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This past Sunday, we embarked on a new sermon mini-series: A Culture of Disciple-Making. Pastor pointed out that culture is the result of cultivation.  This implies intentional development over a period of time. But this cultivation has to have a starting point. This starting point is found in Matthew 16:13-20. Here Peter confesses that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus responds, "on this rock [the confession] I will build my church.” Peter confesses the true identity of Jesus Christ, and upon the confession of knowing and believing that Jesus is the Messiah, Christ will build His church. This knowledge and belief of who Jesus is, is the church's starting point. Jesus is the Messiah, whom God sent to suffer, die on the cross, take the wrath for sin, and rise again on the third day. Cultivation starts here, on the accurate identification and belief of the basic truths of the gospel.            

Sometimes we need to ‘get back to the basics.’ If the basics aren’t remembered, it will not be possible to continue correctly. In a math problem, knowing how to add and subtract is important to know how to find “x” in an algebra equation. In driving a car, knowing which pedal is the gas and which is the brake is important to driving on a highway. In baking, knowing the difference between a teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) is important in both how to read a cookbook and how to make the actual recipe. These are all ‘basics’ that are not moved on from, but continue to be necessary requirements for moving forward.

This is just as true for the fundamental truths of the gospel. The church will be built, start to finish, on the confession that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and what he came to do. We can’t forget the basics! We have to remind ourselves of this basis so that in later stages of cultivation, the basis is still the same and not moved away from.            

The basis is not you, and it is not me either. The church is not built on us and we are not making disciples of ourselves. We are built on Christ and are making disciples of Christ. In the process and cultivation of discipleship, it is easy to fall into wanting to make people like us, but the ‘rock’ of the church is not the confession that we are great role models or disciplers. The foundation and ‘rock’ is the confession of Christ. It is important to remind ourselves of the basic truths in order to remember that I am not to be fashioned into my own likeness or even my discipler’s likeness, but into Christ’s.                       

Application Questions: Are you consistently reminding yourself of the basic truths of the gospel? Where is your rudder aimed? Is it aimed at Christ? Are you helping someone else aim their rudder (discipling) towards Christ…towards yourself…towards some other unworthy object?