech to tell someone what the indwelling Christ has done in our life {Galatians 2:20}.
~Scott~
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