His Story/our Story: Discipleship: An Open Letter

Discipleship: An Open Letter

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Think of any man that has ever walked in the miraculous either from the old time or this new period we are in. When you consider both in the old and in the New Testament there is one thing that God many times though not always (meaning: special occasion), attach to the "miraculous". Though this particular thing has eluded us in this period we are in yet we are laboring hard to lay our hands on the miraculous.

Our case is like a case of a little young girl who needed to be trained into motherhood but there was no "mother" on ground to dish out to her what it means to be a mother.

We want the joy of the motherhood, the fruit of it, but we don't want the training. Some of us may actually want the training but no trainer or what we have are unqualified trainers.

So, the problem isn't only with us (the trainees) but the trainers. Well, you may as well agree with me that they also aren't the problem but their trainers. The circle keeps repeating itself.

Considering my Previous letter, I shall now delve into the details of this particular problem of our day.

"..Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

“…These signs shall follow them that believes....”

Now, we should agree to this fact that many of us has never been a disciple. Okay, you have but, maybe wrongly. There is a world of difference between attending a meeting, building called church and being a disciple.

You know, a person can be eloquent in teachings but may not have ability to disciple others. The problem?
Simply put, he has never been a disciple. Though he may have attended "trainings, seminars, bible colleges, leadership conferences and so on".

Well, those are good but you can't compare electricity with candle’s lights. There is a whole world of differences.

In this 21st century, there is a whole lot of teachers, evangelists, prophets and the so called or self-proclaimed Apostles. Yet, little or no disciple.

Beware, mentoring and discipleship are two different things. There are many clichés we've brought into this.

Such as "Spiritual Fathering, Spiritual mothering, Mentor, Model, Covering and so on" I wonder if there won't be any physical fathering and mothering... My thought though.

Okay, I'm not saying those aren't “right” but they can't replace our needs to be discipled.

The problem isn't with those titles, we are the problem. In order not to agree with that, we've created those banalities.

What's even Discipleship? To define that, we are not going to use dictionary meaning because, the meaning sounds so religious!

Christ employed that word when he called the twelve men to follow him. He called them in the midst of all kind religions the Jews has built around God. It is also important to note that after walking with them for the space of Three and half years (3^1/2), Christ didn't tell them that “Hey disciples, I’m your Spiritual Father” rather he called them brethren.

They were together, they ate together, they had the same covering (shelter), they sang together, prayed together, healed the sick together and they did all things together.
What does that suggest to you and me?
That means they were more than "just" family because, I don't think any family does that in our days.

Show me where that is practice and I will point out a true disciple. But truth be told, the one we have as family is totally distorted.

The meaning of discipleship is simply "an unbroken relationship with Christ which involves serving one another physically and spiritually".

If you see a brother that invites you to stay with him for a lengthy period of time in his house, maybe 2 or 3yrs. Agree with him on one condition, make sure he is a disciple if not, you may be worse than when you came.

Teaching isn't the first thing in discipleship... Relationship first. And you don't start relationship without a goal or vision. This is one reason people will keep jumping from one boredom to another burdensome religion in other to find something they have no goal or vision for.

Maybe, we do have goals and visions but, I dare say that many of them are totally out of context of the Kingdom. This is why we see many breaking away from one religion to another because, our visions and goals revolve around our gifts, plans and Churchianity.

There are basic questions we must first ask ourselves in order to see the need or reason for discipleship. Such questions should begin with our salvation.

Why are we saved?
Why did God call us?
Is it to make heaven and escape hell?
Or are we saved to start ministries?
Or is salvation a ticket to fulfil our goals, make money and thereby feel fulfilled?
Or is it to begin a confession of good things like “I shall be the head not the tail?”

Why then are we saved?

I believe that God saved us to become a Family, a community of God’s Children that know nothing but their Father. And in this family, we’ll have brothers and sisters, mothers but no father because God is our Father.

When we don’t know the reason or hope of His calling (not our calling), we’ll be driven to and fro like a tree at the mercy of diverse winds. There won’t be any goal to reach except for the self-acclaimed goals that we often label “God’s Vision” whereas they are just our “wish-ion”

“Follow me” Jesus said “and I will make you fishers of men.”
The former is the calling, while the latter is the purpose for that calling.
Imagine, if they follow Christ or Christ said to them “Follow me” without the second statement, no hope of becoming “fishers of men”, they would have returned to their fishing ministry. After all, fishing was the first ministry they received.

Would they have been fulfilled in their fishing ministry? Sure! Because, they had goals in their fishing ministry than this strange Jesus that asked them to follow him without a vision.
But our Lord knew better. He is the Alpha and the Omega, so he gave them a vision.

Just as they were taught into fishermen, they must also be taught into fishers of men but that won't happen until they follow Him.

Many of us became believers without a goal. The goal wasn’t properly spelled out for us. I know those formulas that are involved in giving your life to Christ but none of them out-rightly shows what we are called into.

They (the preachers) lied to us that giving our lives to the Lord will make things easier for us, it will make us fulfilled our missions and be great in life yet they forget (chose not) to tell us that we are called into something different from ourselves, different from the way the world operates, something totally radical and massive. We don't get to realized this until we begin to clock an old age and see death coming close to us at the speed of light.

“And he ordained (chose) twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach”

There is a blue-print or pattern in the thing of God. Jesus didn’t just call the twelve, he chose them for the primary purpose of being with Him. The same reason God created Adam and Eve, was the same reason Christ chose the twelve.

God desires fellowship. He loves and wants companionship. He desires a relationship with man. His primary objective was not to send them forth, though that was the secondary purpose, rather he was more concern with them having a long lasting communion together.

“That he might send them forth to preach” can only find expression in being with him. Many of us preach today without being with Christ. We've forgotten revelation doesn't come with preaching rather by being with the One who gives revelation.

We might have been with our bible day in and day out, that does not constitute our communion with Him. In fact, Christ said “the scripture only point to Him” whereas many of us are dying daily in the name of being with something that point to a Person. Little wonder we know our bible but not the Person.

Just imagine for once, you are on your way to your friend’s place and at the corner of his/her estate, there is a signpost telling you “this is the way to your friend’s place” and you stand there with the signpost. Others that are also coming you invite them to celebrate your time with the signpost but you never reach your friend’s house.

You can be eloquent, able to verbalize what the signpost says to everyone on daily basis. In fact, you can teach it very well than those who made their journey to your friend’s place but as far your friend is concern, he never had a communion with you neither does he knows you.

That’s how God see many of us. We know our bible, we can verbalize things written therein and we can even teach that those hearing us can exclaim “Wow! What a revelation”. Yet, what we call revelations are just our ideology and philosophies about God, His Ekklesia and Kingdom. We’ve been with our bible and the religion about Jesus. We've never been with Jesus.

Let me also say this, when Jesus was leaving the earth he didn't promise us a book. Rather, He gave us to a Person-Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth. While on earth he didn’t establish any organization, Religion, doctrines, creed and dogmas though he met a lot of them on earth rather, he overturned them.

The faith he gave us is supposed to be a Life not a religion but this day we’ve established doctrines, dogmas, creed, ceremonies and all kind of sects or denominations as if what Christ came and died for were those things.

This show to us that we’ve missed the target, we’ve lost the communion that God called us into. We've turned everything into a system of rules, laws and meetings. May the Lord deliver us from such error.

Discipleship can only start on the basis of relationship not doctrines, teaching and creed. The “Disciplers”(the eldest brothers and sisters) and the "disciples"(the younger brothers and sisters) must be those who are having a genuine relationship with the Head (Christ) not with some sets of rules, doctrines, creed and teachings. And it’s in this atmosphere that God can do great wonders and express Himself.