Blog 18

My Ordination – a new beginning

Those who know me well will know that I’m not one for ceremony. In fact, in my 14 plus years as a pastor, I have never given much thought to the need to be ordained. I suppose it has much to do with my background, having come from independent evangelical churches where there has always been a strong lay leadership presence and governance with or without the presence of ordained pastors. After all, isn’t it the call to and effectiveness in the ministry that really matters? Why then the need to go the extra step to be ‘ordained’?

Since joining the Christian and Missionary Alliance however, I have begun to appreciate the need to be ordained.

Firstly, the denomination recommends that a pastor works toward ordination. According to the latest Ordination Council Report 2013 of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), Australia, a pastor or worker is ordained as an affirmation that he has been set aside for ministry, has been examined in respect to doctrine, character and gifting and have been found qualified to serve in Australia and worldwide.

Now, having gone through 2 separate readings, including one on C&MA History and Thought, and a second on the Manual of the C&MA Australia, the submission of book reports and essays, attendance at a Leaders’ Orientation Course and Cross Cultural Seminar and finally having gone through 3 gruelling oral doctrinal, theological and ministry interviews, I am more convinced that any candidate to life-long ministry should be thoroughly examined in pursuit of theological excellence and ministry fitness.

Indeed, beyond a close and personal relationship with Jesus, on-going education and disciplined reading habits are vital for a fruitful and successful ministry. With that I am reminded of what Paul himself said to his beloved Timothy “Watch your life and doctrine closely” (1 Tim 4:16).

Secondly, I am told that Chinese churches make a clear distinction between an unordained pastor, who is called a ‘chuan tao’ – an evangelist or preacher of the Word and an ordained pastor, who is called ‘moo tse’ or one who pastors. I had not imagined that I have been anything less than a pastor for the past 14 years in ministry. In the present context however, I am finally accepted as a full-fledged pastor with the title of Reverend. Hence, for the sake of the flock and greater acceptance and effectiveness in ministry, it seems more prudent to surrender to what is culturally more acceptable. After all, scripture does say, “To obey is better than sacrifice…”

Lastly and most importantly, I am told that the Ordination Certificate is recognized in no less than 81 countries where the Alliance is present, thus opening doors to a multitude of ministries worldwide. I am sure this would not be confined to the Alliance but, there would be open doors to other independent and denominational groups. I am excited as this fits in well with my plans to engage in missions work and support, especially in South-East Asian countries, upon retirement from the pastoral ministry.

When I left my previous church about 6 years ago, I shared that I would be leaving them, my Judea for Samaria, which is my present church. Ordination, to me, marks a new beginning to a future work, that is, to the nations and finally, to the ends of the earth.

So, here I am and here I stand, ordained by the C&MA, at the Christian Alliance Church of Victoria this day, mindful that a title now carries with it a greater responsibility towards holiness, faithfulness and effectiveness in ministry.

“Not to us O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the Glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” Ps 115:1

Amen.

Nelson Koh

17 February 2013

Blog 17

BECOMING AND MAKING DISCIPLES Part 1

Call To Discipleship

(Mt 4:18-22)

by Ps Nelson Koh

BACKGOUND

"Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near" (Mt 3:2). That was the clarion call of John the Baptist. Then just when Herod Antipas thought that he had done away with John, then the same message was heard again. "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near". (Mt 4:17) This time it came from Jesus Himself! Little wonder that Herod exclaimed later… "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead!…" (Mt 14:2)

 

What did both John and Jesus mean by the "Kingdom of Heaven"? The Kingdom of Heaven means the 'Sovereign Rule of Christ'. Indeed the 'Rule of Christ' had just broken into their midst. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand but its full glory would only be consummated in the future, at the Second Coming of Christ. Indeed the Kingdom of heaven was central to Jesus' teaching and mission.

 

The good news is that until He comes again, Jesus shares His ministry with us and is in the process of refining and growing the church, His body on earth, to play its part in fulfilling His mission on earth.

 

THE STRATEGY

 

In doing this, Jesus had a simple but profound strategy - the calling and making of disciples first unto Himself and then unto the work of advancing the Kingdom. He is in the business of calling and developing discipleship communities who would walk with Him, learn from Him, obey Him and do His will on earth.

 

But first, what do we mean by disciples? It comes from the Greek word 'mathetes', which in its base form means believer, learner, follower or an apprentice of sorts who follow a Master or Teacher. You may say then “What’s the big deal?” Aren’t I already a disciple, a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ? Aaarh…there are disciples and there are the disciples and we’ll soon find out the difference!

 

It was for the very reason of advancing the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus stepped out where John left out and goes to the 'Galilee of the Gentiles' in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in Is 9:1-2 “…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” So He and called unto Himself the first disciples, two brothers, Andrew and Simon Peter. The passage says, "…They were casting a net into the lake…" when He said " Come, follow me,"… Immediately, we read that they left all their nets and followed Him. Later He did the same with James and John, the sons of Zebedee and they too left all they had and followed Him!

 

Let us now examine some truths that we can learn about the call to discipleship. For this, we need to ask ourselves 3 questions:

 

Who calls us?

What are we called to? and

What are we called for?

 

 

WHO CALLS US?

 

1.     Jesus calls us

 

It is Jesus who calls people unto Himself. In Rabbinical circles, a disciple chooses His Master, and if found acceptable, he voluntarily joins the school. Not so with Jesus - it is He who takes the initiative to call the first disciples, Andrew, Peter, James and John.

 

God's ways are so different from our ways and His thoughts from our thoughts! How often do we hear it said "I made a decision for Christ or I have decided to become a Christian"? While that may be true, let us not forget that the bible in Jn 15:16 says "You did not choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit that will last." Praise God! What a privilege to be called and chosen by Christ Himself!

 

In 2 Thess 2:13 we read “…from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”

 

Then in 1 Pet 2:9 we read “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,…who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

 

Indeed, we have been chosen out of darkness into His wonderful light! We have been chosen to bear His Name and to be called Sons and Daughters of the Living God, to bear fruit for His Kingdom's sake! Hallelujah!

 

How then does it feel to know that you are chosen? Should we not well up with thanksgiving and gratitude in our hearts? Should we not have a great sense of responsibility to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto Him? Should not the love of God motivate us unto service and the work of the Kingdom? Should we not learn to love God and our neighbours even more? Should we not hold fast during times of persecution and suffering? Should we not lead lives worthy of His calling to which we have been called? Should we not be encouraged to become true disciples of Jesus Christ?

 

WHAT ARE WE CALLED TO?

 

1.     Jesus calls us to Himself

 

Discipleship begins with relationship. Jesus calls us into a living relationship with Him. Relationship is fundamental. Serving is secondary to a vital relationship.

 

The call of the Jewish Rabbis and the Greek Philosophers was for their disciples to commit themselves their teachings or traditions. Not so with Jesus. His call was and is to a personal relationship. And that’s what Christianity is all about. We relate to God and with each other at a personal level!

 

With Jesus, everything centers around Him. Discipleship means getting to know Him, trusting in Him, loving Him, following Him and owing our allegiance to Him.

 

In the case of Marxism or communism…they were based on an ideology or a cause. Now we know…except for a couple of nations, they are finished. You See, ideologies and causes don’t last but relationships do! Jesus, in His wisdom chose to have a discipleship relationship with a few chosen men. And it proved to be fool-proof formula to advance the Kingdom of God.

 

2.     Jesus calls us to a radical obedience

 

He calls us to an unreserved obedience to Him for the whole of our lives. The first disciples Andrew, Peter, James and John heard the call, obeyed unquestioningly, dropped all that they had and were doing and followed Him.

 

Interestingly, the Word of God in 1 Sam 15:22b says "…to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams". This was in the context of the disobedience of Saul who instead of destroying the Amalekites lock stock and barrel, chose to keep some sheep and cattle for themselves. When confronted by Samuel, He even rationalized that it would be good to be used as a sacrifice.  Are we guilty sometimes of the same? Rationalizing when Jesus calls, instead of an unconditional surrender to Him and His instructions just like what the first disciples did? Indeed, to obey God's will should be the fundamental objective in our lives.

 

To be a disciple of Jesus is to accept His rule in our lives and to run with Him. Mt 16:24 says, "If any man would come after me, he must deny Himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

 

Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish theologian and philosopher once said, "It’s so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey. There is no faith without obedience and there is no discipleship either”.

 

Talking about evangelism, Jim Wallis, an American Christian writer and political activist once wrote that the great tragedy of modern evangelism today is in calling many to believe but few to obedience. Biblical evangelism should center on the Kingdom of God and calling people to radical obedience and discipleship.

 

3.     Jesus calls us to suffer for His Kingdom’s sake

 

The way of Jesus is the way of the cross. There is a saying “No cross no glory”. Disciples are expected to share not only in the joys but also the pains of following Jesus. Most of us will probably not be able to picture or understand this unless we have experienced what it means to suffer for Christ. Phil 1:29 reminds us " For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him." Anquish, pain and suffering is all part of what makes a true disciple of Christ.

 

Jesus often spoke plainly about His own sufferings and those that His followers must experience. But sometimes they could not or would not understand His warnings. When He said in Mt 16:21 that He must go to Jerusalem to suffer many things and that He would be killed and on the third day be raised to life, Peter took Him aside and began to rebuked Him saying, "Never, Lord!"…"This shall never happen to you!" For this He received a stinging reply "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

 

Again in Mt 16:24, He said to His disciples "If any man would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." By this He meant that the disciples should not be surprised if by following Him they should suffer the same fate. They have to carry their crosses just as Jesus did.

 

Talking about taking up one’s cross, David in 1 Sam 24:24 said “…I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” This was when a man called Araunah offered him a threshing floor, yoke and oxen to offer up a sacrifice to God.

 

Paul also said to Timothy in 2 Ti 3:12 “All who desire to live Godly lives will suffer persecution.” and in Jn 15:20, “A servant is not greater than his Master; if they persecuted me they will persecute you also!”

 

Many suffered from persecution. Of the four in the passage, Peter and John were both imprisoned and beaten. James was killed with the sword. Others, like Paul was beaten five times with the 39 lashes of the Jewish whip, 3 times with the rod and once stoned. According to various Christian traditions, most, if not all the Apostles suffered eventual martyrdom of one form or another.

 

In more recent years, countless thousands of Christians have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith. It is estimated that the twentieth century had seen more martyrdom for Christ than in all of the church's history.

 

Francis Schaeffer had this to say, "This is not an age in which to be soft Christians".

 

Suffering is unavoidably woven into the fabric of discipleship. It is seen as an honour and privilege to suffer for Christ. We can take comfort in knowing that often, it is in the midst of suffering that God works most profoundly in our lives. A Christian once spent 10 years in a Communist prison for his faith. He was tortured, beaten and his bones were broken. When finally released he said that those years were the richest years of his life. "We must pray" he said, "Not that persecution will not come, but that we may be worthy of it and open to the blessings God offers through it."

 

WHAT ARE WE CALLED FOR?

 

1.     Jesus calls us to serve by being fishers of men

 

Jesus added… "and I will make you fishers of men." What did he mean by that? Discipleship is a dynamic process. It does not start and end with just being just a believer or a follower, a Sunday Christian or a pew warmer. No, we are expected to go much further than that.

 

Discipleship has a higher calling for all. We are called to take the higher ground. We are not expected to remain as bottom-line believers and followers. Our call is to become fishers of men! We are expected to grow in loving disciplined relationship with Christ, being built-up in the faith and then being thoroughly equipped to move on to the teaching and proclamation of the gospel by word and deed. Winning souls to the Lord should be our life's objective.

 

The Apostle Paul also said in 2 Ti 2:2 to his beloved Timothy "And the things you heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who would be qualified to teach others."

 

In the Great Commission of Mt 28:19,20 we have "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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…"

 

As what is commonly known as fourth generation disciples (after the Apostles, their Timothys, and reliable men) it is incumbent upon us, recipients of His precious Word to pass it down to reliable men and women who would be able to teach others also. We have an obligation to pass on the good deposit that is in us – the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

CLOSE

 

It is good to note that we are called to discipleship irrespective of our status or qualification

 

This is a world largely obsessed with paper qualification and status in life. But God's ways are not our ways. He chose ordinary men like you and I. He looked at their potential rather than their existing position. He knew that empowered by Him, they were soon to turn the world upside - down. All four disciples were unschooled fishermen.  Later, we have Matthew, a despised tax collector and a second Simon, a zealot. The Rabbis would not look twice at them. They would choose only those who were considered 'ceremonially' clean - those who were righteous by their standards.

 

But Jesus called unto Himself a representative cross section of society to fulfil His mission on earth. By this He set the pattern for the early church as evident in Paul's words to the Corinthian church "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him." (1 Cor 1:27-29)

 

The call to discipleship is not confined to the original twelve.  It refers to men of all times thereafter who hear the voice of God and in obedience follow Him as their Master. His call is for us to obey, to walk with Him in relationship, to serve Him, to suffer, and if need be, to die for His gospel sake. His call is to give ourselves unreservedly to Him and to be totally committed to Him and His cause.

 

The Christian church is not a club. Neither is it a corporate organization or society. We hold a thing called an AGM to satisfy the secular authorities. But it is really far removed from what the church is meant to be; first and foremost a community of disciples, a family, a spiritual body, an army called to fulfil Jesus' mission on earth - the completion of the Kingdom of God. We are engaged in serious business - God's business.

 

As we consider His call to real and true discipleship, let us remember that we are no longer our own, we are chosen by Him, we have been bought with a price and we belong to Him and to each other.

 

Will you deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him today? If you decide that you will, then you would have taken another step in your journey towards true discipleship.

 

Amen.