Success

I love being a part of something successful.  I've been on sports teams that were practically undefeated, academic teams with superior knowledge, and a fan of teams to play in national championships.  I've led an engineering design team in college that was one of the best in the country.  I graduated from the number one agricultural engineering department in the country, maybe world.  I participate on teams in my engineering career working on projects that would soon be the leading technology in the world for construction equipment.

These were some great teams to be a part of in my life.  But the team I'm on now puts it all to shame.  My team is no longer dependent on men, but on God, and his ability to fulfill what he has promised.  This guarantees success.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
(Genesis 12:2 ESV)

Right now, in the middle of the Amazon, God has mounted a team, a portion of his corporate body, and given it a passion to fulfill a global vision of discipleship.  The vision is not just to see the body growing, or reaching people groups, but to see it filled with disciple-making-disciples!  People who live out their faith, who understand how to receive from above and move it out in front of them, demonstrating just how powerful a grace-filled movement can be.

Part of the vision is to do three things: win for the Lord, care for the person (mind, body, and soul), and send them out.  It's not the numbers that matter, it souls who are cared for in the name of the Lord, who will then pass on the love that God poured out on them.  This is disciple-making-disciples, a concept practically forgotten about in the Western church.  Here, Francis Chan shares a few thoughts about discipleship and the spirit.

All believers have received the Holy Spirit. We must go forth in his power with confidence. God has placed people in your path. You are called to disciple them. We too quickly direct converts toward podcast preachers and neglect our God-given mandate to disciple. We must believe in the power of the Scriptures themselves, and we must trust in the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

I love that I have so much information available to me, teachings, preachings, studies, music, books, and much more.  And I believe that it is mostly edifying for me.  But I agree with Chan on this one.  What God has given us is not meant to stay with us.  This is no place for selfishness.  It should be passed on, and on, and on.

Are you a disciple-making-disciple?

JAE