Discipleship

"Discipleship" is a term Christians use to wrap around the process of people learning to fellowship with God, growing in knowing him, and cooperating with the restoration of his original design in people, and the world, and completing his mission.

Our understanding of discipleship can get fuzzy as time passes. Changes in culteral expectations mix with our understanding of Scripture. We lose a clear vision of what a disciple's lifestyle should look like. Usually, we drift from greater Christ-likeness.

One reason God acts to revive his children is to renew the focus of what discipleship is. God uses his children to bring life into the world. God's life is injected into the world in direct proportion to how much God's children demonstrate God's nature and character. No one child can accomplish this alone. It requires God's family. God's family in one location. God's family in all locations.

God has designed people to be creative. They are permitted to develop new ways to express his life, in keeping with changes in culture. But his children need to preserve the eternal core of his truth, and his spirit.

Sometimes, a new thing is created to help advance God's kingdom. And usually it does. But, then sometimes it becomes "the law" when it really does not belong to God's core of truth.

In God's family, leadership is important, and learning is important. To facilitate growth in leadership, schools were developed. There is nothing wrong with schools, or with training leaders. But, Scripture says that if someone is in God's family, that person is a priest of God Most High. In many situations, training to facilitate the advance of God's kingdom, service to God's people, and service to the world, has actually stifled God's life, because it has hindered people completing their role as priests. People do not act as they are supposed to, because of personal expectations. People do not act as they are supposed to, because of group expectations.

Plans that are intended to help -- and have helped -- have choked life from God's family, because certain expectations and limits are placed on God's people that God never intended.