COV LIFE BLOG

Mark 3:7-19 – The Model of Jesus for Discipleship

When will the church learn this lesson? Preaching to the masses, although necessary, will never suffice in the work of preparing leaders for evangelism. Nor can occasional prayer meetings and training classes for Christian workers do this job. Building men is not that easy. It requires constant personal attention, much like a father gives to His children. This is something that no organization or class can ever do. Children are not raised by proxy. The example of Jesus would teach us that it can only be done by persons staying right with those they seek to lead.
 
The church obviously has failed at this point, and failed tragically. There is a lot of talk in the church about evangelism and Christian nurture, but little concern for personal association when it becomes evident that such work involves the sacrifice of personal indulgence. Of course, most churches insist on bringing new members through some kind of a confirmation class which usually meets an hour a week for a month or so. But the rest of the time the young convert has no contact at all with a definite Christian training program, except as he may attend the worship services of the church and the Sunday School. Unless the new Christian, if indeed he is saved, has parents or friends who will fill the gap in a real way, he is left entirely on his own to find the solutions to innumerable practical problems confronting his life, any one of which could mean disaster to his faith.
 
With such haphazard follow-up of believers, it is no wonder that about half of those who make professions and join the church eventually fall away or lose the glow of a Christian experience, and fewer still grow in sufficient knowledge and grace to be of any real service to the Kingdom. If Sunday services and membership training classes are all that a church has to develop young converts into mature disciples, then they are defeating their own purpose by contributing to a false security, and if the person follows the same lazy example, it may ultimately do more harm than good. There is simply no substitute for getting with getting with people, and it is ridiculous to imagine that anything less, short of a miracle, can develop strong Christian leadership. After all, if Jesus, the Son of God, found it necessary to stay almost constantly with His few disciples for three years, and even one of them was lost, how can a church expect to do this job on an assembly line basis a few days out of the year?

Robert Coleman

---

SCRIPTURES FOR THIS SUNDAY
Read Mark 3:7-19. After seeing that Jesus’ model of multiplying himself was through a small group of men, with what small group of people in your life are you seeking to multiply the faith that has been entrusted to you? What keeps you from this so critical task?

SONG FOR THIS WEEK
Before the Throne of God Above by Charitie Bancroft