Yesterday I stressed the point that you cannot serve the mission of Jesus in isolation from the church. To be a Christian is to be a member of Christ’s body and it is only the body of Christ, that is, the community of believers, who can become the fullness of what Jesus wants to be in the world today. Jesus called us to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). This means that we must lead and nurture people from unbelief to strong faith and full spiritual maturity. Now, no one Christian can do this for another person on their own. It takes a church to disciple an individual. You simply do not have all it takes to disciple a person to full spiritual maturity. You have something to contribute, but not everything. God has distributed the requisite gifts among many people in your church. Discipleship is a community task and involves lots of different people with lots of different abilities. Those who are being discipled will themselves contribute to this nurturing, supportive network right from the beginning. So, you can relax knowing that you are just a link in a bigger discipleship chain. Your part is small, but enormously significant as every link is vital for a strong chain. Recognise then, what your part is in this thing called the church. Only together can we become everything that Jesus wants to be in the world today. Only together can we fulfil his mission. Be involved in your clubs, schools, social networks and workplaces. But be a part of a church, and be present in those contexts as a representative of Christ.
Ask God to open your eyes to opportunities to represent im to others today.
Read Ephesians 4:1-16 again
