Obedience-Based Discipleship

I want to share about two different approaches to discipleship that are quite common in the church. 

Knowledge-Based Discipleship: Discipleship is based on gaining and attaining knowledge of God and the Scriptures.  Discipleship is measured by the amount of information you have and the level of knowledge that you have of the Word of God.  This is the most common approach to discipleship in most western churches.  Which is why we have so many programs, classes and bible studies.  As an example, many of the same people attend the same Bible Study at the same church year after year.  As a result, their knowledge increases, meanwhile they make no changes in their lives and they obey little to nothing of what they learn.  The more you know, the more discipled you are (so they think).  I will let you find verses to support this approach. Best of luck.

Obedience-Based Discipleship: Discipleship is measured when you obey and DO what you are learning.  It is not merely gaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but for the sake of action.  Learn, do.  Learn, do. Hear, obey.  Hear, obey. Even radically.  Obedience based discipleship means serious commitment to following Jesus, not just knowing him.  The demons knew Him and believed.  Will you follow what you hear? Three times in John 15 Jesus says if you love me, you will obey me. The very heart of the Great Commission in Matthew 28 is for us to GO and teach people to OBEY EVERYTHING that he has commanded.

This is serious!  I hope that you catch this.  Understanidng the difference between these two approaches can transform your life and your church. What if preaching became about obedience instead of knowledge...in a way that people actually had to show how they are oberying what the hear each week?  What if we decided that everything we do as a church will now consist of hearing God and obeying him?