W.I.C.L. (Wise Instructions for a Christly Lifestyle)

On January 23, 2008, at the residence of our dear Pastor Edward of Word International Ministries – Al Ain (WIN-Al Ain) session one of the W.I.C.L. (Word Institute of Christian Leadership) Program of WIN-UAE was conducted. It was a blast.

I estimate the number of attendees to reach 40 souls. I hope that the number of participants would not dwindle in the coming sessions. There was a sumptuous dinner offered by Pastor Edward and his family in celebration of Sister Marlene’s (pastor’s wife) birthday and their wedding anniversary. I believe that the dinner offered was not the reason why the room was filled to overflow with hungry souls. It was more of the spiritual nourishment that attendees were filled to the brim than the delicious buffet.

God has just spoken thru Pastor Aaron (UAE National Head) who conducts the session. This was what my soul had been seeking for the past couple of months now. I have been contemplating the last couple of months on how could I be of used to that so called “great commission.’’ I have found the answer to my dilemma on that same night of the first session of the W.I.C.L., in which I coined my own meaning to it as: Wise Instructions for a Christly Lifestyle.

I came up with my own version of the acronym W.I.C.L. while driving down to Dubai for work early in the next morning after that session one. I felt my mind was still left at the session one as all the thoughts that lingered on my mind during that one-hour drive was the lessons learned.

The following are some of the items that kept on lingering my mind on that early morning drive:

1. That the great commission, as commanded by Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:18-20, is more than the going out and making disciples. Most of the modern churches missed a very important instruction of the aforesaid verse as they are concentrating on the going out and making disciples. Most failed to acknowledge that this command is a form of a delegation of the authority by Jesus Christ.

2. That many modern churches are embracing a culture of membership rather than a culture of discipleship. These churches focused more of the numbers than the well-being and quality of members. Tendency is they seemed good on the outside but rotten on the inside. Attendees are classified as converts instead of disciples.

3. That modern churches should veer away from focusing their efforts on training leaders. Instead a heart of a true follower should be emphasized to each soul composing the church. A good leader should be foremost a good follower, a timeless principle uttered by Jesus himself.

4. That Christian discipleship is an unending process or cycle of making a disciple premised on the delegated authority coming from Jesus, and helping this disciple grow and learn to become a discipler himself. This cycle may only end when Jesus Christ comes back on the second judgment.

5. That the making of a disciple is more than giving information about salvation and the bible. It is an act of transforming life in order to embrace a lifestyle of wholeness and fulfillment to a follower of Christ, a lifestyle as designed by God and is pleasing to Him.

6. That in making disciples, it is a pre-requisite for a discipler to have embraced a Christly lifestyle himself for which he will impart to the discipled soul. How can he duplicate himself when in the first place he is not worthy of duplication. How can he be effective in advertising Christ when there are no traces that he possesses the qualities and character of Christ?

7. That the heart of every activity that the church will be conducting should in one way or the other be aimed at impacting the lives of the participants. The God should always be at the center of all the activities, otherwise, the things being done are merely mechanical in nature.

Praise the Lord for this timely training. More than anything else, I feel that what I am attending is not an ordinary training. It is more of a paradigm shift on my part. I have been viewing a different and clear definition of my Christian walk, especially on the matters of the great commission and the true meaning of Christian discipleship

I am looking forward to receiving more instructions for a Christly lifestyle in sessions to come.