When it comes to discipleship, whose responsibility is it - the church or the individual? The responsibility rests with both. Unfortunately, a lot of people believe the responsibility rests solely with the church. The expectation is that the pastor does all the feeding while the people do all the eating. This is not only unrealistic and impractical, it is unbiblical. Sure, the church has a responsibility to “feed the sheep” (John 15:17-21), but the people also have the responsibility to feed themselves, be teachers, and go on to perfection (Hebrews 5:12-14; 6:1-3).
The goal of discipleship is to slowly make believers stand on their own two feet. That is, the church is responsible for helping believers grow to a certain point. After that, they should feed themselves and focus on helping the church with its mission.
To do that, expectations must be right sized. Growing Christians must be taught that the church and its leaders cannot and will not do everything for them indefinitely, and at some point they must embrace the habits of spiritual growth for themselves.
2 comments:
Ronnie,
you are so right. I am so grateful that God brought me to PCC. I came here knowing very little about God. listening to you teach and going to my Bible study has brought so much to my life. It made me want more, not to be content to just let it stop there.. I know I have grown so much coming here. It amazes me. But now, I know who He is and what He wants from me. I feel so humbled that He has Blessed me so much.
I read this today and I think it applies here.1st Corinthians,3:5-9,...... You planted the seed, Jewel watered it, But God made me grow. WOW. I become so over whelmed with His presents in my life. I am so grateful, I hope I never get where I don't want to keep seeking Him... Thank you for all your help, it is worth more than you'll ever know..Barbara
Thanks for the encouraging comment Barbara.
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