Evangelism and Discipleship

Dr. Walter Brueggemann’s article on “Evangelism and Discipleship” in his book “The Word that Redescribes the World, The Bible, and Discipleship” distinctively indicates how evangelism and discipleship can be viewed in the modern world. A view of his position Dr. Brueggemann pointed out in his article that God only calls people who are willing to leave a comfortable and easy life and live a risky and inconvenient life for a much higher cause, people who are willing to go against the status quo, and people who are faithful till the end to deliver the promised salvation and blessing for the lost world.

People like Moses and Abraham did not enter the pillars of the blessed without first showing proof of utter obedience and abandonment of personal will and desires. God calls people who share His passion and commitment to truth, righteousness, and vision for the creation to be eternally blessed in His presence. Dr. Brueggemann also stressed that the God who calls also knows how to send His people to effectuate divine change in the secular atmosphere with full backing up of His power.

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God sends people who can share the Gospel of salvation to change paradigms, people who can fulfill the mandate of healing the wounds brought about by sin in the corrupted world, and people who can obey until the mission is completed with the reign of the His kingdom over the lost and the wounded. After establishing the manner on how God calls and sends His chosen people in the Old Testament and New Testament era, Dr.

Brueggemann dissected that the present manner of God’s calling and sending are posed by other hardships and hindrances, not specifically existent in the past.

Technology, consumerism, military, and therapeutic factors, to name some, are hurdles that the present-day evangelists and disciples of Christ must overcome everyday. Since the present society have these powerful, conflicting ideologies, Christians are reminded to stay committed to the “talk” and “walk,” which, according to Dr. Brueggemann, remains constant throughout the centuries. A critique of his arguments Dr. Brueggemann remarked that God disrupts the lives of the people He calls. He said God leads their lives to a different set of purposes as He calls them to become His mouthpieces or ambassadors of His divine will. Let it be pointed out however that God works in the lives of the called even before He calls them. He prepares them until they possess the set of values and ideologies they could make use of in their new life. Moses was a contented shepherd of his flock before he became the passionate leader of the people of Israel. His scope of leadership was only altered from that of sheep and flocks to that of people and nation but the principles involved in leadership are very much parallel. Read about the importance of evangelism in church growth

The disruption of the lives of the called could be abrupt and radical, but it could mean being called from a smaller scope to a larger scope of service or commitment. Another point raised is that discipleship is a total disengagement from the works and beliefs of the world to follow Christ. This is basically true because it would not be Christ-like discipleship without real conversion from a sinful life to a righteous life. The command of Christ that says, “Follow Me! ” does not present any prerogatives or conditions. It demands immediate and absolute obedience without regard to time, circumstances, and limitations of the disciple.

Although difficult, the power and authority to preach the Gospel marked with signs and wonders will compensate the hard experiences of being a disciple of Christ. This postulates that the level of faith to the Caller will determine the level of passion and power that the disciple would have as a provision from God to fulfill His work. Dr. Brueggemann pointed out that the present era with all the technology and convenience of living poses greater risk for the disciple in fulfilling the mission of spreading the Gospel. However, by seizing the opportunity of the existence of technology, disciples can spread the Gospel in a much broader manner.

With one touch of a key button, the message is delivered. The spread of the Gospel through technology will cater the needs of the technical people who would become too absorbed with technological means of communication. A review of the discussions Dr. Brueggemann stated the fact that modern-day evangelism has become synonymous to church programs like tracts distribution, crusades, etc. He has studied the limitations that creating programs could pose for people who desire to fulfill God’s will to evangelize other people.

Thus, he brings in a good realization about the importance of naturally sharing the Gospel of Christ to others by being a witness in every spectrum of society through personal careers and lives. The delimitations posed by evangelistic programs, though, should not be mistaken as a negative message to never adopt such programs as effective tools for sharing God’s Word. Dr. Brueggemann is very keen in criticizing that Christian leaders today might have focused too much on church membership and recruitment as the only means for helping young Christians grow in their faith.

He pointed out that discipleship in the Old Testament times are spontaneous and “the Lord added numbers to them daily, ” even without any discipleship seminars being scheduled inside the church. Church membership, therefore, should instinctively follow effective witnessing. Discipleship also should not be confined in sharing theological beliefs to others but should all the more be focused on sharing Christian spiritual formation. Others to become more like Christ should be the main focus of our discipleship and it can only be effective if we have become a reflection of Christ ourselves.

I think there is truth in what Dr. Brueggemann has pointed out in this article on Evangelism and Discipleship because modern-day church leaders have become too focused on programs and productions for evangelism that they have forgotten what is essential in the Great Commission: the word “Go! ” Board meetings and seminars each year are focused on how to improve or to conduct extensive evangelism and discipleship programs. Too much time is being used for planning but little time for actually doing the plan.

The downside of being a church worker or leader is being occupied by too many church activities and protocols that personal devotion to the will of God can be neglected along the way or replaced by non-essential issues and things in life. A radical article about becoming a “fisher of man” posed this hard-hitting truth: How can a fisher of man be called such if he is not “catching fishes for Christ” but merely teaching others how to catch fish? Seminars about evangelism and discipleship can be very beneficial in launching faithful workers in the mission field.

However, teachers should not forget or neglect the truth that evangelizing others is basically a call that all Christian should personally heed. It is never insinuated though that there is no need for church leaders inside the institution to create order and functionality. There is always a place for each Christian to fulfill, whether for administration of the church or a career in the secular world. What is being stressed here is the truth that everyone, even church leaders, is compelled to preach the Gospel in season and out of season. Church leaders should focus well on fulfilling the Great Commission with wisdom.

According to Dr. Brueggemann, “The Gospel is too readily heard and taken for granted, as though it contained no unsettling news and no unwelcome threat. ” If this is the case, then the Church should rethink its ways of performing the duties of Christendom. Evangelism must retain its fundamentalism of bringing the Gospel to all nations but should reform its methods to adequately reach all types of people. It must be characterized by compassionate service to mankind, respect for cultural boundaries and humility. Any evangelism program without these essential moral fibers in place could devastatingly lead only to failure in fulfilling the real Great Commission.

Bearers of the good news must not only know how to speak the Word of God but more importantly, they must know and show integrity of the Word in their lives. They must also shed certain dogmatic delimitations taught in the cultural beliefs of a community or church in order to effectively witness and reach out lost souls for Christ. A reflection on the views This article about “Evangelism and Discipleship” by Dr. Brueggemann elevated my commitment to Christ and His calling upon my life. A calling should not be considered a simple obligation in the church.

It should not be treated as mere roles given to men to keep order inside the church. A calling should be viewed at the highest possible level, not because the one being called is a special person of special talents. A calling should be esteemed because the One who called the disciple is none other than the King of kings and Lord of lords. The calling is of supreme prerequisites and sacrifices, and entails great power and endowment. It is a special act of heaven that a mere man of frailties and weakness should become the ambassador or representative of the Perfect God.

Hence, calling should not be wasted by retraction from faith. Those who are assured they are called into the mission field of evangelism must do at all cost to follow and fulfill it until the end has come. As Dr. Brueggemann says, “It is the intention of the creator we confess that the kingdom of this world should become the kingdom of our God who is the creator. ” The Mission to disciple and evangelize does not change as time changes.

Dr. Bruggemann pointed out very well, “The task of the talk and the walk is in every time and place fundamentally the same. It remains the same even if technologies can create miracles and cure people. The power of God never fades as sin and corruption of this pervade the world because the Source of the power is a never changing God. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. True, there may be hindrances that the former disciples and Christians have not experienced during their time. Nevertheless, the grace of God and the power of God will stay to effectuate change in the lives and hearts of people in the world, as long as there are people willing to take the call and the challenge of going to where the Caller may lead us.