In the scene by the lake Jesus took pains to make His disciples understand this. He did not allow them to suppose that, in committing to their pastoral charge His flock, He was abdicating His position as Shepherd and Bishop of souls. Having said to Peter, "Feed my lambs," "Feed my sheep," He said to him, as His final word, "Follow me." The biblical mandate is to follow Christ. As one follow Christ, one can lovingly point others to Christ.

Writing in the forward to Bruce's book, D. Stuart Briscoe commented that "Dr. Bruce would have felt right at home with the present emphasis on training people to minister. . ." Further, "Seeing the church as the Body of Christ is another healthy contemporary emphasis. It serves to deliver people from the mistaken idea that the church is something people attend and introduces them to the biblical concept that the church is something people are.

"For Christians to see themselves as the Body of Christ and to order their lives in loving response to each other as fellow members, committed to mutual nurture, is potentially revolutionary."

Among other things, making disciples the way Christ did will require an investment of time in the lives of people. Periodically, a group of men and I meet for breakfast for a period of weeks to engage in some study or go through a book that we might be edified and better equipped for ministry.

Rarely does a day go by that I do not meet with someone in the church for lunch for the simple purpose of biblical fellowship that we might grow in grace. Afternoons are typically filled meeting with couples or individuals for counseling and discipleship. We offer classes and small group discipleship opportunities throughout the week. The wonderful result is that many in the church are now doing these same types of things on their own.

Early morning prayer meetings, couples meeting together, formal counseling, informal counseling at the local coffee shop, and a number of other dynamics are the norm in our congregation. Of course, God gets the credit for these things as He is the One who works in our lives.

I have much to learn regarding these things as well. I am no great example. I am simply putting into practice in a small way what others have taught me and I am calling others to do the same.

One of my favorite definitions for evangelism comes from D.T. Niles: "Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread." His sentiment is applicable here. I have found bread for pastoral ministry. Much has come from my good friend and former associate pastor. Much has come from reading the likes of Richard Baxter (The Reformed Pastor). Much has come from the discipline of biblical counseling. All has come from God's gracious hand.

As Christians are trained to edify one another and make disciples of others, as they embrace Christ's now radical notion that they are the ministers, true reformation in the church and transformation of the culture could occur. To that end, we exist as the church that God might be glorified. To that end we should desire to train others, not only in our own churches, but in other churches that the members of Christ's body might make disciples who make disciples that God might be exalted in their hearts and lives.

May God kindle in the hearts of His pastors a blazing desire to equip, train, and minister, that souls might be saved, that churches might be strengthened, and that God might be worshipped by many.

Dr. Paul J. Dean is an adjunct professor at Erskine Theological Seminary and serves as the Director of Supervised Ministry at the Greenville, SC extension of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is actively involved in the field of biblical counseling having co-founded the Southern Baptist Association of Biblical Counselors. www.providenceministries.us/callingfortruth.php