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When I think of the word “discipleship” it brings to mind the image of two people with open Bibles having a serious conversation about God’s Word.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that picture, in fact the Lord is burdening my heart to pursue ministries that emphasize teaching Scripture instead of building relationships.  However I cannot allow this desire for teaching ministries to keep me from seeing the day to day discipleship opportunities.

God gives us almost every day opportunities to share His truth (the Gospel or a Scriptural principle) in a conversation with other people.  These opportunities rarely involve an open Bible or clear teaching (“God wants you to do this”) but are used by God to clarify in a conversational style what we believe.

The problem with these everyday discipleship opportunities is they are random (unplanned) and often not even noticed because there’s nothing special about them, and our schedules are already full of activity.  But if we show a willingness to slow down and notice them, God will use those opportunities for His Glory.

This morning as I put the finishing touches on my sermon for Sunday a boy from Church came by to hear a Bible story.  Afterwards we went downstairs and started cleaning soda bottles that would be used for the Churches Vacation Bible School next month.

As we picked out the right bottles and washed them in a sink I started talking with him about becoming a member of the Church (he’s old enough and shows spiritual growth)…which led to a conversation about his Salvation experience.  I explained how the Lord saved me at the age of five in a blue Toyota station wagon on the way to the grocery store, and asked him to tell me about how he got saved.

I do believe this young man is saved but he struggled a bit in giving me a specific testimony of his Salvation experience.  So as we continued to wash bottles I clarified for him how a person could be saved.

1. You must confess to God that you are a sinner (Romans 3:23)
2. Believe that Christ died on the cross for your sins then rose again (Romans 6:23)
3. And call upon Christ to save you from your sins (Romans 10:9-10)

I asked James (not his real name) if he had ever done this and his response was “yes I do it every night!”  So as the bottle washing came to an end I told him that though a person prays to God every night they only ask Him to save them once.

Now James and I could have had a long Bible study but it probably wouldn’t have accomplished what took place as we worked together

1. I was able to share my own personal testimony
2. And get James thinking about his own Salvation experience (he says he remembers it but cannot tell me a lot about what happened)
3. we reviewed together what it means to be saved
4. and clarified you only need to get saved

This afternoon reminded me there are many organic (unplanned) discipleship opportunities like this, but many times I’m too busy doing my own work to see them.  May God help us pursue times of intensive discipleship, but also look for the random discipleship opportunities each day.

I sat on my porch this morning with a cup of coffee and while scrolling through my twitter feed asked the question many of you are probably asking…

How did we get here?

The truth is I don’t have an answer to that question.

I will leave the discussion of that answer for people who are more educated than me on the subject, or perhaps have experienced racial injustice.  Instead I’d like to take a baby-step towards answering an even more difficult question.

What do we do about it?

Yesterday afternoon I finished the book “Compelling Community” written by Jamie Dunlop, Associate Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.  In it he encourages Churches to build themselves into what he calls “supernatural communities” that are characterized by the Gospel (being Christians) instead of similarity.

Unfortunately most Churches build community the same way the world does

“So often, we aim at nothing more than community built on similarity; I want us to aim at community characterized by relationships that are obviously supernatural.  I mean the very biblical idea of a sovereign God working in space and time to do what confounds the natural laws of our world”

Dunlop goes on to explain Churches build Gospel-plus communities (based on similarity) instead of Gospel revealing communities based on being Christians.  And these communities of similarity are more often than not based upon our own strength.

“Yet gospel-revealing community isn’t our first inclination, is it? Our tendency is toward gospel-plus community because it “works.”

“When Christians unite around something other than the gospel, they create community that would likely exist even if God didn’t.”

Instead of this he encourages the readers to do the hard work (sometimes taking years) of creating a community connected only by the Gospel so it can be a witness to the outside world.

“One way in which this community glorifies God is by reaching people who, apart from supernatural power, would never unite together.”

“While recognizing our tendency toward similarity, we should aspire toward community where similarity isn’t necessary—where no strand of similarity in the congregation explains the whole congregation”

Finishing this book yesterday brought a feeling of deep conviction over my Gospel-plus community philosophy, but also a passion to begin building Gospel-revealing communities only possible through the Gospel of Christ.

Perhaps the violence of this week isn’t about finding answers, but a reminder that never before does the world need to see communities of believers connected not by similarity, but the Gospel of Christ.

A few weeks ago my parents finished redecorating my old bedroom with a new bed and furniture (which the family dog seemed to enjoy).  In the future this will be used as a bedroom for my Nephew Titus, and perhaps someday become my study.

My attention was immediately drawn to the phrase “be a warrior” painted on the wall My mother has since put a picture of me crossing the finish line of a marathon under those words, and hung the sign at the top of this post reading “St. Vincent where a warrior lives.”

There is no doubt in my mind that I am a warrior (somebody strongly committed to Christ) because not many people would be willing to leave everything they know and share the Gospel in a foreign culture.  By God’s grace I’m able to wake up every morning knowing the Gospel empowers me to be a warrior.

The problem is I don’t always feel that way

There are many things that can discourage us from fulfilling our calling as warriors

1. Physical weariness (just being run down)
2. Frustration over setbacks or failures
3. Satan’s temptations and attacks
4. Lack of results or fruit that were expected
5. and just lack of motivation

In moments like this we must remember our calling to be warriors (those who serve God faithfully) has nothing to do with or circumstances or feelings.  Instead it refers to our spiritual standing in Christ.  There are many Scripture passages that teach this, but Ephesians 2:4-10 is one of the best.

Eph. 2:4   But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians two teaches God takes us from being slaves unable to save ourselves from (Eph.2:1-3) and not only sets us free from that slavery (Eph.2:5) but made us His children (Eph.2:6-7), and given us the responsibility of representing Him (Eph.2:10).

As a children of God we have not only the rights, but motivation to become warriors even on our worst days.  Yet its easy on those days to offer a half-hearted commitment instead of the one our Lord deserves.

This lack of commitment is illustrated well in a video created by Eric Ludy called The Gospel.  In it he explains how we were freed from the prison of sin and invited to be sons of the king (God) however many people never actually move past freedom in the prison cell.

Here’s the problem:  Most of us have stopped with the Good News right there.   The Blood of Jesus Christ has been shed.  He was killed.  That is unbelievable news, but we are still in a prison cell.   We are praising God within the cell  saying: (thank You for forgiving me; thank You for changing the sign above my cell) and God’s Word says,  “Could you check the door because My Blood was shed for more than just forgiveness!”

Forgiveness was the avenue through which He could make the escape for us. He isn’t just interested in dealing with consequences or the penalty of sin.  He has also dealt with the problem of sin.  Test the door to the prison cell, its unlocked!  WALK OUT!   Smell the open air of freedom and liberty and the Life of Jesus Christ!

Towards the end of the video Ludy illustrates the calling that we have from God as His children

“I love You“, He says, “and I have a commission for you.”  (For me? You want me to work for You?)    “I want you to work for Me. I want you to represent Me.”  (Absolutely, anything I can do for You,  just tell me.)   ” I need you to go back to that prison that I took you out of because there’s a whole bunch more that need to know about Me.”   ( In a heartbeat.  I would gladly serve You; anyway You want;  anyway You ask.)

“I need to forewarn you.  I am going to send you out and you’ll be a sheep among wolves.  They will kill you.  They’ll destroy you and they’ll hate you. They will persecute you and do whatever they can to harm you.”  ( I’m in. I’ll do it God. I don’t care. You shed Your Blood for me; I would gladly shed mine for You. Take my body, take my blood, spend it anyway You want. I belong to You.  Take me LORD Jesus, send me.)

Not many people in Barrouallie know me as Pastor John, the majority of them call me “Mr. John” like the kids in town.  The truth is that name fits me really well because my focus since arriving in SVG has been on building Gospel bridges into the lives of others.

1. Through relaxed conversations during the week
2. Ministries like Bible-club or computer tutoring
3. And conversations during my afternoon walks

These relational bridges are a very important part of missions in a world where respect or trust is something earned over time instead of being demanded right away, …building them is long hard work, but definitely worth it.

After being in Barrouallie for over eight-months I’ve seen the Lord build bridges into the lives of many people (both adults and children)…and now its time for me to start using those bridges for His Glory by becoming Pastor John

Now at first there doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference between Mr. John and Pastor John

• We are both the same person (obviously) and use the same spiritual gifts
• We both have the same personality
• In both cases my emphasis is on the children of Barrouallie
• And both are part of the same ministry (Tabernacle Baptist Church)

However when it comes to goals we find a drastic difference

• The goal of Mr. John was to develop relationships for future ministry
• The goal of Pastor John is to minister in the lives of others with the Word of God
• For members of Tabernacle this would involve discipleship, counseling, or public teaching
• For the unsaved this would involve evangelism or a one on one bible study

Probably the greatest way to illustrate the difference between being Pastor John and Mr. John is the idea from Church ministry book “The Trellis and the Vine” where they encourage Churches to train future leaders by asking  that “they spent at least fifteen hours a week in ministry with an open Bible.”  In other words the emphasis is on explaining and applying Scripture instead of ministering to other needs, or building a relationship.

There’s no doubt eventually our relational bridge must be used to minister with Scripture (it’s called a Gospel bridge after all) but that doesn’t mean its easy to make that transition.  In fact moving from Mr. John to Pastor John is more difficult than most of you would imagine.

Why?  Because being Mr. John is a lot more fun

About four months ago I created a game with kids in town called “steal Mr. John’s lashing hat”;  it’s actually pretty much what it sounds like, I chase kids around with my Australian leather hat hitting them on the arm (not too hard) and conveniently dropping it so that they can lash me back.  Many hours have been spent playing his repetitive but fun game.  

Last year got my exercise from 10k training runs, last night played “steal Mr. John’s hat” For thirty minutes…last night was more fun

— John Wilburn (@Johnhwilburn) June 17, 2016

 Here’s the thing…its a lot of fun being Mr. John…but it won’t lead children to Christ.  Of course that foundation does open doors for the Gospel but eventually you have to stop laying more relational blocks and do something with the ones already laid.

While the lack of fun is part of what makes this transition hard, the true challenge is entering into a Pastor John relationship with someone has a much higher risk of failure or rejection than a bridge building relationship.  Anybody would be willing to have a conversation about their spiritual beliefs, but few are willing to have a Bible study together or experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

In the end many of the bridges I’ve built into the lives of Vincentians will end with being Mr. John because they refuse to take the next step in commitment.  But I’m still called to move from a “bridge building” relationship to one that teaches the truths of Scripture.