Discipleship Versus Multi-Level Marketing

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Gen. 2.2-3

Even if you’re new to the Bible, you’ll definitely notice the redundancy of the word “rest” in those two consecutive verses in Genesis. God rested on the seventh day… God blessed the seventh day because that’s the day He rested. Why such strong emphasis on rest? With the magnitude of the work He did, don’t you think God should be a little more busy by that time?

Pastor Joey Bonifacio once mentioned that part of the reason why God created man on the sixth day and rested on the next is that He wanted Adam to see Him relaxed and approachable right after he opened his eyes. He didn’t want Adam to see Him buried with a thousand inter-galactic chores the first day humanity was awakened to consciousness.

He wanted to sit back, enjoy His creation and make Himself available to man, to walk with him in the garden and enjoy an unhurried friendship with him. Not that He is not available on some other days but to show humanity that He is available for casual conversations and coffee breaks. To set an example to us that resting is actually part of the pattern of life; that amidst the busy lives of endless work to do, there is supposed to be a time to sit down and enjoy the company of the people you love.

When we do discipleship, let us not forget that a greater part of it is on building godly, unhurried friendships, not to form groups that look more like multi-level marketing schemes or ad hoc committees. We’ve seen this in church many times before. People meet in small groups, discuss the word and run out of the door as fast as they can. Their goal is for each member to form his own group and to repeat the process for rapid multiplication. It is only out of godly politeness that we don’t call these disciples our “spiritual downlines.”

Slow down. As Joey Bonifacio often say, “slow is fast.” This is not church marketing, this is not a signature campaign for Jesus, this is life and we are meant to enjoy this.