by Downline Ministries: That is a question that quite honestly haunted me for a very long time. To be fair, I could give you the cliché Christian answers of who I am in Christ, quote some trite Bible verses at you—but none of that was penetrating my heart or emotions, or really changing the way I lived on a daily basis. While these verses were true and full of meaning, I still found myself facing a minor identity crisis or questioning my worth based on silly things. It all turned in to a sick game of comparison, like a never ending emotional game of chutes and ladders; if I accomplished what I wanted and got the attention I felt I deserved, I was climbing the ladder. If not – I fell down a chute and landed in a pit.  How I felt internally depended on how people perceived me externally.

I’ll save you the sordid details, but I imagine some of you may be able to relate to parts of my story and my struggle with codependency. This sin of idolizing the opinion of others slowly crept in to my life unchecked. Eventually, I began to think back and try to figure out why I wasn’t secure in my identity in Christ. I mean, I knew all the verses. I had even memorized some. I believed in Christ and thought I was trusting in Him to be my identity, but it didn’t feel like my identity had any roots. It was affected by my circumstances pretty easily- so what was I missing?

What I surround myself with matters.

There is a physical component to spiritual warfare, and one of the first things the enemy wants to attack is our identity – the very essence of who we are. He does this in a number of ways, and for me many of them start with what I am surrounding myself with. What I view, what I listen to, what activities I do  – all of those affect my mood and how I see myself.  Many times I am subconsciously taking in the lies of the culture surrounding me and I slowly begin to believe them. If I am not taking care of my body physically, oftentimes my mind and emotions follow suit. When I am taking care of my body and intentionally stewarding it for the glory of God, I notice that this affects my spiritual life. It all seems to flow together more easily.

However, when I spend my time listening to love songs, I begin to find that I am not content in my relationship status. As I watch TV, I am less content with my body image, my house, my lifestyle, and how “cool” my social scene is. As I listen to advertisements, I think that I do need more in my life to really be satisfied.
But all of those are lies!! When the Lord saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone, he made a helper fit for him. God didn’t just bring Adam a dog and convince him that it would meet his needs – He made an entirely new creation for him. God knew how he made Adam, and he knew what his needs were.

Often times I focus so much on the circumstances and things surrounding me that I fail to look to God. I must surround myself with His Truth before I can ever hope to believe it.

What I trust in will make me hopeful or hopeless.

If I am trusting in things of this world, I am trusting in a mere shadow. Creation was never meant to give me purpose or identity; it cannot bear the weight of my idolatry.  If I am trusting in a job promotion to make me feel worthy, I am going to be sorely disappointed and spend my life jumping from idol to idol to try to find value and meaning.

When my hope is in Christ and in being everything He has created me to be, life will look so different. Now my roles, seasons, and callings are a way for me to glorify God using the passions, talents, and abilities that He has uniquely gifted me with in order to express my identity. And that brings me hope. This hope is eternal and resting in something bigger than myself and my mundane daily activities.

The things of this world, the chasing of the “American Dream” leads me to feel spent, hopeless, and ultimately empty because they were never meant to satisfy. I have a longing for something that will only be satisfied in eternity – when my identity is flowing from that, it gives me hope and security. This hope is secure because God is secure – Scripture calls this hope an “anchor for our soul” – it keeps us rooted, not tossed to and fro with the waves. We stay grounded because this hope in Christ, that what he says is true, because he is unchanging.

Our identity is in Christ and brings unity amidst diversity.

My identity is only rooted in what God says is true of me—nothing else. Now, don’t hear me say that nothing in this life affects us, it does! But, the temporary seasons, roles, callings, and times of this life serve to give me a platform to express my identity. They don’t define me. I am the same woman single or married, parent or not, employed or unemployed, rich or poor. Paul belabors this point in Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Notice here that he is arguing for our unity in our identity. Our identity in Christ leaves no room for prejudice, judgment or division. We are Christ’s workmanship, created in him for good works.

Not for our own glory.

Not to be the best at everything.

Our identity rests in the fact that we are created in God’s image, to be his image bearers to this world and to walk in the manner worthy of the calling that we have received. Lord, I pray that I will choose to believe that each day.

—Downline

Downline Ministries exists to strengthen and elevate biblical discipleship in and through the local church by strategically partnering with church leadership to equip men and women to make disciples in their home, church, and community for the glory of God and exaltation of Christ among the nations. Learn more about Downline Ministries here.

The post Who Am I? appeared first on Discipleship.org.

Source: Who Am I?

The post Who Am I? appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Downline: A few years back I was catching up with a friend who is on staff with a campus ministry. He loves the lost and has a real desire to see the world, and students in particular, come to faith and grow in maturity. As we discussed his plan to disciple his students, he mentioned there wasn’t a good church in reasonable driving distance of the campus. “Have you thought about starting a church?” I asked. “We considered it, but we realized we would have to take care of the elderly and those struggling in the faith. We abandoned the idea so we would just focus on disciple-making without all the mess,” he explained.

If we were honest, many of us would say we know we’re supposed to make disciples. And we know we are supposed to be members of a church, but we don’t understand the relationship between the two — should one even exist. To be fair, many of us have only experienced discipleship apart from the church and have been trained to think the church gets in the way of serious Great Commission work. At best, the church is a place you find someone to disciple but hardly fits into our discipleship scheme.

Paul says something remarkable in Ephesians 3:8-11.

[8] To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, [9] and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, [10] so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [11] This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,

God, who is not limited by time or space, and who has access to all knowledge and is infinitely creative, has chosen to display the riches of Christ and His manifold wisdom to every other so-called ruler through the church! Yet, we so often talk about the church as though it is counter to God’s discipleship plan. If we were honest, some of us would confess we think we have better ideas for how God could display the gospel and disciple His people.

I hope to help us think more biblically about the church, discipleship, and how the two relate. I’m going to suggest that the Church corporately disciples and equips its members for the task of disciple-making, and in so doing provides the context and model for one-to-one discipling.

WHY DOES THE CHURCH EXIST? 

[11] And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, [12] to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, [13] until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, [14] so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. [15] Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [16] from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV)

A few things should be noted from the text.

Jesus has uniquely gifted the church to train its members to do the work of disciple-making (v11-12).
The church exists to build up the body until all of its members grow into maturity, which is the fullness of Christ (v13).
The church is governed and held together by Christ (v15).
Only when each member is working together does the body grow so as to build itself up in love (v16).

The church is unique among all institutions in that Jesus governs her, holds her together, has specifically gifted her to make disciple-makers, and exists to bring all of its members into maturity of Christ. This can only happen when all are working together toward that end.

WHAT IS DISCIPLESHIP?

A distinction should be made between discipleship and disciple-making; whereas the latter is a subset of the former. Discipleship is the process of following and becoming more like Jesus and is the point of the Christian walk. Disciple-making is something we do to help people as a part of their discipleship, where we ask them to follow us as we follow Jesus (1 Cor 11:1).

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND DISCIPLE-MAKING? 

The church and the individual Christian share the same goal: maturing into the fullness of Christ. The church is not opposed to discipleship. It exists for discipleship; to disciple its members and to make disciple-makers of them. The church alone is structured and gifted to do this through the preaching of the word, corporate prayer, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, church membership and discipline, and through the various gifts the Lord has given the body. No individual, friend group, or parachurch can say the same.

Think about it. What do you hope to do with those whom you disciple? Do you want to help them think on and experience the gospel? Do you want your relationship to be centered on the scriptures and right doctrine? Do you plan to rebuke them when they are in sin? There is only one environment where all of this happens: the church. It is the place where the gospel is proclaimed and participated in (the Lord’s supper), where the scriptures are exposited, where corporate prayer happens, where theology is taught, and where people of all walks of life, personalities, backgrounds, and gifts converge to teach and rely on one another.

Let me give a few examples:

Through preaching of the gospel and the practice of church membership and discipline, Christians learn what the gospel is, what a Christian looks like, and how to rebuke their brothers and sisters when they are out of step with the confession they have made.
Through the preaching of the word, members learn how to center their lives on the scriptures and how to teach one another from God’s word.
Through corporate prayer, the individual members learn how to rely on God and meet the needs of one another, even when it is costly to them.

THE CHURCH, ONE BIG D-GROUP

We tend to speak about discipleship in strictly one-to-one or small group terms at the neglect of corporate discipleship. In reality, God’s design is for the church to be the main discipler. The church properly functioning is one big D-Group. Jesus has designed our growth to take place in his body (v15)  where he has gifted members and leaders to serve her (v11) and where it is necessary for every member to come together for the growth of the whole body (v16). As the church corporately disciples its members and experiences its own discipleship, it gives the model and context for one-to-one disciple-making. The scattered church can only disciple as it is discipled when it is gathered.

Discipleship apart from the church will always fall short because the church alone is governed by Jesus, held together by him, and gifted by him to grow into his likeness. Paul is clear; every member must work together for the growth of the body. You cannot provide everything your disciple needs, only the church can. This frees you from thinking you need to be everything for those you disciple, which is exhausting. This also means you and those you disciple need the church.

Conversely, the local church you are a part of can only rightly disciple its members as you take responsibility to use your gifts for the building up of the body. If you think there’s something wrong with your church and you’re not making disciples there, you are a part of the problem. The body can only rightly grow, yourself included, as all of its members work together to disciple one another. The church is a family, which entails responsibility and precludes thinking of yourself exclusively. Your church needs you.

No doubt there would be “easier” avenues to try to make disciples. A place where people look and act like you. Where everyone is mature. Where people aren’t in need and don’t rub you the wrong way. But, it would be difficult to display the gospel in such a setting. What makes the gospel beautiful is that God has taken natural enemies, both of Himself and each other, and made them family. The church alone provides a group of people so different from one another that when they love each other, the world takes notice and knows they belong to Jesus. This is the place where when each member works together everyone is discipled into the fullness of Christ, the head of the church.

—From Downline

Downline Ministries exists to strengthen and elevate biblical discipleship in and through the local church by strategically partnering with church leadership to equip men and women to make disciples in their home, church, and community for the glory of God and exaltation of Christ among the nations. Learn more about Downline Ministries here.

The post Discipleship and the Church appeared first on Discipleship.org.

Source: Discipleship and the Church

The post Discipleship and the Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Ali Zimmerman: Since fourteen, I have struggled with a long list of health problems. While many doctors have helped me manage my symptoms, no one has been able to attribute my condition to any specific cause. My symptoms have varied.  The severity of each symptom has varied. But I have yet to feel healthy.  That much has been constant.  For over a decade, I have given massive amounts of attention, time, and energy to individually managing each symptom. And it feels as though I’ve been living a circus act, keeping twenty plates spinning on twenty poles.

Over the past three months, with no explanation, my symptoms have worsened. I have several appointments lined up with doctors around Memphis.  I hope one can point me in the right direction.  But the waiting has been rough. All the plates are slowing down, forcing me to work harder and harder to keep them spinning, to keep myself functioning. My body hurts. I’m physically exhausted. I’m emotionally spent. Even as I write this, I am weak.

While this area of my life has been very difficult, the Lord has also been very faithful. Six months ago, He gave me the most wonderful husband to lead me, love me, and walk with me through this trial. He has given me a job that aligns with my passions, through which I get to oversee the spiritual development of young adults. He has given me other relationships and hungry young women to invest in. He has given me a local church body to support me in ways I hadn’t before experienced.

These gifts have fostered a lot of thankfulness, but honestly, they have also raised some confusion. My time with the Lord over the past few months has involved a battle with some form of this question:

Lord, I feel you calling me to so much. You’ve called me to serve and support my new husband. You’ve called me to invest in my church, my role with Downline, the spiritual development of young women, and much more. I want to do it all, and I want to do it well. But I am weak. I am very limited in what I can handle. Why won’t you heal my body so that I can invest in all of this to the best of my ability?

In his battle with the thorn in his flesh, I imagine that the apostle Paul carried similar questions.

Paul’s Weakness.

While we don’t know exactly what Paul’s thorn was (it could have been a physical ailment, but it could have been a number of other things), we do know that it weakened Paul, and that, at least initially, Paul wanted it gone. In 2 Corinthians 12:8, he writes, Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. Paul didn’t just ask the Lord to take his thorn away, he pleaded. And he pleaded with the Lord, not just once, but three times. Why did Paul want God to take away his thorn so desperately? Paul was human, so just like any of us who face suffering, of course, he wanted to escape it. He wanted relief. However, we can gather enough about Paul from the rest of Scripture to see that the motive behind his pleas could have ran deeper.  And one reason Paul begged God to take away his thorn was likely because he thought it would limit him in his ministry.

Much like me, Paul believed that his weakness was a barrier to His purpose of making Christ known.

God’s Response.

The Lord did not respond to Paul’s pleas by removing his thorn, but instead with the following words:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (12:9).

God did not answer Paul in the way Paul had hoped, but He did answer. Rather than removing Paul’s thorn, God told him that He would meet him in his circumstances with His never-ending grace.  God told him that through this thorn, He was going to make His power even more evident.

Paul’s thorn was not an obstacle but rather an opportunity to make Christ known.

I have to remember this.  My health struggle is not an obstacle to making Christ known, but rather an opportunity for Christ’s power to shine through me.

Your weaknesses—whatever they may be—are not obstacles to making Christ known, but rather opportunities for Christ’s power to shine through you.

This encounter between Paul and the Lord changed the way Paul viewed not only his thorn, but all of his weaknesses and trials. He goes on to say,

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (12:9-10).

These words have carried me through many seasons of weakness. Not only does God say “I’m enough for you in your weakness”, but He also says “I’m going to use your weakness to display my glory”. It is through our limitations, our brokenness, and our weakness that Christ’s power can be seen. He’s the strong one. We must change the way we view our weaknesses and let them be a means to display Jesus.

HOW SHOULD THIS AFFECT YOUR DISCIPLESHIP?

1. Acknowledge Your Weaknesses

Though I want to know what Paul’s thorn was, I am glad the Lord didn’t reveal it explicitly.  Not knowing makes this passage relevant to each and every one of us. We all have areas of weakness—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—and the ways we could insert ourselves into this passage are endless. We are all human. We all sin. We all go through times of trial and pain. We will all have times during which we struggle to believe a truth about God.

Before we can fully understand the sufficiency of God’s grace, we must know our own insufficiency. Apart from Christ, we are completely depraved. But within that, we each also have specific weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to acknowledge them. They don’t make you less of a Christian, less effective, less valuable or less lovable to people or to God.

2. Repent of Trusting in Your Own Strength

The reason Paul was given a thorn in the flesh was to keep him from becoming conceited (12:7). God had allowed Paul to experience amazing revelations that he was not permitted to share with other people (12:2-3). This kind of spiritual insight could have led to a spiritual pride in Paul.  The thorn protected him from developing that attitude. God absolutely gives gifts and talents to His children, and He absolutely wants us to use them for His purposes. The problem arises when we think more highly of ourselves than we should or when we forget that He is the source of our talents. He doesn’t give us gifts and abilities because of who we are, but because of who Christ is. He doesn’t give them to us so that others will elevate or praise us, but so that others will elevate and praise Jesus. When we minister in any context, God doesn’t want us to trust in the gifts He gives us, but to rely on Him.

If you believe that any strength, quality, or gift that you possess is what is going to grow those you disciple, you’re mistaken. It is always the work of the Spirit and only the work of the Spirit (often through our gifts) that leads to changed hearts. Anytime you catch yourself trusting in yourself as the source of anyone else’s spiritual growth, turn to the Lord and confess an attitude of self-sufficiency. Stop relying on your own strength.

3.  Let Them in on Your Weaknesses.

In response to the Lord’s words in this passage, Paul said that he would boast all the more gladly of his weaknesses (12:9).  As you disciple others, you will go through times of difficulty. Many people assume that they shouldn’t let those they lead see that they struggle.  But this isn’t gospel-centered thinking.  It’s also not what Paul teaches us here.

Don’t let those you disciple believe you have it all together when you don’t.  Making yourself appear more sinless than you actually are is an integrity issue, and it can be dangerous. I have seen this type of spiritual leadership affect young Christians in a number of detrimental ways. Here are a few:

Some live in guilt and shame because they struggle to overcome sin. They believe that their difficulties indicate that they are not right with God. Some feel distant from their spiritual leader, and unworthy of him or her, because no matter how hard they try to be like him or her, they can’t. They start closing off when they feel trapped by a fear of rejection, which starts a pattern that carries over into the rest of their relationships. Some fall into legalism, and they begin performing spiritual duties to try to earn approval from their discipler or from God.

The gospel begins with our insufficiency. Therefore, those you lead should be able to see your humanity. Show them your weaknesses. Don’t just share your victories with them, but your failures as well. When times are hard, to whatever degree it is appropriate, let them in. This is so important.

4.    Let Jesus Shine Through.

Paul gave a reason for why he would boast in his weaknesses: so that the power of Christ would rest upon him (12:9). Share your weaknesses with others with a purpose—so that the power of Christ will rest upon you. Ask God to use your weaknesses to display His glory to those you invest in.

Seek Jesus in the midst of your struggle, rely on the Lord fully through it, and as you do, talk about the process with those you lead. Become a model for everyone of what it looks like to pursue Jesus through a time of weakness. Show them how to struggle well. This is something they desperately need to learn. Then, when you have moments like Paul where Jesus meets you in your weakness with His grace and strength, tell them about it. When they see the Lord’s power meet you in your weakness, it won’t lead them to marvel at you, but rather to marvel at Christ. And in discipleship, this should be our ultimate aim.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness.’ Has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” – 2 Corinthians 4: 6-7

Written by Ali Zimmerman

This post was original published on Downline Ministry’s blog, which you can view here.

Ali is connected to Discipleship.org through her work with our partner, Downline Ministries. She has studied psychology at the University of Oklahoma, where her passion for discipleship and God’s Word began. Last we check, she was working on a master’s degree in Christian Education at Dallas Theological Seminary and working part time for a college ministry. 

Source: Discipling in Times of Weakness

The post Discipling in Times of Weakness appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Dr. Kennon Vaughan: As the future of the church, we must understand how to effectively disciple millennials—a generation with unique strengths, weaknesses, learning habits, and desires. Drawing from years of ministry experience and relevant Ph.D. and doctoral studies, the leaders of this track will address how and why the church is losing youth, what millennials need for a healthy discipleship, church structures, and practical models for discipling younger men and women.

As the church in the west continues to capitulate historic orthodoxy for cultural mores, it is imperative the church offers young people biblical truth and a model for Christian living.

Downline Ministries is leading a track at this year’s National Disciple Making Forum.

This is one of the largest gatherings of disciple makers in North America with 65+ workshops, 15+ speakers, and 10+ tracks. Join us to learn practical ways to make disciples of Jesus this November 9-10 (Thursday-Friday). Register for the 2017 National Disciple Making Forum here.

Core Message of Downline

Downline exists to encourage a restoration of biblical discipleship in and through the local church.

Jesus’ model for evangelizing the world and maturing Christians is disciple making in the context of the local church. Discipling is not reserved for pastors and missionaries, but is the responsibility and privilege of every believer of Jesus Christ. Where the church has emphasized programs, events, and the celebrity pastor, we believe the biblical emphasis is upon the individual Christian and equipping them for the work of the ministry. Downline exists to walk along side, encourage, and call the church to recapture biblical, gospel-centered, disciple making pattered after our Lord.

More About Downline

Written by Downline

Downline was founded to address the lack of relational discipleship in the church. We believe that Jesus’ discipleship relationship with the 12 Apostles set the pattern for every believer and is Christ’s means for evangelizing the world and producing mature Christians. Sadly, we were not seeing with any consistency this type of discipling happening in the local church.

As we probed elders, lay leaders, and church members we found that Christians were not making disciples for two reasons: First, Christians are intimidated by their lack of biblical knowledge, and second, most Christians, having never been discipled, don’t know what it means to make disciples or what it looks like.

Downline was founded to resource the local church and train church members in these two areas.

The Downline Institute addresses the two problems mentioned earlier: lack of bible comprehension and unfamiliarity with the task of disciple making. The Downline Institute consists of four hours of class a week for nine months. Over the course of the nine months students are taught their bibles from Genesis to Revelation, discipleship philosophy, and discipleship practice in the local church, the home, and their vocation. In addition to the Institute, Downline hosts an annual discipleship conference, writes curriculum, and hosts a blog and podcast to further equip and resource the church.

Our goal is to equip pastors, lay-leaders, and members alike for the task of biblical disciple making.

Leading this track is Dr. Kennon Vaughan, who serves as the Lead Pastor of Harvest Church in Memphis,TN, and President and Founder of Downline Ministries. A Memphis native and graduate of Auburn University (BA), Dallas Theological Seminary (MBS), and Gordon Conwell Theological (DMin), Kennon founded Downline in 2006 to encourage a restoration of biblical discipleship in and through the local church. He is married to Kathryn and dad to four amazing boys: Caleb, Luke, Jonathan and David.

Source: Discipling Millennials: Engaging the Next Generation with the Gospel

The post Discipling Millennials: Engaging the Next Generation with the Gospel appeared first on Passion for Planting.