In John 4:34-36, Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
Finally, Willard affirms that piety involves working the fields white unto harvest. Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Working the fields white unto harvest requires “witness”. That specifically means speaking individually to others about their condition before God and about God’s provision for them. Evangelical piety requires presenting the gospel in all of its connections to life as well as in special public effort to “reach the lost.” In this context, one sees why a lively conception of sin remains important.
The finally aspect of witnessing for the gospel and the kingdom of Heaven is standing for truth. Earnestly contending for the faith, but includes standing for what is “right and just in the eyes of the Lord” and good in society. For evangelicals, Christ-centered piety must always be from the heart and unto God. It is not for the benefit of appearance. It is not to impress people. It is a matter of an honest and transparent heart standing before a just and holy God. Just being who I am because of Christ’s death on the Cross. There is a need for this kind of transparency as part of the gospel life.
The Great Commission of Jesus - Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Willard declares that in evangelical piety, one lives as a disciple of Jesus, and discipleship is a process of learning and growth. In 2 Peter 3:18, the Apostle testifies, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” As a learning process, discipleship means living interactively with His resurrected presence (through His holy Word, His personal presence, and through other people) as we progressively learn to lead our lives as He would. One of the principle problems for contemporary evangelicals is that they have lost the concept of discipleship. It is now assumed that you can be a Christian without being a disciple of Jesus Christ, and many are. To be a disciple is to be an apprentice or student/follower of Jesus in Kingdom of God living. But today’s “social evangelicals” may farm the making of disciples out to “parachurch” organizations (Christian faith-based organizations that work parallel to, but outside and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism). In fact, sadly, we are now somewhat at a loss to what discipleship is. The Great Commission of the Lord has become the great omission of the church. It seems that this great Commandment has been reduced to a great suggestion.
The teaching of salvation by grace through faith has brought people to a condition where they really don’t know what they are supposed to do. Currently, we are not only saved by grace, we are paralyzed by it. There is great confusion. We find it hard to see that grace is not opposed to effort, but is opposed to earning. The grace of God is not earned, purchased or deserved, it’s an undeserved gift of unmerited favor from the Almighty. Grace is a tremendous motivator and energizer when you understand and receive it rightly. We emphasize “trying” and not “training”. Trying in ministry will prove never to be enough; you have to be trained. Such training comes under the area of discipleship. We have separated faith in Christ from obedience and fulfillment. There is no available bridge to get from one to the other. That would, of course, be discipleship.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Willard concludes that we have lost discipleship largely because, in the contemporary evangelical tradition, we have lost Christ as teacher. If you do not have a teacher, you cannot have a student or disciple. We become mere spectators and consumers of holy things, not participants in the life Jesus is now living on earth, and we lose meaningful discipline. Disciple is education; instruction; cultivation and improvement, comprehending instruction in correct sentiments, morals and manners, and due subordination to divine authority, who profess the religion of Jesus Christ. Discipline is something we do to enable ourselves to accomplish what we cannot do by direct effort. While the idea and practice of spiritual disciple is rich in the evangelical tradition, with no living teacher it will not work. So, the idea of discipled disciples disappears as a leading idea in evangelicalism because the teacher (Jesus) and His Great Commission has been omitted and disappeared as the primary engine to drive moral transformation of individuals and society. It is a way of omitting the divinity of Christ because the whole person of Jesus, which is critical to any Christ-centered piety, is not involved. If you don’t believe and think that Jesus is superior, sovereign and sufficient with regard to everything you are involved in, what can you mean by calling Him Lord? In a Christ-centered piety, we have to recapture the greatness of the whole Christ as the object of our faith.
In John 8:31-32, Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
True evangelical thought and honest Christian tradition make available to human-kind a genuine Saver sent by Almighty God, an authentic Savior to sinners, the only hope for the world – Jesus, our Lord.
In Christ, Brian
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