Missional Church: The Bible, discipleship & Group Life
I wrote in the opening post of this series that there is a skewed view of discipleship that looks like this: “Christian eduction tends to be about the consumption of facts of information.”
About eleven years ago, I had a friend open my eyes to an amazing way of viewing the Bible. He said, “Each book of the Bible is basically a missionary training manual for the community to which it was written.” Scripture does all sorts of things- comforts, convicts, challenges, educates, evokes emotion, inspires, expresses joy and pain, corrects, and more. But it does these, not primarily for my benefit, but for the formation of the community of faith and me for sake of the gospel and witness to Jesus. Jesus himself said that we are wrong to believe that scripture holds life for us. He reminded those around him that he in fact held life for them. So scripture must play a different role than savior. What is that role?
In everything that scripture teaches and tells, there is a common missional thread woven in. Matthew writes the truth about Jesus so that a distinctly jewish community will know how to attest to him. Paul writes 1 & 2 Corinthians to a church that needs to live faithfully for the gospel in very morally compromising times. The letters to Timothy instruct a young leader how to faithfully witness to Jesus. Genesis 12:2, God tells Abraham that he will be come a nation that will be “blessed to be a blessing.” Scripture- and therefore Christian education- instructs us in faith and life, not just for our benefit, but for the benefit of the mission of God.
If I were to eat and eat and eat, consuming calories, even if they came from great food, but never put those calories to work, what would happen to me? I’d get fat, maybe get diabetes, perhaps heart disease. “Calories in” > “calories out”= an unhealthy body. If all I do is consume knowledge, facts, sermons, books, principles, ideas, or concepts and don’t put them into practice, then I will become spiritually unhealthy. I’ve seen people abused by others with lots of knowledge. James says that “faith without works is dead.” The best way to grow spiritually strong is to take in a healthy diet of discipleship and then put it into practice for the good of the gospel in the world. Discipleship is incomplete until it encompasses missional living and lifestyle.
Because the gospel and Jesus are relational, discipleship must be relational. There is no discipleship without relationship. You must have a personal relationship with Jesus to have any discipleship. Anything not rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus, is false religion. It sickeningly become trite behavior modification. Because discipleship is based on a relationship, it must also occur within the context of relationships. Its the way Jesus conducted the formation of his disciples. Relationships allow for trust, authenticity, accountability, and more. Discipleship within community is a witness and missional in and of itself. Jesus said that people will experience the gospel when we love one another.
Discipleship is based on scripture, centered on Jesus, functioning in the context of relationships as a response and witness to the grace of God in Christ.
