Yesterday I met with two groups of men. In the morning I met with two men as we wrapped up our study on 1 Peter. Last evening I met with eight men for the eighth session of the current Dads Teach the Bible workshop. The same topic came up in both conversations.
The men in the morning have been engaged in full time disciple making ministries for forty years. They posed the question in light of the changes that are facing our culture, what do we do to effectively help people become Christ’s disciples? In the evening group the question was reversed, how do we today with all of the distractions of life really engage in following Christ.
I think the answer is found in the verse one of the men in the morning group shared, John 8:31 – 32. Jesus clearly states that to follow Him, to be His disciple one has to abide – by the way this is the same word that permeates John 15, the 95 edition of the NASB translates it, “continue in”; the NIV84, “hold to” (John 8:31 – 32 NIV); the ESV (John 8:31 – 32 ESV)and NEW KJV (John 8:31 – 32 NKJV), “abide in.” The ESV and NEW KJV are the best and most consistent with John’s usage of that word. Anyway – Christ says that to be His disciple one has to abide in His Word. Pretty simple. Right?
Problem is the Church is not really very good at equipping its members to do that. Typically a handful of pastors and teachers are the ones who are “abiding” and then they are tasked with sharing what they gleaned whilst they abided with the rest of the Body. That is not what Jesus said we are supposed to be about. We are all supposed to abide.
One of the guys last night remarked that that is a tough assignment. OK. If by tough it means that one has to choose not watch a favorite program in order to spend time in the Word, or one has to get up a bit earlier or go to bed a bit later, then yep, that is tough.
Christ said that is what we are supposed to do. Not my idea. His.
By the way, as dads we are to both model this for our kids and equip them to abide. It is our responsibility not the churches. We will give an account. Frankly I do not want to fail at this one.
I think the answer is found in the verse one of the men in the morning group shared, John 8:31 – 32. Jesus clearly states that to follow Him, to be His disciple one has to abide – by the way this is the same word that permeates John 15, the 95 edition of the NASB translates it, “continue in”; the NIV84, “hold to” (John 8:31 – 32 NIV); the ESV (John 8:31 – 32 ESV)and NEW KJV (John 8:31 – 32 NKJV), “abide in.” The ESV and NEW KJV are the best and most consistent with John’s usage of that word. Anyway – Christ says that to be His disciple one has to abide in His Word. Pretty simple. Right?
Problem is the Church is not really very good at equipping its members to do that. Typically a handful of pastors and teachers are the ones who are “abiding” and then they are tasked with sharing what they gleaned whilst they abided with the rest of the Body. That is not what Jesus said we are supposed to be about. We are all supposed to abide.
One of the guys last night remarked that that is a tough assignment. OK. If by tough it means that one has to choose not watch a favorite program in order to spend time in the Word, or one has to get up a bit earlier or go to bed a bit later, then yep, that is tough.
Christ said that is what we are supposed to do. Not my idea. His.
By the way, as dads we are to both model this for our kids and equip them to abide. It is our responsibility not the churches. We will give an account. Frankly I do not want to fail at this one.
Mike my brother Abiding in the Lord is not idiling with the Lord. Each believer must be proactive! God Bless You and keep it coming.
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