Within the Virginia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church there is a renewed emphasis on evangelism and making disciples of Jesus Christ.  Jesus, in Matthew 28, commanded the Church to make disciples.  Our Book of Discipline declares that the mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples.  It also lists ways in which to do this.  Before we go about making disciples we need to determine what or who is a disciple of Jesus Christ.  At our Church Conference on October 21, The Reverend Alan Reifsnyder, superintendent of the Alexandria District, provided his thoughts.  He listed eight traits of a disciple.  They are as follows:

A disciple of Jesus Christ is

1. A person who has said “Yes” to the offered love of God made real in Jesus Christ.
2. A person who seeks to understand God’s will for him/her self and the world.
3. A person who works at deepening and developing his/her faith life through the spiritual disciplines of regular worship, prayer, study, generosity and service.
4. A person who looks to the Bible (particularly the New Testament) as the primary source book for understanding God and the Christian walk.
5. A person who decides to follow Jesus; to live as he/she understands Jesus would want him/her to live.
6. A person who participates in a community of faith (Christianity, by its definitions, history, and origins is a communal, not a solitary, faith.).
7. A person who (somehow) shares (acts out) the love of god in Jesus Christ through gifts, acts of kindness, participation in justice ministries, witness, hospitality, etc., in the world.
8. A person who sees the world as it is, recognizes that it is not as God intended it to be, decides to do something to something to bring about change, and acts on that decision.

            Based on the above list of traits, how do you stack up as a disciple?  How many disciples do you know?  How does what we do as a congregation contribute to making disciples (or strengthening those who are already disciples)?  What more should we be doing?  What are we now doing that detracts from our efforts and should be eliminated?  These are questions which we need to consider as we create an Evangelism Team to lead in our efforts at Lincolnia Church to make disciples.  It’s important to strengthen our existing disciples before undertaking to make new ones.  After all, throughout Creation, like makes like (Ducks make more ducks, trees make more trees, etc.), disciples make more disciples.  I invite your input.
Peace,
Bill