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I haven't seen anything here suggesting this is a "contract to keep your 'righteous.'" Far from it ... this is letting people know what is expected of them for various ministry roles. In teh church, this started with the apostles, so it is not unreasonable to have it here.Originally posted by clayjar:
It's just having someone implementing a contract to keep you "righteous".
It depends on teh situation ... In this one, a signed statement (which is more accurate than calling it a contract) for numerous people makes sure that everyone has the same understanding, that everyone is being held to the same standard, and prevents confusion. For other situations, this may be unnecessary. I don't have have a signed statement for our teachers and workers. But we all have a personal relationship in a small setting. However, when I did have to ask someone to step down for a time, there was some hurt and confusion because there had been no standard set up ahead of time. Had I had something like this, I could have pointed to it to say, "This si what you agreed to." Let's work it out and get it back ...Originally posted by clayjar:
Do you think there's a better way to be accountable than signing a contract?
It is not a myth at all. At the heart of discipleship is teaching what God says. If a pastor is not teaching what God says, then he needs to resign. What I have said is absolutely true. And it is probably not all that the pastor does. I know it is not all that I do in disciple-making. I have noticed in your posts on this subject in other places, you seem to have something stuck in your craw about pastors. I wish you would get over it.Originally posted by Pastor Larry:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by gb93433:
If that is the case then we would have 100 percent excluding those who are not believers who are able to make disciples. Disciples make disciples. What you have stated is a myth right from many theological schools.
Or perhaps that people are simply disobedient. There are people here who have never led anyone to Christ and have not discipled them. That is not because I have failed to teach and try to disciple them. That is because they are disobedient.The majority of people in churches do not know how to lead another person to Christ and disciple them. If that is true then preachiung has done little.
Which is why I said it "begins" with it.[qbYou are right discipleship begins with evangelism but it doesn't stop there.
I agree with most of what you said. But I will tell you from experience that the majority of people I have encountered in the local church do not do much more than sit through sermons each Sunday and are rarely if ever challenged to do ministry with the pastor or anyone else. Early in my Christian I asked several pastors to take me door to door. It took several before I found one who was doing it. I don’t know of one leader in the Navigators who is not equipped to do that. I have some friends who left Mormonism and it took talking with four pastors before they were even welcome in a church. Finally the pastor who welcomed asked them to teach the congregation to witness to Mormons. That church grew from 75 to about 600 in six years. Mostly due to Mormons becoming believers. After all that the deacons asked the pastor to leave. Churches don’t often want zealots for Jesus who will make a difference. They want the easy life that demands little. Jesus created quite a stir in the community. So will His disciples.Originally posted by Pastor Larry:
I never said that preaching alone would make disciples. It should, but it won't necessasrily. People need accountability and that is what this whole thread was about. A great many people, if I remember including yourself, poo-poo'ed this idea of accountabiliy. If you remember, I have said from the beginning that this kind of accountability in discipleship is absolutely necessary and I am the one who has been called a legalist.
My point was that every time to preach the word is a time to make disciples. Teaching/preaching the word is foundational to disciplship. If the preaching from the pulpit is not making disciples, then it should be stopped.
All discipleship should be done through the local church ministry. I did not read the links you gave. I glanced through it and it looked a whole lot like story telling. With no offense, I just don't have time for it. I spend too much time here already. But one of the problems with Navigators is that it is not working under the authority fo the local church. That is not the NT pattern for operation. Let's get back to the NT way of doing things, including our disciplemaking, and we will all be better off. I realize that my high view of ecclesiology is in the minority and that is fine. I simply think we need to be more rigid about the NT local church and the pattern for discipleship.
REmember that door to door is not the biblical command. There are a lot of ways to evangelize and make disciples without doing that.Originally posted by gb93433:
But I will tell you from experience that the majority of people I have encountered in the local church do not do much more than sit through sermons each Sunday and are rarely if ever challenged to do ministry with the pastor or anyone else. Early in my Christian I asked several pastors to take me door to door.-
I agree.Churches don’t often want zealots for Jesus who will make a difference. They want the easy life that demands little. Jesus created quite a stir in the community. So will His disciples.
All programs of our church are geared towards that very thing. We do different things, but all towards the same purpose.We ought to have one program, “Making disciples.”
The church at Antioch (Acts 13). He did not just go out on his own. He went under the sending authority of a local church.But what church sent out Paul?
REmember that door to door is not the biblical command. There are a lot of ways to evangelize and make disciples without doing that.Originally posted by Pastor Larry:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by gb93433:
But I will tell you from experience that the majority of people I have encountered in the local church do not do much more than sit through sermons each Sunday and are rarely if ever challenged to do ministry with the pastor or anyone else. Early in my Christian I asked several pastors to take me door to door.-
I agree.Churches don’t often want zealots for Jesus who will make a difference. They want the easy life that demands little. Jesus created quite a stir in the community. So will His disciples.
All programs of our church are geared towards that very thing. We do different things, but all towards the same purpose.We ought to have one program, “Making disciples.”
The church at Antioch (Acts 13). He did not just go out on his own. He went under the sending authority of a local church.But what church sent out Paul?