Hospitality can help us make disciples

Matthew 28:18-20 (New International Version)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus said, “Go and make disciples….” The United Methodist Church in its Book of Discipline follows Jesus in stating the mission of the church as “making disciples of Jesus Christ.”
I believe that in the McAllen District we can accomplish the mission of making disciples of Jesus best as we welcome others, especially those who are not like us, and as we train our churches, including our leaders and members, to undertake both risk-taking service to the surrounding community and intentional faith development within the existing congregation.
We must be hospitable—to all, not just those like us. And true welcoming doesn’t wait to be friendly when people arrive on our doorsteps but extends hospitality beyond our walls by effective publicity and personal invitation. Five percent of the church budget should be dedicated to effective publicity to those who are not present. Leaders should be offered seminars on how to invite others to church … and to faith in Christ.
To be more effective at disciple-making we must train our church people better to take risks. We can no longer be satisfied to do church like we have always done it. We must reach out in smart and imaginative ways to serve and love the people who are not in our congregations. And we must put together a more complete system of faith development in our churches to convince and embolden, to support and encourage the people in our pews. In these ways we will build stronger disciples for Christ.
God expects us to make disciples of Jesus. If your church is doing that effectively through winsome welcoming and risk-taking service and faith-growing training, then I applaud your work and encourage you to continue.
During this round of Charge Conferences I have rejoiced over the reports of several churches that indeed are making disciples. In those churches one indication of their fruitful and faithful mission for Jesus was that the number of members added by profession of faith was higher than the number subtracted because of death or inactivity.
If your church is not yet down the disciple-making road as far as you believe God would like, then I challenge you to begin that journey. Since God wants us to make disciples, God will assist us in that work. In fact, Jesus said he would be with us in that mission to the end. Trust in God’s power and Christ’s presence in making disciples.