"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher."
Luke 6:40 NKJV
A decade ago I was giving life and form to the Ministerial Laboratory (on social, Lab Min), an area of biblical formation and in-depth study, with the intention of meeting the spiritual growth needs of believers eager to contribute to the advancement of the Kingdom of God and the building up of the Church. Part of this journey became Believers Under Construction (first a series of seminars and then a book), because the spiritual life of every believer is built, as one does with a house, stone by stone. I hope soon to offer it again for the current generation of new believers.
The parable of the merciful father or the prodigal son (Luke 15:11) highlights how the Lord appeals to us to work in His house, the church, attending not only to the most important responsibilities but to the minimal activities required to make it more beautiful and just. It is answered by those who want to be disciples, for disciples are not born but become. I have long wondered whether contemporary churches really seek to make disciples or are instead devoted to “short-lived” activities, aiming more to meet the pleasures and “fashions” of the moment than the precepts of Scripture. Fidelity and integrity will distinguish the disciple. Fidelity to the Word, to what has been received, to the mandate, to ongoing and continuous formation and together integrity, robustness in faith, discipline in life, firmness in difficulties and opposition.
All discipleship starts from the resources the Lord makes available to us, draws on God's infinite resources, and Scripture is the first! And evangelism, necessary to make believers first, and disciples later, is not something to be pulled out for “special weeks,” but main commitment. Those who have embarked on this journey, the elder brothers, must take care of the younger brothers, that is, those who are in their first steps. And they walk together. True teachers are those who never stop growing, they are the ones who self-educate by educating their pupils, recognizing them for who they are. Not minors to indoctrinate, perhaps in their own image and likeness, but minors to grow, in the image and likeness of the One Teacher who has called us.
Building Christian service requires going back to the foundation of everything: Scripture (what we believe) and the work of the Spirit in us. The experience of being baptized in the Spirit must be distinguished from being filled with the Spirit. The Spirit is not something “strange,” or a “special effect” intended to amaze those who observe us. Prayer and study then are necessary for acceptable service. Prayer that becomes study and study that becomes prayer. One prays who one loves, and one seeks to know better and better who one loves. If we pray little, it is because we lack the courage to cut through wasted time and unnecessary demands. Thus, since Scripture is the Incarnate Word (we always go back there!), Person, Beloved, Spurgeon said that prayer is the hammer that must accompany the reading and meditation of the Word. The hammer, because it hollows us out, transforms us, to the point of transfiguring our lives.
Beware of believing you have arrived, even in prayer, in the ways and times of praying! You never are, just as you never love someone enough, let alone God! In study, in disciple-making training to be an unpretentious servant, it will be necessary, subject of course to the primacy of Scripture, to know the sphere in which we serve, the recipients of our service, the tools and languages available, on which to constantly update ourselves. The certification of all this may be faithfulness: to God, to the teacher, in the call, in the assignment given. Each of these aspects calls back to the other, and all refer back to each other in turn. In our service we desire to be enveloped in God's grace, filled with the love of Jesus and to have the support and guidance of the Holy Spirit with us.
Be ready to answer the call and apply for the next Lab.
Weekly Bible Reading Plan # 46
November 11, Jeremiah 51-52; Hebrews 9
November 12, Lamentations 1-2; Hebrews 10:1-18
November 13, Lamentations 3-5; Hebrews 10:19-39
November 14, Ezekiel 1-2; Hebrews 11:1-19
November 15, Ezekiel 3-4; Hebrews 11:20-40
November 16, Ezekiel 5-7; Hebrews 12
November 17, Ezekiel 8-10; Hebrews 13
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