Glorify: Stage five of discipleship program
Updated: May 16, 2022
Glorify
WILDFIRE DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM
What to go through for this stage...
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This is the summary of all the stages! You have reached the end and by this point, you will have grown immensely in your relationship with God!
Recognise, in this stage we highlighted the gospel in its entirety, understanding that we are sinners saved by grace, that our lives are constantly saturated in the mercies of God.
Equip, in this stage we equipped ourselves with the incomprehensible amount of promises that God has laid before us in his word, identifying the fruits of the spirit and the armour of God as major strengths that will allow us to run our race for God.
Go, in this stage we looked at the inward work of the holy spirit, we then looked at the natural outward expression that comes from this work. Acknowledging two groups of people, sinners and christians, and how we as followers of Jesus interact with these people that demonstrate a salt and light life.
Grow, in this stage we looked at practically how we could press into a deeper intimacy with God. Two fundamentals and foundational pillars are reading God’s word and praying. But there is no excuse, a daily habitual prayer and reading life is essential, is required and is commanded.
The final stage is ‘glorify,’ in this stage we have already recapped what we have been studying, but we want to emphasise the importance of radical abandonment and pursuit of God. EVERY BREATH/EVERY ACTION/ EVERYTHING WE DO should reflect Christ, it should reflect a life transformed by God and a life filled with God!
/1 John 2, ‘those who say they live in God must live as Jesus lived.’ Our motivations for living a life of obedience for Christ are the same motivations that God has for actually giving us the commands, LOVE! John 14, ‘if you love me you will obey my commands.’ Thus, obedience is not generated out of a place of ritualism, legalism, obligation, or i guess because it’s good for me, but rather it should be pure love, why i obey God is because i love God.
These stages will allow you to focus on God’s word and specific promises that will allow you to give absolutely everything for Christ, that is our deep longing, that everything we do is for Christ!! No, but seriously everything, everything you say to your parents, your friends, everything you do in work, in sport, in music, in church, in the shops, in random places, any environment, any context, everything is for God’s glory, our bodies are living sacrifices that are not demonstrations of what we want, but instead what God wants.
A major focus in this stage is to answer anything that may have fallen through the cracks. In life we are, have and will be faced with circumstances and decisions whereby there seems to be a level of uncertainty and subjectivity as to how people respond and act.
For example, a question commonly asked is ‘should christians drink?’
Our response as followers of Jesus is what does God say about this through his inspired word… we should look for whether there are any prescriptive commands relating to the topic- eg. should we murder? NO! ‘thou shalt not murder.’ The second thing we should look for when deciding when something is of God, is descriptive narratives from the Bible, eg. should we murder? NO! Cain killed Abel, and God’s condemnation of this.
In this case, what does the Bible say about drinking alcohol?
Are there any prescriptive commands? No, there is nothing in the Bible that specifically says you must not drink. The verses we do have relating to this topic, refer to drunkenness. It is prescriptively highlighted that drunkenness is a sin and should be avoided- Ephesians 5:18.
Secondly, what are the descriptive narratives? Well we have Noah getting drunk and lying naked (embarrassing) Nadab and Abihu (Aaron’s son’s) got drunk, profaning the tabernacle and consequently resulting in their death! It is clear drunkenness only reaps negative effects, this clearly has the trademarks of sin! Sin brings death the Bible says (Ezekiel 18:20) and death brings destruction, suffering, mourning and guilt! SO THIS IS WHAT DRUNKENNESS WILL DO.
Finally, the last thing we want to go through when making a decision is the ‘fourfold’.
/ Is the thing in question (this case alcohol) operating in the fruits of the spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?
/ Is the thing in question passed by Philippians 4, ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.’
/ Is the thing in question beneficial not just permissible (1 Corinthians 10:23) will it bring any spiritual fruit- includes rest-fun-laughter. Is the thing in question preceding from a place of faith ( Romans 14:22), what does not proceed from faith is sin.
/ Finally, after you have done the thing, can you stand before God innocent like David did in Psalm 18, can you do the thing you are doing before Jesus? Romans 2:15, God has given us a conscience, engraving true morality in our hearts.
A framework that we can use that will allow us to apply wisdom and discernment when making any decisions that is not directly addressed in scripture is highlighted in the above.
The question is why go through such a rigorous process, it's a bit excessive, a bit too much, a bit suffocating! If being obedient to God’s word has become suffocating! Something deeper is wrong and needs to be addressed. Reality check, we are sinners saved by grace, children of God who have been given an uncountable amount of Gifts, we are called to be salt and light, we are called to be different, we are called to be holy, pure, we are called to be living demonstrations of the one who created us. Our motivations come from a place of love and adoration, we should not only not want to sin against God, we should go further, we should be on the offensive, asking how can i magnify God, ‘how can i be the beautiful necklace that attracts people to the gospel’ (John Piper/ Don’t waste your life). Yes, this type of meditative thinking, this Christlike lens to which we should look at everything is the epitome of a life crucified with Christ, we should raise the banner of ‘to live is Christ, to die is gain.’ (Phillipians 1:21).
SO THAT'S IT! ALL THE STAGES OF THE WILDFIRE DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM
“BE VERBS! PUTTING INTO PRACTICE WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED! ”
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NOW EVERYTHING HAS BEEN LOOKED AT IN DETAIL, LET YOUR MENTEE LEAD YOU IN A SESSION, WHEREBY THEY WILL TAKE YOU THROUGH THE ‘GLORIFY STAGE.’
Glorify
WILDFIRE DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM