Disciple or Pharisee

For the past few months I have been working with a group that is focused on increasing the level of discipleship in their community.  It is a great objective.  A noble goal.

In the past few weeks I have been reflecting on the effort.  John 5:39 – 47 has continually come to mind as I have pondered this.  There Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, the leaders of the Jews, these folks had the first five books of the Bible memorized.  They studied the scripture.  Paul was one of their number.  He outlines his experience and commitment in Philippians 3:4 – 16.

The knowledge of the Scripture, while crucial – after all Jesus tells us in John 15:7 we are to abide in His Words – is not, in and of itself, enough.  The whole purpose of what we do in discipleship, the purpose of the disciplines is to know Christ.

If we are doing all of the “right” Christian activities and yet our knowledge of Him is not increasing; we are not drawing closer to Him, we are badly missing the point.

It is not about our doing or knowing the right things.  It is about knowing the right Person, Jesus.

If you know someone who is focused on knowledge and not relationship, pray for an opportunity soon to encourage them to readjust, realign their thinking.