Discipleship Curricula

Christian Responsibility

الكاتب: Mr. George Selim

الناشر: Vision For Future

Consists of four sections:

Maturity

Maturity may be defined as the achievement of progress, and the ability to fight well in the varied areas of spiritual and temporal life. It is the transformation of knowledge into practical steps, contributing to taking responsibility with awareness and appreciation. Maturity is the beginning of the imitation of Christ. A mature Christian life means that you have realized certain basic aspects of life, which are your true identity. The Bible teaches “now we are children of God” (1 John 3:2). We have sat down with Christ in the heavenly places—the Apostle Paul says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). In addition, we are good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10).

We become more mature when we focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and desire to imitate him. Apostle Paul says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). We also need to become model spiritual men and women, who are good examples to others. We need to be faithful, and appreciate the fact that the church is one body. Paul says “not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:1-4).

One sign of maturity is that our senses are trained to distinguish between what is from God, and what is against God and his purposes. The Scripture says, “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14). This distinction does not come from our intelligence, but it is a spiritual awakening in which the Holy Spirit guides Christians into all truth. This distinction is the first line of defense in the spiritual war. Other signs of maturity appear in how we bear up under all of the responsibilities or assignments which the Lord places on us, how we sacrifice without hesitation, and how we avoid repeated mistakes.

Conduct

“Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
(1 John 2:6)

Good conduct refers to our ways or our behaviors when we deal with difficult people, or difficult situations, or both of them together. Conduct is the complex embodiment of human thoughts, feelings, and free will. Conduct is the combination of our learnings and what we now want to apply. We were called, as the Apostle Paul says, “so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky” (Philippians 2:15).

Conduct reveals that a person belongs to a particular kingdom. A Christian is one who seeks to obey God’s Word, depending on the power of the Holy Spirit that supports him, and walk in the best way he can, with all sincerity and integrity—so that his actions and demeanor reflect his constant abiding in Christ. As Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven… Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:16, 48).

The conduct that reflects Christ pleases God also. Every true Christian will be keen to provide fruit that glorifies God. The Apostle Paul says, “We have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work” (Colossians 1: 9, 10).

Conduct has great importance and value because our behavior on earth in all the matters of everyday life will be echoed in the heaven. Conduct is efficient and effective in the invisible realms—sometimes in up-building ways, and sometimes as a destructive force—because it is a tool in the hands of the Lord, and an arrow against Satan.

Spiritual Warfare

War is the practice of hostility and resistance between two parties that are different in certain ways. They are opponents who differ on some important matter, such as nature, origins, principles, objectives, actions, or intentions. Their intent is always to cause damage or disrupt the works, objectives, and plans of the other party. The Bible says, "For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us," (I Thessalonians 2:18).


A spiritual warfare exists between believers in Jesus Christ, who have spiritual and eternal life, and the devil, who is himself a "spirit," and who also has with him with many evil spirits who work only in evil, corruption and lies. It is not a physical war, according to our conceptions, but it is an invisible war.


"If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die," (I Corinthians 15:32).


In fact, this conflict is between two kingdoms, namely, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness: "...Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son," (Colossians 1:12,13). It is the greatest of all conflicts in life.


In Contrast, the wars of the Old Testament, and all battles mentioned in the Old Testament, were real wars, but they were shadows or symbols of all the spiritual warfare (which would be revealed in the New Testament) between the children of God and the devil. The physical meaning of "war" is not mentioned at all in the New Testament, even between those who resisted faith in Christ, and the believers, or the church.


Moreover, when we look closely, we see that when the men of God and the people of God in the Old Testament entered into any physical war, they were fighting spiritual realities. This is because the devil and the evil spirits with him were the basis of idolatry, which was used by the people to desecrate the land. Idolatry worship itself is a form of harassment against God's people, and against the real saints of the earth. The Old Testament wars then combine the visible and invisible wars together.

Who are our enemies?

Witness

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
(Mark 16:15)

The Trinity is the greatest encouragement to witness to the truth because the three Persons witness to each other, and this shows us that witness is a vital principle that should be applied throughout our lives. The Father said about the Son, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). The Son witnessed to the Father, and said, “for the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). The Son witnessed to the Holy Spirit, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me” (John 15:26).

Witness is key to our Christian life. Christians, who have eternal life through the full measure of redemption and salvation, and who enjoy a living relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ his son, are required to bear witness. The witness must always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks him to give the reason for the hope that he has. To give an answer is to witness. In order to be true witnesses, we should experience the new life in Christ Jesus and to enjoy the company of Christ. We also need to have sufficient knowledge in order to witness about Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection because he is the only way of salvation, “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20).

A witness is distinguished by certain qualities, including faithfulness, love, humility, and wisdom. A good witness needs to be filled with a joy that stems from confidence and understanding of God’s Word. He needs to also be filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit’s leadership, and to pray for others before, during, and after witnessing.