by Rev. Benjamin Chung (鍾立恆牧師)
On 6/29, 9 SFCBC members went to SBBC (San Bruno Baptist Church) for both the Annual Meeting and also a training titled, Blueprint for Discipleship. We all came away learning more about how we can affect and grow our church. I’d like to share a few details I learned.
One is just the makeup of groups within the church. The Fellowship Group designation we all grew up with now has a modern and refreshed title, LG (Life Group). The purpose is still the same, which is to be comprised of believers and non-believers (evangelistic by nature!). This is different from a D-Group (Discipleship Group), which is to be smaller and more intimate and has 3-5 same-gender members. Just has Jesus has His inner 3 of Peter, James and John, we can also have a smaller group to meet and spur one another on “towards love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24 NIV84). This is what has been happening with the Experiencing God groups.
Another difference is the purpose of an LG versus a D-Group. LGs are what help an individual by showing him he is welcomed and he belongs, teaches him how to encounter Jesus and His Word, and is where disciples are made and trained. The D-Group is the intentional training of brothers and sisters through deep relationships, “empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to replicate faithful followers of Christ” (D-Groups, p.1). Both groups meet weekly but D-Groups are also “short” and only last 12-18 months, while LGs are a community that meets for a period of time and then launch new groups! This said, LGs have flexible expectations of the members while D-Groups have high expectations of the participants, which include: covenant commitments and consistent accountability. Lastly, both groups are encouraged to develop more leaders of their respective groups. But we have to be careful because while a teacher shares information with his students, the discipler shares his life with the disciples.
Jesus did the same. He called everyone to repent from sin and to love the Father and one’s neighbor as oneself. But He only called 12 disciples to “Follow Me”. What did Jesus say they were going to do? “Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now you will catch men” (Luke 5:10b). The difference is stark as the remaining 11 were the future leaders of the Christian faith, while the general population was not. I encourage us all to consider who we are evangelizing and who we are discipling. This is how a healthy church grows. If you are not doing at least one, bring this to prayer and ask the Lord to help you remove whatever is impeding your process of teaching and training up new leaders. The responsibility hasn’t changed; each Christian is to go and “catch men” for Jesus. The 2 questions for us to ask ourselves are: “How many have I caught?” and “Who am I training up as a future discipler?”
Translation:
6月29日，9名三藩市浸信會(SFCBC)成員前往聖布魯諾浸信會(San Bruno Baptist Church) 參加年會，並參加了一項名為「門徒訓練藍圖」的培訓。我們離開時都學到了一些如何更多影響和發展我們的教會。我想分享一下我學到的一些細節。
一個是教會內部群體的構成。我們這「團契」名稱現在有一個現代和更新的稱謂: LG（Life Group生活小組）。目的仍然是相同的，由信徒和非信徒組成（本質就是福音性！）。這與DG（Discipleship Group門徒訓練組）不同，後者更小，更親密，有3-5個同性別成員。正如耶穌有彼得，雅各和約翰的核心，我們也可以有一個較小的團體在「走向愛與善行」中相遇並互相激勵（希伯來書10:24 NIV84）。這就是「不再一樣」羣體這套門徒訓練課程中一直所要做的事情。
另一個區別是LG與DG的目的。 生活小組(LG, Life Group)通過向個別組員展示他受到歡迎並且他屬於這個團體, 教導他如何遇到耶穌和他話語的教導，在這小組是門徒被製造和訓練的地方。 門徒訓練組(DG, Discipleship Group)是通過深層關係對兄弟姐妹進行有意識的訓練，「由聖靈授權，以復制基督的忠實信徒」（DG，第1頁）。兩個小組都是每週見面，但DG是「暫時性的」，只持續12-18個月，而LG則是一個會存在一段時間的社群，然後誕生出新的小組！這就是說，LG對成員有彈性的期望，而DG對參與者抱有很高的期望，包括：契約承諾和連貫一致的問責制。最後，鼓勵兩個小組都培養更多各自的領導人。但我們必須要小心注意，因為當教師的是與學生分享信息，而門徒卻是與其他門徒分享他的生命。
耶穌做了同樣的事。他呼籲每個人都要悔改，要愛天父和愛人如己。但他只召集了12個門徒來
「追隨我」。耶穌説他們會做什麼？ 「然後耶穌對西門說：「不要怕！從今以後，你要得人了」 (路加福音5：10b）。差別很明顯，因其餘11人是基督教信仰的未來領袖，而一般人則不然。我鼓勵大家都考慮我們傳福音的對象和我們的門徒。這就是健康教會成長的方式。如果你沒有做至少一個，請把它帶到禱告中，並求主幫助你去除任何妨礙你教導和訓練新領袖的過程。責任沒有改變;每個基督徒都要去為耶穌「得人」。我們要問自己的兩個問題是：「我得到了多少人？」和「我在訓練誰成為一名未來的門徒？」
コメント