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Grow & Go - April 2024

In Christ, We Are Called to Give Counsel

Early on as a new Christian, there was much valuable counsel that was given to me by my pastor and others that shaped my theological understanding of what it meant to follow Jesus. Good books were given to me while others were suggested, key doctrines were explained, sound preaching was heard every Sunday, and more importantly, all my questions (and there were many) were answered. All these questions were being answered through the lens of Scripture while in fellowship and discipleship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all giving counsel to others whether we are in our homes with our spouses, while at work, in church, dealing with our children, or even our parents. Each of us is giving counsel all the time in all that we do. The question that we must ask ourselves in Christ is this; is the counsel we are giving informed by and according to the Scriptures?

On one such occasion that I was counseled early on as a believer, my pastor knowing that I was a fisherman, had asked me to meet in his office. He typically had stacks of thumb-tabbed books on his office desk preparing for sermons. On this given day, however, I walked into his office and he had only one book on his desk, the Bible. He said, “There is likely nothing I could probably ask you about a fish that swims around here that you couldn’t tell me. How to catch it, with what bait to use, the best time of year, etc. Am I right”? I answered, “You’re probably right”.  He then grabbed the Bible from lying atop his desk, held it up high, and paused for a moment. My pastor and friend then said, “That Paul, is how you need to know God’s Word”. He then explained how God’s Word is sufficient and that it will provide all we need, all that I needed, that pertains to life and godliness referencing 2 Peter 1:3. I had no idea at the time how valuable this counsel would end up being in my life, and it was the counsel that I needed to hear at the perfect time God ordained. 

Numerous places in Scripture inform us as believers that we are all to be counselors using the Word of God to speak into other people's lives.  Since the beginning of time, our Sovereign Creator and Lord uttered counsel to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:16-17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” The apostle Paul gives us a picture of what a community of believers giving counsel in action looks like when he said, “Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted” (Gal 6:1). All Christians are to give the whole counsel of God’s Word and be prepared to share the gospel with others. The Book of Psalms provides us with wisdom and the words to pray and praise back to our Holy God because they are about our Holy God giving glory to the Holy God who created us. All Christians being counselors, are to be counseling others by witnessing “the fruit of the spirit” (Gal 5:22-23) and speaking truth into the lives of believers in the theologies of sin, suffering, salvation, and the Church.

Since all Christians are counseling someone in all that we do, our aim should be what Paul exhorted in Colossians 1:28 exclaiming “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ”. Four things are communicated by Paul here that we should recognize from this text alone; proclaiming, warning, teaching, and finally, that people would be viewed as mature Christians. The second of these is what stands out when looked at in the Greek, “warning” which means nouthetountes, translating into the word “counseling”. Paul was speaking to ordinary people here that it was his desire for all of God’s people to give
counsel to others for when they stood before God in judgment they would be seen as “mature in Christ” (Col 1:28).

My prayer is that as you have read this, you will be encouraged to know that as Christians, others are looking to you for wisdom and counseling. There are people everywhere in our sphere of influence who are more anxious, hurt, worried, and scared than seemingly ever before. What people need, what I need, is not self-help, self-diagnosis, or
self-medication. We need the Words of our Redeemer who speaks life into every situation. Every person has the ability as a born-again Christian to be the mouthpiece of the Word within this lost and dying world needing biblical counsel.

Let me encourage you that as one who has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit and given power in Christ, you can give counsel from God’s Word. I pray that it be from “the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:2) and a transformed life this counsel flows from.

Grow & Go - March 2024

The Joy in Discipleship

There are times when many of us struggle with having joy in this life. Yes, even Bible-believing, fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. I have gone through seasons that seemed as if I were just spinning my wheels, where the busyness of life was so overwhelming that an end was not in sight.  Times when I had to stop and ask myself, what sort of kingdom impact am I making by doing this or that? There have even been situations when the brokenness of others around me seemed to drag the energy from my body or wear me out. Or seasons where my aging body informs me that I am not getting any younger. It is during times of joylessness I remind myself that the power of Christ is
magnified most during times of my weakness (2 Cor 12:9). More importantly when the realization sets in that my joy is waning, a redirect typically needs to occur from self to the Savior. When this redirect occurs, it typically is emphasized in the Word by the Holy Spirit, our helper, that I need to die to self (Lk 9:23), and that my real joy is found in discipling others. It is during our greatest of lows, that our need to cling to Christ becomes most evident.

When I say there is joy in discipleship, there is an unspeakable joy that should flow out of love – love for Christ, and what He has done on our behalf by dying on the cross. If not careful, we can forget what we were like before Jesus transformed us. We can forget the joy we first had when we were born again and if not staying in the Word, that love can diminish. If not mindful of our sinfulness, and the unmerited grace we received, we can see the work done in the name of Christ as burdensome. What helps me to remain focused and thwart this, is the giving away of myself to others in discipleship. What pushes me towards discipling another, is that I have experienced for myself the goodness of our Savior and Lord. Keeping our eyes perfectly affixed to our Savior helps us, helps me, to deny self and “count others more significant” (Phil 2:3)

It is very encouraging for me to see another Christian finding delight in the Word of God (Ps 119:16) and resting in the finished work of Christ (Jn 19:30). Let me encourage you to take what you know about Christ and His Word and invest that in another believer. If you have found yourself in a place where there is little joy or usefulness, there is a joy to be found in making disciples. In no way is discipleship easy, but considering what Christ paid that we may have life, there is a cost that we must count. The cost for us on this side of Heaven once we have been transformed by the gospel, is that we are to be making disciples (Matt 28:20). I think David Mathis best captures the essence of the joy in discipleship when he said, “Disciple-making is indeed costly – and designed by God, when healthy, to be a great joy-producing enterprise. It is not easy, but hard work. Yet it is deeply rewarding, with joys we do not otherwise taste apart from God’s work in and through us in ‘sharing our own selves’ (1 Thess 2:8) with others.”   Therefore, yes
discipleship is a mandate, it will cost us something, it is not easy nor should it be burdensome, and there can be great joy found in discipleship as we count the cost of following Christ. 

1. David Mathis. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-cost-of-disciple-making, 2017.