Well we’re up to the last of our ten propositions about Christian ministry. They don’t say everything (of course). And they are all necessarily short and simple (being very abbreviated summaries of argument of the new book The Trellis and the Vine that I’ve just finished writing with Col Marshall). I hope they’ve been stimulating all the same, and that they’ve whetted some appetites to read and think and talk further.
The first nine were as follows:
- Our goal is to make disciples not church members.
- Churches tend towards institutionalism as sparks fly upward.
- The heart of disciple-making is prayerful speaking of God’s word.
- All ministry has the goal of nurturing disciples, not just one-to-one discipling or mentoring.
- To be a disciple is to be a disciple-maker.
- Disciple-makers need to be trained and equipped in conviction, character and competence.
- There is only one class of disciples, regardless of different roles or responsibilities.
- The disciple-making imperative of the Great Commission needs to drive fresh thinking about our Sunday meetings, and the place of training in congregational life.
- Training almost always starts small, and grows by multiplying workers.
The final proposition is less about the day-to-day life of congregations, and more about the generation-to-generation growth of the gospel.
10. We need to challenge and recruit the next generation of pastors, teacher and evangelists.
When the training engine begins to gather steam, and people within your congregation are being trained and mobilized to minister to others, some ‘people worth watching’ (PWWs) will start to make themselves known—people strong in conviction, character and competence. These PWWs are the potential ‘recognized gospel workers’ of the next generation (that is, those who are given responsibility to teach and lead God’s people in some capacity).
If you are a pastor or elder, it is one of your God-given responsibilities to recognize, nurture, train and entrust the gospel to these “faithful men who will be able to teach others” (2 Tim 2:2). The raising up of more of these ‘recognized gospel workers’ not only ensures the guarding of the good deposit of the gospel into the next generation, it also multiplies gospel growth—not by having more ‘professionals’ to do all the work, but by having more godly, gifted men and women to act as key trainers for networks of disciple-makers.
Hey Tony & MM Team
Do you have any details on a publication date for TT&TV;?
not wanting to give you a big head
I hope it’s a big print run! I for one would like to get a few copies to distribute to our leaders as it would greatly compliment the discipleship process and ethos I’m trying to foster at my Church.
Thanks for putting it together – some good stuff here.
Al
Hi Al. Thanks for the question. “The Trellis and the Vine” is currently being printed (actually it is probably already printed, just about to be bound). We will have a limited number of copies available at the SPUR Conference this coming weekend, where the book is being launched. The bulk copies should arrive in mid-October. For North American readers, a similar scenario: we’ll have a limited number of copies at our US Conference in mid-October, and the bulk copies will arrive to our US office a few weeks later.
We’ll let you all know by posting here at SP as soon as the book is available for purchase.
As for quantity… well, we confess it does look like we underestimated the first print run. We didn’t know at the time that we would have such glowing endorsements from people like Mark Dever, Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, Mike Raiter, William Taylor (and others). But the second and even third print runs are being planned.