Laurie Beth Jones seemed to have caught the gist of the idea of being “in blue jeans” when she wrote her best selling “Jesus in blue jeans” book. It expresses the transition of spirituality to practical daily living in the business world.
Well, I would like to use the same idea, if I may. But this time in the area of discipleship.
Jesus prayed a prayer for the disciples in John 17.15 and it says, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
We are meant to be here to fulfill the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations. And then the end will come (Matthew 24.14).
Immersed but not of this world. Living out the message of Jesus Christ now. Incarnational in our approach to ministry. The lost people around us would start to see how we conduct ourselves in an atmosphere of community. Trust will be developed in the process. From there will flow ministry, prayer, and conversation that in the end will lead to committing themselves to Christ.
Traditionally, our philosophy of ministry goes like this:
believing, before belonging..
Time and again, we try to present the gospel so they can begin to make positive decision, the get assimilated to fellowship. This is logically true and still valid, but churches are now beginning to realize that the opposite could also be true:
belonging, then believing..
People need to get a chance to be invited first into a community, hoping that along the way he/she gets the chance to hear the good news and believe.
Here is the theme song to our Leaders’ Convergence.
Posted by Ferdie Cabiling 