Training for Greatness

Matthew 5:19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them WILL BE CALLED GREAT in the kingdom of heaven.

The Gospel of the Kingdom calls believers to go into strict training for greatness. The church is the God ordained training ground where this is to take place. Training for greatness can only happen in the context of the gathered body of Jesus Christ. It cannot happen in isolation.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron,
    and one man sharpens another.

Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The goal of our training together is perfection, or complete union with God. This is what Jesus prayed for specifically in the twilight hours of his ministry, would be the outcome of his life work:

John 17:20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

To be clear, the ability to begin this training program is a gift that is given us from God. We don’t do anything to earn it or to warrant deserving it, we simply receive this gift of faith in Jesus Christ at God’s own effort to bring us into the program. But once we have received the gift, now we have the ability to begin training, and we must make choices and put forth effort to make progress towards the goal of complete union with God.

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

And eventually, we don’t just struggle for our own union with God, we also struggle to bring others along with us:

Colossians 1:28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Every believer is called to do both, not just pastors and those in ministry. The message of the Kingdom demands that I both train myself and others towards this goal in order to achieve what the Bible calls “greatness”:

Matthew 5:19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments AND teaches others to do the same will be called LEAST in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them AND teaches them will be called GREAT in the kingdom of heaven.

It is God’s power all along the way that helps us to grow and make progress. We don’t have any power or ability in and of ourselves, we are 100% dependent upon God’s ability. That ability, or grace, is freely given to everyone who chooses to receive it, but the power of God must be appropriated by us through a few God ordained means. After we receive the initial impartation of God’s grace by choosing to believe the message of Jesus Christ and submit to his rule over our lives. And after we testify to this decision publicly before others through submitting to be baptized, we find the ongoing means of receiving God’s power listed in the book of Acts chapter 2:

Acts 2:42 And THEY DEVOTED THEMSELVES to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

This passage instructs us, that as believers DEVOTED THEMSELVES to the God ordained means of receiving his energy, his power was released to do great things. Training for greatness produces powerful results. The passage goes on to say:

Acts 2:46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

The church that is dedicated to training for greatness together is the most powerful evangelistic force the world has ever seen. No human effort or strategy or ministry can substitute for the gathering together of believers who understand the message of Gospel of the Kingdom and are radically dedicated to seeking God for his ability to be released to accomplish results only he can produce.

Matthew 5:48  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The goal of Jesus ministry, the focus of one of his final times of prayer with God and his disciples on the earth, was that we would become like God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are uncreated and infinite in being. We will never become those things, but we are called to be in perfect union with that being so that he can manifest himself clearly to the world and produce the genuinely awesome results he desires to produce both in us and through us. That is the glory that Jesus wants believers to share in with him.