If you look around you can find some churches that have
big buildings, cool kid programs, are technically savvy and
culturally relevant. However, if the
truth be told, many are also "Discipleship Challenged".
All too often we just aren't doing discipleship AT ALL.
That's a tragedy but likely also the reason that many of our churches are
failing and Christianity is become less and less relevant in a world where it remains the only hope for the future. We fail not so much by declining attendance but by becoming more and
more like the rest of the world.
The Body of Christ has been given two commands,
typically known as the Great Commandment and
the Great Commission.
The great commandment is actually two where in the Gospel of Mark Chapter 28 Jesus said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself. 'There is no commandment greater than these."
However it is the Great Commission that is all
too often ignored by the church. After
Jesus rose from the dead he spent another fifty days teaching and preparing His
disciples. Just before he ascended into heaven, Jesus gave them and us a
command: "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."
Becoming a disciple is not the same as becoming a member of
a local church like the church is some kind of Country Club where the members have benefits. Being a believer in Jesus Christ is how one becomes a member of the Body of Christ. Being a disciple of Jesus is not about member benefits but responsibilities. The benefits of being in the Body of Christ are primarily eternal not temporal. The word disciple means "to
follow" and "to learn". It also has the connotation of adhering
to a person and imitating a person. That person is none other than Jesus.
The early church grew because believers invested in other
people and made disciples. Many churches today invest in buildings and hope
that perhaps the activities, events, conferences and educational program will make disciples. Discipleship however has always been
relational and involved reaching and mentoring and teaching. Just like Jesus!
