[Gamecock]

ALL,

While there are a couple of points that we will disagree on, I’d like to keep focused on the bigger picture painted in this article!

Have we, as the church universal, lost our way by not focusing on the full content of the great commission?

Are we really making disciples?

Matthew 28:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

[wmfights]

Thank you for the ping, I'm assuming it's okay for me to join the discussion.

While there are a couple of points that we will disagree on, I’d like to keep focused on the bigger picture painted in this article!

Without getting into the Baptism debate, I think one issue we don't look at is the early Christian church was united by a common faith. No one dominant church had emerged.

Today this consensus is no longer obvious. Many of us were raised with evangelistic invitations that distinguished sharply between what happens inside us and what happens outside us, between "getting saved" and "joining a church";

Today to much emphasis on which church you are in and how it is different from others has led to the growth of Non-Denoms. The critical factor from my perspective is do you believe The Gospel, do you believe in the Trinitarian understanding of God. If you hold these as firm beliefs we can argue all day, but we are still Brothers and when someone asks we should be ready to preach The Gospel.

[wmfights]

Today this consensus is no longer obvious. Many of us were raised with evangelistic invitations that distinguished sharply between what happens inside us and what happens outside us, between "getting saved" and "joining a church"; a "personal relationship with Jesus" versus "church membership." And all of this goes back still further, to pietism and revivalism and before that to radical Anabaptist movements and still further back to monastic spirituality. The idea is that real disciples are "made" not in the theater of ordinary Word-and-sacrament ministry and the care of elders and deacons, but in the parachurch enclaves for super-spiritual saints.

Okay so getting back to the discussion. :-)

It seems that it is one of man's characteristics to want to elevate individuals, or organizations, to higher levels then we should, or require credentials of them. I'm reminded of who Jesus selected to be His disciples. They were fishermen, tax collectors and other "lowly" professions. Maybe the point we should be learning is it's not important what the name on the door is, or where the person went to school, but what is being said.

If this is our guide then the issue becomes how do you measure their words.