Availability
The church does not exist for fellowship alone. If fellowship was the sole purpose, then we would go and huddle together in a holy cave or be taken to heaven immediately where our fellowship is perfected. The church does not exist for praise and worship. We love to worship in song, and we enjoy doing that together. Yet, in heaven there will be perfect worship with angels for all eternity. The church’s primary mission is motivated by love and faithfulness. It is to make disciples. Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This commission is for all believers, not just the apostles, not just the pastor, not just the deacons, not just those with the gift of preaching or teaching – we must all go and proclaim Jesus as Lord and teach all that he taught. This is our God-given priority as a church. Jesus came, the Bible says, to seek and save the lost, and we have the same task, to seek and bring salvation to the lost. We have clearly received our command for the Master and Chief, who is with us, who leads the charge and fully equips us with every resource and gift that we need. There are no excuses and nothing to question. You do not need to ask: should I evangelise? You must! You do not need to question whether you should be involved in discipleship? You must! Every believer must be discipled and discipling others. The better questions is: what is necessary to make me a more effective witness for Christ?
Here's 1: availability.
Matthew 28 verse 16 says, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.” Jesus said, “Meet me in a mountain in Galilee,” and they did. They showed up. That’s where any kind of effective ministry starts. It starts with showing up. It starts with being initially available. Somebody said the greatest ability is availability. There is a sense in which that is true because no matter what other ability you might have, if you’re not available, the other ability is not of any consequence. Everything starts with being there. Everything starts with showing up. Our first meeting should be with the Lord in the reading of the Word and in prayer. We must also prioritise the gathering of the church on the Lord’s Day. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us, ‘not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
You’re never going to have any kind of impact in your witness unless you are willing to set aside that designated time and place to be in the presence of the living Christ, with His people, in His Word, and in prayer with Him. I tend to think that many people never bother to go to the lost because they can’t even bother to get together with the saved. They never have much to say to those that are without Christ because they have very little to say to those who are with Christ, let alone in prayer. You have to ask yourself about your availability because I am convinced that those people who are most effective in making disciples are doing that because there is an overflow of privileged communion with the living Christ. Out of that kind of fellowship with the presence of the living Christ comes the impetus to carry out His cause and a greater love for Christ and his people.
Do you have any time to share the gospel? Are you available to receive discipleship or to help encourage a fellow believer in the Lord? Do you have the time to help with children’s ministry? Are you willing to faithfully obey God’s command? If so, it simply starts with obeying Him and telling your neighbour about the gospel and its implications to their life. To disciple is to proclaim all of Christ for all of life.
