(1) evangelistic ministry endeavors, as they evangelize large numbers of non-Christians through their life of witness and Gospel proclamation and bring them, by God’s grace, to faith in Jesus Christ;

(2) maturational ministry endeavors, as they grow up into Christ, who is the Head of His body, and become mature disciples of Jesus, who are also His stewards, servants, priests, witnesses, salt, light, and living letters;

(3) organic ministry endeavors, as they are connected to each other in relationships that live out the “one another” admonitions of the New Testament (for example, “love one another,” “pray for one another,” etc.), with each believer using his or her gifts for the building up of the body and for the common good; and

(4) incarnational ministry endeavors, as they live out their life of faith and do the good works that God has prepared for them to do (Ephesians 2:8-10); that wherever they go, and to whomever they come into contact with, other people are able to see that they are His disciples – stamped and fashioned in the image of Jesus and are a living witness to Him (Galatians 2:20; 1 John 2:6).

In contextualization, the communicator takes the initiative and moves into the receptor’s frame of reference.  The idea of contextualization is to frame the Gospel message in language and communication forms appropriate and meaningful to the target culture.

The communicator preaches two sermons:  (1) the first sermon is the preaching of the Law so that the sinner might come to a condemning and convicting knowledge of his or her sin; and (2) the second sermon is the preaching of the Gospel that a person is saved by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ.

The communicator accords to the Word of God its rightful primacy – that is, its power to penetrate every culture and speak within each culture, in its own speech and symbol, the Word which is both judgment and grace.

Finally, it is the receptor’s specific culture that will determine the language and manner in which the Gospel should be communicated and also the patterns in which one’s new life in Christ is nurtured and exercised.

In order to explore that question, I begin by gathering some notes from Schaff’s HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH — here are a few notes from his research:

Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists:

-when the believers began to number thousands, the apostles could not possibly perform all the functions of teaching, conducting worship, and administering discipline (1:488)

-they were obliged to create new offices for the ordinary wants of the congregation, while they devoted themselves to the general supervision and the further extension of the Gospel (1:488)

-thus arose gradually the various general and congregational offices in the church (1:488)

-apostles…originally twelve in number…who were the founders and pillars of the whole church (1:490)
-prophets…were the inspired and inspiring teachers and preachers of the mysteries of God (1:490)
-evangelists…were apostolic commissioners for a special work (like our modern day missionaries) (1:491)

-officers of the local congregations who were charged with carrying forward in particular places the work begun by the apostles and their delegates (1:491)…there were two kinds of officers: BISHOPS and DEACONS

1:   Presbyter (elder) or Bishop (overseer)

-called to tend the flock of God (1:493)

-by the 2nd century, the bishop was regarded first as the head of the congregation surrounded by a council of presbyters

-the office of the presbyter-bishop was to teach and to rule the particular congregation committed to their charge (1:495)…to them belonged the direction of public worship, the administration of discipline, the care of souls, and the management of the church property (1:496)…being supported by voluntary contributions

-it is quite probable that these presbyter-bishops distributed the various duties of their office among themselves according to their respective talents and experiences (1:496)

-the bishops were limited in their jurisdiction either to one congregation or to a small circle of congregations (1:496)

-according to the “angels of the seven churches”, these are the local presbyters who are the responsible messengers of God to the congregation (1:497)

2:   Deacons

-Acts 6 gives us an account of the origin of the office…and it had a precedent in the officers of the synagogue who had charge of the collection and distribution of alms (1:499)…and was done so that the apostles could devote themselves exclusively to prayer and the ministry of the Word (1:499)

-the office of the deacons was to minister at the table of the love-feasts and to attend to the needs of the poor and the sick (1:499)…taking care of widows and orphans, dispensing hospitality to strangers, and relieving the needs of the poor (1:500)

-thus, the presbyters were the custodians, the deacons the collectors and distributors, of the charitable funds (1:500)…since poverty and sickness afford some of the most beneficial occasions for edifying instruction and consolation (1:500)

-two of the Jerusalem deacons, Stephen and Philip, also labored as preachers and evangelists (1:500)

-deaconesses…had a similar charge of the poor and sick in the female portion of the church (1:500)…and were usually chosen from elderly widows (1:501)

-caring for the poor and sick, by the middle of the third century, they baptized, distributed the sacramental cup, said the church prayers, not seldom preached, and were confidential advisers (2:132)

3:   Minor Offices…the expansion of the church, and the development of her cultus, led to the multiplication of offices below the DIACONATE…by the middle of the third century, the following officers are mentioned (2:131-132):

-sub-deacons…assistants and deputies of the deacons – the only one of these subordinate offices for which a formal ordination was required

-readers…who read the Scriptures in the assembly and who had charge of the church books

-acolyths…attendants of the bishops in their official duties and processions

-exorcists…who, by prayer and the laying on of hands, cast out the evil spirit from the possessed…and from catechumens…and frequently assisted in baptism

-precentors…for the musical parts of the liturgy, psalms, benedictions, responses, etc.

-janitors or sextons…who took care of the religious meeting-rooms, and, at a later period, the church yards

-catechists

-interpreters…so that people could hear the Word in their own language

4:   Bishop Cornelius of Rome (d. 252) gives the number of officers in his church as:

-46 presbyters…probably corresponding to the number of the meeting-houses of the Christians in his city

-7 deacons, after the model of the church at Jerusalem (Acts 6)

-7 sub-deacons

-42 acolyths

-52 exorcists, readers and janitors

Jesus went about all the cities and villages…preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom

THE HUMAN CONDITION

1:   The parable of the wheat and the weeds

2:   The parable of what defiles a person — the human heart and its sickness unto death

GOD’S RESPONSE TO THE HUMAN CONDITION

3:   The doctor to the sick…”I came, not for the righteous, but for sinners”

4:   The parable of the stronger man…and His parabolic actions…wisdom is justified by her deeds

5:   The parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son

6: Parables about the Kingdom extending itself into the hearts of humankind

-the parable of the mustard seed
-the parable of the leaven
-the parable of the kingdom growing secretly

MAN’S RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

7:   The parable of the sower and the seed

8:   The parable of the children in the marketplace – convicting the world of its false messiahs

9:   The parable of the rich man and Lazarus – the only power that can convert is the Word

10:   The parable of the hidden treasure/the merchant in search of pearls

11:   The parable of the rich fool/the parable of the weather signs – the examined life

12:   The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector/the parable of the wedding garment
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

13:   The parable of the unknown day and hour

14:   The parable of the two foundations and of the two paths

15:   The parable of the marriage feast

16:   The parable of the two sons

But this blog is not about the quality of the movie’s direction and why it deserved to be BEST PICTURE that year but, instead, one of the lines spoken by hitman Anton as he is about to kill Carson Wells (a bounty hunter): “Let me ask you something; if the rule you followed brought you to this, ‘of what use was the rule?’”

What a great line and one that could be used by Christians in their evangelistic labors as we seek to help people acquire both soteriological (saving wisdom) and hermeneutical (how to make sense of life) wisdom. Anton’s question is a modern paraphrase of something Jesus taught in His sermon on the mount when He said:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who find it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Everyone lives by a RULE — a way of life — yet there are only two rules, two paths, two ways, for a human being to walk — one path, one way embraces the abundant life and leads to a very good place and, the other path, is a perishing way of life that leads to a very bad place — so, I ask you, “IF THE RULE YOU FOLLOWED BROUGHT YOU TO THIS, OF WHAT USE WAS THE RULE?”

(1) Principle of Simplification: are you able to articulate a clear, practical and transformational vision?

(2) Principle of Motivation: are you highly effective at gaining the agreement and commitment of other people?

(3) Principle of Facilitation: do you have the ability to effectively facilitate the learning of individuals, teams, and other reliable and reputable resources?

(4) Principle of Innovation: do you have the ability to boldly initiate change to fulfill the vision?

(5) Principle of Mobilization: do you have the ability to enlist, equip and empower others to fulfill the vision?

(6) Principle of Preparation: do you have the ability to keep learning with and without the help of others?

(7) Principle of Determination: are you the one that has ability to finish the race?

(1) NUMERICAL GROWTH, as they seek to evangelize large numbers of non-Christians through their life of witness and Gospel proclamation and bring them, by God’s grace, to faith in Jesus Christ;

Motivated by His love, and possessing an urgency that none perish but that all people might be saved, each disciple of Jesus vigorously seeks to make known His love for all people as they share the Good News about Jesus with those who do not believe in Him. They understand that they are the ones who have been sent by God into the lives of their family members, neighbors, friends and acquaintances as “fishers of men” and “sowers of the Word of God” so that they might embrace a saving way of life (and leave their perishing way that leads to eternal death and separation from God). Consequently, they possess an outwardly-focused impulse, as did their Lord, to share the Gospel with those who do not believe in Him with the hope that they, by God’s grace and activity, might come to saving faith in Him.

(2) MATURATIONAL GROWTH, as they grow up into Christ, who is the Head of the body, and become mature disciples of Jesus, who are also His stewards, servants, priests, witnesses, salt, light, and living letters;

A disciple is a believer in Jesus Christ who is an active student of God’s Word, building one’s life on the person and word of Jesus Christ and being stamped and fashioned in the mold of Jesus Christ as an imitator and living witness to Him. Being a wise disciple, they are committed to hearing the words of Jesus and putting them into practice (Matthew 7:24-27) so that they might grow up into Him in every way (Ephesians 4:11-18) and be equipped, as a mature follower of Jesus, for their ministry in the lives of other people, both believers and non-believers.

As His stewards, they seek to use all of the gifts that He has given them to prosper His business; as witnesses, they seek to speak and live in such a way that others can easily see that they have been with Jesus and that Jesus lives in them; as His priests, they pray for believers and non-believers before the throne of God frequently and fervently and, as they face others in their daily contacts and relationships, they become His instrument of counsel and consolation and blessing in their lives; as His servants, they empty themselves as did their Master and Lord (John 13:2-17; Philippians 2:5-11) so that others might be served; as His salt, they are to live in such a way that this corrupt world is challenged with His abundant life and convicted to embrace a living way filled with hope and health; as His light, they have been sent to do good works so that others may see these caring and loving works and glorify the Father who is the giver of every good gift and the Father of all light; as His living letters, they desire that their words and actions are “read” in such a way by others that they would see Jesus living in them (Acts 4:12-13; Galatians 2:20).

(3) ORGANIC GROWTH, as they are connected to each other in relationships that live out the “one another” admonitions of the New Testament, with each believer using his or her gifts for the building up of the body and for the common good;

A disciple does not live his or her life separate from other disciples since they are the body of Christ, each one connected to Him, and to one another, as His members. Consequently, they come together often to praise God for calling and gathering them into His family and making them to be His people. As they come together, they seek to hear and know the Word of God so that they might tell it to others and live it in their lives.
In their life together, they understand that each believer is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and serves as His instrument of blessing that counsels, consoles, encourages and builds up each other in the Christian faith and His way of life together. They also understand that the Gospel, along with at least one spiritual gift, has been entrusted into their life for the common good of others within the body and they actively seek ways to bless others with this gift. As they journey together in this life, and toward their eternity with God and His people, they are committed to be a blessing to each member of the body as they have an equal concern for one another, pray for one another, love one another, honor one another, serve one another, forgive one another, and give their lives for one another.

(4) INCARNATIONAL GROWTH, that wherever they go, and to whomever they come into contact with, they are able to be His ambassadors and living letters, mediating His mind and word and demonstrating His love, concern and compassion for others;

From the very beginning of time and history, God’s fundamental mission is to SAVE HUMANKIND for God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of their salvation in Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:4). Every believer has a mission and is being sent by God to be His ambassadors and living letters as they “go and make disciples of all nations” and peoples. This mission is to permeate all of their lives and acts of living. In these daily mission trips, we are to make known His mind and word in the lives of others and demonstrate His love, concern and compassion.

Moreover, the growth of His church should be CONTINUOUS and in EQUILIBRIUM:

CONTINUOUS…in that the Christian faith, and way of life, is being modeled, taught, and passed on from generation to generation, and to the ends of the earth, so that the peoples of the earth might always know of His salvation:

God’s people know that God makes disciples through EVANGELISM and EDIFICATION as they pass on their faith from generation to generation. For example, ever since Timothy was an infant, his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice were active in making known in his life the Good News about Jesus so that he could know of his Savior Jesus and be thoroughly equipped for his life as a disciple and witness. Just as Jesus grew “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men,” so Lois and Eunice, along with other believers in Lystra as the body of Christ in that place, taught and modeled a way of life for young Timothy so that he could grow “in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature” (Ephesians 4:13) and live a life that shared the Gospel with others so that they might know of His salvation. Lois and Eunice understood and lived out the admonition that God gave to His people during their wilderness journey that they were to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” AND to impress His commands upon their hearts and upon the hearts of their descendants (Deuteronomy 6:5-6). Wherever, and to whomever, the Lord led them they were to talk about the stories of the sacred Scriptures and impress His design for living upon one another as they lived before a watching world (Deuteronomy 6:7).

Christianity is, therefore, a CONTINUOUS and CYCLICAL PROCESS: CONVERSION, as unbelievers are brought to faith in Christ Jesus as their Savior; MATURATION in the Christian faith, as believers are incorporated into the community of believers and become mature as they grow up into Christ who is the Head; and INCARNATION as His living letters, believers who are equipped and sent for witness/service in the world so that they can minister His mind/will and word and demonstrate His love and compassion for humankind.

IN EQUILIBRIUM for…to seek numerical growth without attending to maturational and incarnational growth is to neglect the teaching dimension of Jesus (teaching them to observe all these things that I have commanded you);

IN EQUILIBRIUM for…to seek only maturational and organic growth neglects the mission and scope of the Great Commission (GO and make disciples of all nations);

IN EQUILIBRIUM for…without maturational, organic and incarnational growth, the GOING and the TEACHING and the INCORPORATION cannot be effectively put into effect.

God’s people understand the proper balance between EDIFICATION (building one another in the Christian faith and becoming mature in Christ), and EVANGELISM (proclaiming the Good News about Jesus to those who do not believe in Him), and fostering a healthy, vibrant organic body life together. This integration is achieved through the counsel and practices of the five-fold gifts given to humankind from their ascended Lord (Ephesians 4:11-18) and was clearly seen in the life of those who followed Jesus after His resurrection and ascension. Day after day they met together and DEVOTED THEMSELVES to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer (Acts 2:42) AND of being of one heart and mind (Acts 4:32). Because of their message, and their way of living together, the Lord added daily to their group others who were being saved. Their mission was to live His design for living and proclaim the Good News to those estranged from the God who loved them and gave His life for them.

Now, if we look at these questions as a congregational member, our answers will probably be quite different than if we look at these same questions from the multi-faceted ways that the Scriptures understand our life to be as His people.

For example, if I am an average congregational member within the LC-MS, I am responsible to attend worship plus contribute to the physical/financial operation of the church; how often I attend, and how much I wish to contribute in terms of time and wealth, is largely left up to me. But, if I seek to understand my life from a Biblical perspective, there are a whole range of words that are used to describe my life as His child: disciple, servant, light, salt, steward, witness, ambassador, priest, living stone, a member of the body of Christ; to name just a few.

So, what are you responsible for?

The best way for us to determine what we are responsible for IN THIS LIFE is to understand our lives from His perspective. Because we are disciples of Jesus, we are responsible to live as a disciple; so what is a disciple of Jesus Christ? A disciple is an active student of God’s Word and builds one’s life on the person and Word of Jesus Christ. Jesus, in John’s Gospel, identified two marks of a disciple:

(1)    “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…he who belongs to God hears what God says” (John 8:31-32, 47); and

(2)    “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35)

As a disciple of Jesus, a disciple does more than just master the Word, a disciple is stamped and fashioned in the mold of Jesus Christ and is a living witness to Him (and of His love for all people). When Jesus said, “follow Me,” He was confiscating the hearer for Himself. Jesus was laying claim to people in Messianic authority and with Messianic grace.

When Jesus opened His mouth and TAUGHT, He was more than a master teacher enunciating a higher system of ethics; He was the Messianic Master molding the wills of those whom He had claimed by His call. Those who receive His mercy, He makes them to be merciful; those who know and experience His peace, He makes them to be peacemakers. They are salt and light and, as salt and light, they are to have a salutary effect upon their surroundings: salt seasons and preserves and light dispels darkness.

So, what are we responsible for as God’s people? The Great Commission lays the double obligation upon us: (1) the strengthening and maturation of present disciples in their already existing discipleship AND (2) reaching out to those who are not yet disciples with the hope that they will become His DISCIPLES (and SERVANTS and STEWARDS and PRIESTS and WITNESSES and AMBASSADORS – so what does this mean in terms of what I am responsible for in the presence of God and in the presence of other human beings?)

Pastoral and teaching counsel and practice would focus on feeding and caring for the body of Christ; guarding and keeping the one true faith; forming and equipping God’s people to be able to test the spirits for not every spirit comes from God (1 John 4:1-6); guiding and exhorting God’s people to be faithful stewards of the Gospel, and of His many physical blessings, so that they might be a blessing to the nations through their Gospel proclamation and their deeds of love and compassion within the body of Christ and in the world; and cultivating a biblical spirituality in God’s people.

Pastoral and teaching counsel and practice would communicate His Word, and His way of life, so that it forms and shapes the believer’s entire existence through the daily, intentional, socialization of the Christian faith in Christian homes and in the ministries of the church.

Evangelistic counsel and practice would encourage and equip God’s people to reach out to others with the narratives of Scripture so that they can help those who do not know God’s story to make sense of their story in light of His saving story. This is what Philip, the evangelist, did with the Ethiopian official as he had opportunity to talk about these things on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts 8). The official could not make sense of the passage that he was reading from Isaiah so, beginning with that very passage, Philip “told him the good news about Jesus.”

It is my understanding from God’s Word that every person is precious to God and that every person’s life is like a “text.” Evangelistic counsel and practice would encourage and equip God’s people to understand and interpret the “text” of another person’s life in light of His “texts,” the sacred Scriptures (Law and Gospel), especially the saving “text” of the Word become flesh, Jesus Christ (John 3-4) so that those who do not have a saving relationship with Jesus might come to know and believe in Him.