上帝 “去”的命令:

学习《圣经》中培育门徒的样式

作者梅拉克·阿莱马耶胡·泽盖，博士，非洲复临大学《圣经》与神学研究人文学硕士项目主任，现居肯尼亚 内罗毕

基督复临安息日会2020-2025年全球教会战略计划的焦点是“我愿去”。“该计划源于马太福音28章中‘使万民作基督门徒’的大使命。” ¹ 然而，要真正遵从这一命令，教会必须重视耶稣基督的其余两个“去”的命令。那么它们是什么，它们与“使万民作门徒（以下称为培育门徒）”的命令又有何联系呢？

去敬拜上帝

耶稣在福山宝训中宣讲了第一个“去”的命令，祂责备法利赛人假冒伪善的祷告方式，并告诫祂的门徒不可效法他们。祂说：“你祷告的时候，要进你的内屋，关上门，祷告你在暗中的父；你父在暗中查看，必然报答你。”（太6:6）

在此处，耶稣晓谕门徒要花时间与上帝独处，与天父毫无保留地沟通，并与祂建立亲密的关系。由于真正的祷告是双向的交流，所以带着《圣经》进入内屋，聆听祂的话语就显得无比重要。如此行，便有助实现约翰派珀所说的IOUS（中文意为：借据）祷告了:

“求你使我的心、趋向你的法度”（诗119:36）；
“求你开我的眼睛、使我看出你律法中的奇妙。” （诗119:18）
“求你使我专心敬畏你的名。”（诗86:11）
“求你使我们早早饱得你的慈爱、好叫我们一生一世欢呼喜乐。”（诗90:14） ²

诚然，真正的敬拜使我们全心全意爱上帝的能力不断长进。当我们用嘴唇敬拜上帝，心却远离祂时，就无法荣耀上帝。上帝要我们降服自己，将祂当作我们的中心。有一个恰当的例子，即在创12:1，22:2关于亚伯拉罕的叙述中，两次出现了用希伯来文强调的命令——lĕkā，“你…去”。他顺服第一个“去”的命令，将自己的过往全然交托上帝，并凭着信心跟随上帝踏上旅程。亚伯拉罕又顺服第二个“去”的命令，他将所有的筹算降服，把应许之子献在坛上为燔祭。当我们顺服主耶稣基督的命令时，我们也要如此“去”敬拜。

同样，怀先知也敦促我们如此祷告：“主阿！求袮接纳我的心，因为我自己无力奉献它。它是你的产业，求袮使它保持纯洁，因为我无法为袮保守它。求袮塑造我，陶冶我，把我带到纯洁的气氛中，使袮爱充满我的心。”接着，她又强调了不住祷告的重要性：“这种自我的放弃不仅在我们基督徒生活开始的时候需要，在我们天路历程的每一步都应重新进行。我们的一切善行都有赖于我们自身以外的能力，因此我们的心必须不断地仰慕上帝，恳切忧伤地在祂面前认罪自卑。我们唯有不断地舍弃自我，依靠基督，才能安全地奔走前程。” ³

因此，当基督复临安息日会全球教会响应“我愿去”的呼声时，其回应应当与这个命令相连接：“去，祷告、敬拜，将一切交托上帝！”每位信徒都当说：“我要走进内屋，将一切交托上帝。”全地的教会也当宣告：“我愿去，使我的会堂成为祷告的殿，将耶稣作为万事的中心，使一切事工荣耀上帝。”唯有如此敬拜，我们才可使自己顺服其余 “去”的命令。

去过团契生活

耶稣还嘱咐祂的门徒竭力在团契中彰显祂的爱。“所以，你在祭坛上献礼物的时候，若想起弟兄向你怀怨，就把礼物留在坛前，先去同弟兄和好，然后来献礼物。”（太5:23,24）

马太福音18:15中也有类似的命令：“倘若你的弟兄得罪你，你就去，趁着只有他和你在一处的时候，指出他的错来。他若听你，你便得了你的弟兄。”这两条命令我们都必须遵行。耶稣发出呼召，要全力维护上帝家庭的团结。第一条命令鼓励冒犯者尽力偿付，第二条命令劝诫被冒犯者正确对待伤害他/她的人。的确，上帝最希望祂的儿女和谐相处。基督将爱作为区分祂门徒的记号。“你们若有彼此相爱的心、众人因此就认出你们是我的门徒了。”（约13:35）

令人惋惜的是，在今日的教会中，一些尚未化解的矛盾仍在破坏着信徒之间曾经亲密的情谊。当我们忽略此种情况时，新加入教会的信徒便会发现这种对矛盾漠不关心的状态，进而转身离开教会。

一项名为“为何有些复临信徒离开教会，有些又选择回归”的调查报告表明，“看出其他信徒的虚伪”是信徒流失的首要原因。⁴ 这一严峻的现实向我们显明了顺服耶稣第二条“去”的命令是何等的紧迫——去，像祂爱我们一样彼此相爱。

怀爱伦对第二条命令做出了发人深省的阐释：“我们要留心，当我们用嘴唇承认基督时，我们不要在行动中否认他，免得致使他人的灵魂踏上反叛的歧途……” 

“我们若不彼此相爱，就无法遵守上帝的诫命，我们口头上的信仰只不过是镜花水月，‘像鸣的锣、响的钹一般。’任何与仁爱、谦卑和信心相悖的事物，都是对基督的否定。” ⁵

怀先知还写了这样的评论：“世上有真基督教，也有假基督教。一个人对待同胞的方式，显出他真正的精神。我们可以问这个问题，他在精神和行为上，是表现出了基督的品格呢，还是单单表现出属于今世之人的生来自私的品格特性呢？口头上的信仰对上帝来说是轻如无物的。在改过迁善永远为时太晚之前，每一个人要扪心自问：‘我是什么人？’我们要不要养成那种会使我们成为天上上帝王室成员的品格，取决于我们自己。” ⁶

正因如此，保罗劝勉以弗所人“用和平彼此联络、竭力保守圣灵所赐合而为一的心。”（弗4:3） 事实上，他在书信中使用希腊语单词allelon，即“彼此”已不下30次，他勉励信徒们要彼此相爱，彼此服侍。在信徒中间，我们要留心这些劝诫，藉以培养真正融洽的团契关系。“我们每天的祈祷应当是：‘主啊，帮助我们彼此帮助，担当彼此的苦恼。’” ⁷

我们应当谨记，当我们说“我愿去”时，我们应当彼此劝慰（帖前5:11），互相宽容（弗4:2），看别人比自己强（腓2:3），互相问安（罗16:16），互相代求（雅5:16），互相服侍（加5:13），彼此接纳（罗15:7），互相劝戒（西3:16），彼此饶恕（弗4:32），彼此相爱（约一3:11）。

去培育门徒

截至目前，我们已经探讨了耶稣前两个“去”的重要命令——“去敬拜”和“去团契”。它们使我们注重与上帝的垂直关系，及与他人的水平关系。只有协调好以上两方面，我们才能卓有成效地向他人传福音。

本文开篇提到的第三条命令记在太28:18-20中：“耶稣进前来，对他们说：‘天上地下所有的权柄都赐给我了。 所以，你们要去，使万民作我的门徒，奉父、子、圣灵的名给他们施洗。 凡我所吩咐你们的，都教训他们遵守，我就常与你们同在，直到世界的末了。’”

约拿领受了上帝的命令，去向尼尼微人传讲上帝的信息。虽然上帝藉着这位不情愿做工的先知成就了祂的旨意，但约拿因着不爱上帝和祂的受造物失去了结果子的喜乐。他虽然知道上帝之爱的伟大，但他并未接受这爱改变他的内心。正是我们个人对上帝恩典的经历，及在我们主耶稣基督恩典和知识中成长的体验，点燃并挑旺了真门徒深入骨髓的使命之火。无独有偶，普雷斯顿·斯普尔也这样写道：“不先数算恩典就试图结果子是没有果效的。恩典是果子的基础和骨骼。上帝以恩典造就门徒，以洪恩栽培门徒。正是藉着上帝的恩典，我们才能活出基督的样式。这恩典使我们像耶稣一样，当我们疏于披戴基督时，也能藉着恩典得蒙宽恕，这恩典使我们能在破碎中紧紧抓住耶稣。培育门徒的中心是耶稣，而不是你我。”⁸

简言之，一个人必须成为门徒，并藉着爱上帝和爱他人得以长进，方能成为耶稣有力的见证者并使他人成为门徒。

命令间的联系

正如我们先前的探讨，耶稣的三个命令——去敬拜、去团契和去培育门徒——是彼此关联的。如果我们不去敬拜上帝，如果我们不经历祂的爱，不藉着爱上帝长进，我们就无法像祂爱我们一般彼此相爱。如果我们不爱上帝和彼此相爱，就无法得着能力成为上帝忠信的见证。因此，当我们遵命在真理和圣灵中敬拜上帝，建立并培养生气蓬勃的团契时，我们便可得着权柄作上帝可信的见证。

正如使徒行传中记载的，第一个基督教会中信徒的生活表现出了他们对上帝和对彼此的爱，这也是他们成功结出果子的根源：“他们天天同心合意恒切地相聚在殿里，且在家中擘饼，存着欢喜、诚实的心用餐， 赞美上帝，得众民的喜爱。主将得救的人天天加给他们。”（徒2:46-47）

这段简短的《圣经》描述清楚地向我们展示了他们如何遵着命令“去敬拜”、“去团契”，以及最终如何因着顺服“去结果子”的命令而取得杰出的果效。

最后，让我们记住，第一代门徒之所以能够在传讲福音的事上取得成功，是因为他们遵从了耶稣的三个“去”命令：去敬拜、去团契、去培育门徒。让我们认真看待这三个“去”的命令，并在我们回应 “我愿去”的呼召时拥抱它们吧。

让我们说：“我要去敬拜上帝。我愿每日留出时间与祂独处，使自己降服于基督。”

让我们说：“我要去与兄弟姊妹相交，竭力维护合而为一的精神。”

让我们说：“我要去见证上帝圣灵的力量。”

当我们如此行时，就是在效学《圣经》中培育门徒的样式。

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1.我愿去：战略焦点2020–2025，第4页，https://iwillgo2020.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IWG_A4_English.pdf.

2.约翰·派珀，《当我不渴慕上帝时：如何获得喜乐》(伊利诺伊州 惠顿市：克劳斯威，2004年)，第151、152页。

3.怀爱伦，“奉献”，《时兆》，1904年1月6日，第2页。

4.安东尼·肯特，《离开教会：为何有些复临信徒离开教会，有些又选择回归》。https://www.adventistarchives.org/why-did-they-leave.pdf 

5.怀爱伦，“爱门徒的考验”，《青年导报》，1897年12月2日。

6.怀爱伦，“我们是真正的基督徒吗？” 《复临评阅及安息日宣报》，1895年4月9日，第1页。

7.怀爱伦，“家庭事工”，《复临评阅及安息日宣报》，189年1月31日，第19页。

8.《去：回归信仰前线的门徒培育》(科罗拉多，斯普林斯： Nav出版社，2016年)，第25页。

The Divine “Go” Commands:

Embracing the Biblical Model of Disciple Making

By Melak Alemayehu Tsegaw, PhD, director for the Master of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies Program at the Adventist University of Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.

The focus for the 2020–2025 strategic plan of the Seventh-day Adventist world church is “I Will Go.” The “strategic plan is rooted in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28, which calls for Jesus’ followers to go and make disciples of all nations.”¹ However, to truly obey the “go and make disciples” command, the church has to emphasize two other “go” directives from Jesus Christ. So what are they, and how are they related to the directive to make disciples?

GO AND WORSHIP GOD

Jesus pronounced the first “go” command in His sermon on the mount when He denounced the Pharisees’ hypocritical prayer posture and admonished His disciples to take a different route. He said, “ ‘But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you’ ” (Matt. 6:6, NRSV).

Here Jesus directed His disciples to spend quality time with God, have personal communion with their heavenly Father, and build an intimate relationship with Him. Since true prayer is two-way communication, it is essential to go into our rooms with the Bible and let God speak to us through His Word. In doing so, it is beneficial to pray what John Piper calls the IOUS prayer:

“Incline [our] heart[s] to your testimonies” (Ps. 119:36, ESV);
“open [our] eyes that [we] may behold wondrous things out of your law” (v. 18, ESV);
“unite [our] heart[s] to fear your name” (Ps. 86:11, ESV); and
“satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Ps. 90:14, ESV).²

Indeed, true worship is a constant growth in our ability to love God with all our hearts. It does not glorify God when we honor Him with our lips while our hearts are far from Him. God wants us to surrender ourselves and let Him be our all in all. A case in point here is the narrative about Abraham where the Hebrew emphatic imperative, lēk lĕkā, “go yourself,” occurs twice (Gen. 12:1; 22:2). By obeying the first “go” command, he surrendered all his past to God and started on a journey to follow Him by faith. When Abraham obeyed the second “go” command, he surrendered all his future and offered the promised son on the altar as a sacrifice. We also need to have this attitude of surrender when we obey the command of Jesus Christ, our Master, to go and worship.

In the same vein, author Ellen White urged us to pray the following: “Lord, take my heart; for I can not keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristianlike self. Mould me, fashion me, raise me into a pure, holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.” Then she emphasized the importance of praying such a prayer often: “It is not only at the beginning of the Christian life that this renunciation of self is to be made. At every advance step heavenward it is to be renewed. All our good works are dependent on a power outside of ourselves. Therefore there needs to be a continual reaching out of the heart after God, a continual, earnest, heart-breaking confession of sin, and humbling of the soul before Him. Only by a constant renunciation of self and dependence on Christ can we walk safely.”³

Thus, as the Seventh-day Adventist world church echoes the watchword “I will go,” the response should be connected to the command, “Go and pray, worship, surrender all to God!” Each member should say, “I will go into my room and surrender all to God.” Local churches should proclaim, “I will go and make my church a house of prayer, make Jesus the center of everything, and consecrate all ministries to God’s glory.” Only when we take this worship posture can we position ourselves to obey the other “go” commands.

GO AND FELLOWSHIP

Jesus also commanded His disciples to make every effort to reflect His love through their fellowship. “ ‘Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift’ ” (Matt. 5:23, 24, NIV).

A similar command appears in Matthew 18:15: “ ‘If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother’ ” (HCSB). Both commands have the imperative to go. Jesus extended a call to make every effort to keep unity among the family of God. While the first command urges the offender to seek restitution, the second admonishes the offended person to settle the matter with the person who wronged him or her. Indeed, the unity of His children is God’s priority. Christ placed love as the distinguishing mark of His disciples. “ ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another’ ”(John 13:35, NIV).

It is pathetic to see unresolved conflicts in the church today spoiling what was once a sweet fellowship among the followers of Christ. When we pay little or no attention to such situations and new members join our churches, they will encounter the indifference to the conflicts and will leave the church through the back door.

A survey, “Why Some Seventh-day Adventist Members Leave the Church, and Why Some Come Back,” reported that “perceived hypocrisy in other members” is the top reason for leaving the church.⁴ This dismal reality depicts the urgency of our need to obey the second “go” command of Jesus—to go and make every effort to love one another as He loved us.

Ellen White makes the following alarming comment regarding this second command: “Let us take heed that while we confess Christ with our lips, we do not deny him in our actions, and thus lead souls in the way of rebellion. . . .

“Without love one for another we do not keep the commandments of God, and all our profession is mere pretension, and ‘as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.’ Whatever is contrary to love, humility, and faith, denies Christ.”⁵

White also wrote the following observation: “There is counterfeit Christianity in the world as well as genuine Christianity. The true spirit of a man is manifested by the way in which he deals with his fellow-man. We may ask the question, Does he represent the character of Christ in spirit and action, or simply manifest the natural, selfish traits of character that belong to the people of this world? Profession weighs nothing with God. Before it is everlastingly too late for wrongs to be righted, let each one ask himself, ‘What am I?’ It depends upon ourselves as to whether we shall form such characters as will constitute us members of God’s royal family above.”⁶

Because of this, Paul exhorted the Ephesians to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3, NIV). In fact, he employed the Greek word allelon, “one another,” more than 30 times and told believers to perform certain acts of love and service toward one another. As a community of disciples, we need to go and foster authentic fellowship by giving heed to these exhortations. And “our daily prayer should be, ‘Help us to help each other, Lord; each other’s woes to bear.’ ”⁷

It is important to remember, then, when we say “I will go,” we should encourage one another (1 Thess. 5:11), bear with one another (Eph. 4:2), regard one another as more important (Phil. 2:3), greet one another (Rom. 16:16), pray for one another (James 5:16), serve one another (Gal. 5:13), accept one another (Rom. 15:7), admonish one another (Col. 3:16), forgive one another (Eph. 4:32), and love one another (1 John 3:11).

GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES

So far, we have addressed the first two crucial “go” commands of Jesus—go worship and go fellowship. They underline our vertical relationship with God and horizontal relationship with others. Only when these two aspects are in order can we go and reach others effectually.

The third command mentioned at the beginning of this article occurs in Matthew 28:18–20: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ ” (NIV).

Jonah received the divine command to go and proclaim God’s message to the people of Nineveh. Although God accomplished His purpose through the reluctant prophet’s ministry, Jonah’s failure to grow in loving God and His creation robbed him of the joy of making disciples. Although he knew the greatness of God’s love, he did not let that love transform his heart. It is a personal experience of God’s grace and growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ that kindle and fan the fire of mission in the bones of His true disciples. Concurring with this, Preston Sprinkle writes, “It’s fruitless to talk about discipleship without first talking about grace. Grace is the foundation and structure of discipleship. By grace God creates disciples. By grace God cultivates disciples. And it’s by God’s grace that we are transformed into Christlikeness. Grace enables us to be like Jesus, forgives us when we fail to act like Jesus, and empowers us to cling to Jesus in the midst of our brokenness. Jesus, not you or I, is the center of discipleship.”⁸

In short, one has to be a disciple and grow in loving God and others to be an effective witness and make other disciples of Jesus.

THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF THE COMMANDS

As shown above, the three commands of Jesus—to go worship, fellowship, and make disciples—are interconnected. If we do not go and worship God, if we do not experience His love and grow in loving Him, then we cannot love one another as He loved us. And if we do not love God and one another, we cannot go with power and be His faithful witnesses. So, as we obey the command to go and worship God in truth and spirit and go and forge and foster a vibrant fellowship, we will be empowered to go and be faithful witnesses of God.

As recorded in the book of Acts, the life of the first Christian church portrays their love to God and one another as the source of their success in making disciples: “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46, 47; NIV).

This brief biblical report clearly shows us how they obeyed the commands to go worship and go fellowship and how, as a result, their obedience to go and make disciples met with great success.

In conclusion, let us remember that the first disciples were able to achieve evangelistic success because they were obedient to the three “go” commands of Jesus: go worship, go fellowship, and go make disciples. Let us take these three “go” commands seriously and embrace them all when we respond and say “I will go.”

Let us say: “I will go and worship God. I will set aside time every day to commune with Him and surrender myself to Christ.”

Let us say: “I will go and fellowship with my brothers and sisters and make every effort to keep the unity of spirit.”

Let us say: “I will go and witness in the power of God’s Spirit.”

When we do so, we will embrace the biblical model of disciple making.

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1. I Will Go: Strategic Focus 2020–2025, 4, https://iwillgo2020.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IWG_A4_English.pdf. 
2. John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 151, 152. 
3. Ellen White, “Consecration,” Signs of the Times, January 6, 1904, 2. 
4. Anthony Kent, Leaving the Church: Why Some Seventh-day Adventist Members Leave the Church, and Why Some Come Back, https://www.adventistarchives.org/why-did-they-leave.pdf. 
5. Ellen G. White, “Love the Test of Discipleship,” Youth’s Instructor, December 2, 1897. 
6. Ellen G. White, “Are We Genuine Christians?” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, April 9, 1895, 1. 
7. Ellen G. White, “Home Missionary Work,” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, January 31, 189, 19. 
8. Preston M. Sprinkle, Go: Returning Discipleship to the Front Lines of Faith (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2016), 25. 

原文链接：

https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2021/08/The-divine-Go-commands