So here we are, last question... the one that will determine whether you become the next emergingumc Mission-aire! You've phoned a friend, checked with the audience, and taken the 50-50. You do still have one recourse, though-- you can check the Bible. But you only have a limited time.
So, here's the question.
Which of the following congregations was primarily responsible for "making" the disciples of Jesus?
A. The synagogue in Capernaum
B. The temple in Jerusalem
C. The synagogue in Nazareth
D. None of the above.
You've got 30 seconds on the clock, starting... now!
Picture Credit: Original Studio Schema for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Used by permission under a Creative Commons License.
7 comments:
I'll bite - D, none of the above
Is that your final answer, Deborah?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VQ8pgySec4
@matt I am with you brother
@Brother Taylor - yep
Deborah and Matthew...
You chose D. None of the above.
Well, I need to tell you...
that you are...
both of you are...
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!
BOTH of you are the next emergingumc Mission-aires!
In fact, no congregation anywhere is credited with initiating the discipleship of these original disciples of Jesus.
Seems like Jesus did that all on his own.
And when these disciples started congregations, those were congregations of people already committed to being disciples and already engaging the world in mission like Jesus did.
They weren't gathering as a congregation to BE the church as a congregation. They were gathering as a congregation to SCATTER-- to be the BROKEN body of Christ-- and so to be the church in the world.
Jesus called people into discipleship from their daily lives. Every single time.
There is no recorded instance of him having any success at that any ANY worship service in a synagogue or at the temple.
Fans in the temple for a few days before his execution, maybe, but we never hear from them again. Not sure they can be said as quite counting.
So... go out there and be disciples of Jesus where he formed them-- out in the world.
Come back to congregations to worship and for other forms of support as you need it-- but never as a spiritual "destination resort."
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
Hmmm...perhaps, but this ignores the fact that Jesus didn't "send" himself. Nor was he self-sustaining in his ministry. In fact, there is clear suggestion that Jesus was formed in and by a community, through communion with the Father and the Spirit. And, while Jesus doesn't seem to have been (or needed to be) formed by a congregation (in spite of the fact that his seem to have been faithful in temple/feast observances), we aren't Jesus!
Ron,
You raise a good point.
But clearly, there were no congregations/synagogues in Judea or Galilee at the time who would say they "sent" Jesus, either.
In John's gospel, the words of Jesus are, "As the Father sent me, so send I you."
Background, community (to a degree), matrix (a bit)-- those words MIGHT apply a BIT to how congregations in his day were part of his own formation and ministry.
But in the end, they did not actually make him per se.
Part of the picture-- yes. A decisive part-- very clearly not.
Else he would not have done what he did.
And he would not have called disciples to follow him to all sorts of people in all sorts of places, including, but by no means limited to congregations.
And when we was in the congregations-- what he did there, as recorded in scripture-- was far more a disruption of what congregations usually do or expect than any kind of endorsement.
You're right, too, that Jesus' ministry was not self-sustaining.
It was sustained through all sorts of networks-- and apparently congregations per se were never part of those networks (or, at least, we have no records anywhere of congregations in his own day actually underwriting ANY of his work or ministry). Some individuals did-- notably wealthy women-- but most of it relied on the hospitality codes of Semitic culture.
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
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