Our responsibility

This post is from the defunct blog "Dying Church"

It is not our responsibility "to make people 'Christians'" and get them baptized into a particular denomination, but rather to help people decide to follow Jesus and his radical message. Maybe this is why the New Testament writers only use "Christian" three times but "disciple" on 269 occasions! (Tom Getman, World Vision International)

Comments

[Dave]

I agree with the notion that we cannot "make people Christians" for through the sovereign initiative of God's Spirit His elect are born from above into His kingdom. Also I hear the writer rightly flaging misguided denominationalism in deference to following Jesus and his message. It's true that denominational entailments can shroud the health and vitality of believers and their calling to be relationally yoked to Christ in the obedience of the faith.

[Mike]

I think sometimes we are concerned with making people like ourselves rather than like Christ. Jesus called us to a radical way of life.

[Lucy]

Part of the problem is an assumption that attending church equals being a disciple. Leads to an unhealthy reliance on the denomination, rather than Christ. So true, one is a disciple of Christ, not the church. We should encourage each other to find our own relationship with Christ, not that of the denomination. Lucy