The Problem with Discipleship

At the end of His time on earth, Jesus gave us a command that is often called the “Great Commission” which was, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

Since that time, the church has done a relatively poor job on discipleship. The early church, soon after the baton was passed from the Apostles, created two classes of people: clergy and laity. This was equivalent to having the “haves and have-nots”. One group, the clergy, was considered spiritual and the holder of the knowledge of the kingdom and all others were considered to be subservient and not to be trusted with the true knowledge.

While the Reformation of the 16th Century did much to encourage a “Priesthood of all believers”, the process of making disciples is still more hit and miss. While many programs are available to churches and believers, in most of our churches, true Christian discipleship continues to be more of a lofty goal than a practical outcome.

I’ve been taught that there are three essential elements to discipleship: Faith (the forgiveness of sin through the completed work of a Savior), Fellowship (the demonstration of love and acceptance), and Foundations (understanding the foundational truth of the gospel including sin, salvation, grace, mercy and redemption).

Recently, I’ve come to understand that the new discipleship model that is necessary is one that embraces the three components of previous programs Faith, Fellowship, & Foundations but it goes beyond programs as discipleship is not about programs but about people.

The new discipleship model takes the mission of the church and places it squarely on the shoulders of those that are being discipled. This missional model understands that just beyond the property marker of the church begins the mission field.

Having a discipleship model that includes being Missional means that we are involving and requiring participation as a means of becoming a disciple and follower of Jesus Christ. One of the cornerstone verses of the Missional model for discipleship is Matthew 25 where Jesus said,

Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

More Forgiveness, Less Divorce

You have likely heard or seen the "divorce statistic" for Christians. It appears that Christians divorce at about the same rate (or possibly higher) than non-Christians. According to Barna research, 11% of the adult population is currently divorced; 25% of adults have had at least one divorce during their lifetime, and divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher (i.e. Baptists 29%, non-denominational 34%) than for other faith groups, and those that identify "no faith" experience.

There have been many that have attempted to explain away this seemingly inconstant factoid for people of faith. They attempt to create a higher sub-culture within Christianity that includes true "Christians" by defining only those born-again Christian couples who marry other born-again Christians, have a church wedding after receiving premarital counseling, and faithfully attend church weekly and pray daily together.

While I have no doubt that Church attendance and Bible Study and pre-marriage conferences all improve the success rate for marriages, I have another suggestion: forgiveness.

When Jesus was asked to clarify His teaching on divorce (Mark 10:2-12), Jesus recounted that it was God's intention that marriage would last forever. He said that Moses provided concessions that included divorce to suit the hardness of man's heart.

Some Christians, including pastors, cling to an "exception" in Matthew 19:9, where Jesus speaks about "adultery". However, this is not an exception to the "forever" of marriage but the ability of the faithful and remaining spouse to be free to remarry. Paul supports this freedom in his teaching as well. Again, I believe that Paul's teaching is on remarriage, not a justification for divorce.

The teaching on forgiveness in the New Testament is very clear. Jesus said we are to forgive 70 times 7; God forgives us so we need to forgive each other. Christianity and the teachings of Jesus are unique in its offer of complete forgiveness. In the plan of salvation, forgiveness is central in the provision in which God completely forgives the sins of everyone who comes to faith and belief in Christ.

All too often Christians are quick to provide a quick remedy to an injured spouse when adultery is involved. And that remedy is divorce.

Forgiveness is always an option. "Let not man separate what God has joined together" (Mark 10:9)

Blessed are the Peacemakers

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus gives us a number of statements beginning with the words, "Blessed are the....." These are often referred to as the Beatitudes which are not only memorable but often considered counter-intuitive, a proposition that seems likely to be not true based on personal understanding or intuition. However, the issue is that our understanding is often flawed and we are better off trusting what God says about a situation.

Take the statement of Jesus that says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9 Now, being a peace maker may have been something that you may have thought involved marching against tyranny or war mongers. Perhaps joining with some “peaceniks” against armies of war and oppression.

I've found however that the work of a peacemaker is actually much more local than global. Introducing peace and communicating understanding is something that is sorely needed in the world in general and in Christian circles in particular. Hardly a day passes that I don’t receive an email, message or text that encourages me to stand up against something, or someone that somebody feels duty-bound to fight.

There is an endless parade of issues, political struggles and competitive viewpoints that well-meaning Christians feel compelled to rally an army of souls to call in, stand-up and vote against.

When as a church are we going to be defined by not what we are against, but simply as "Sons of God"? Perhaps, it will be when we seek to avoid hostility, and find opportunities to bring tranquility and sanity into what others see as a chaotic and intimidating world.

Christians have been very actively politically in the United States for over twenty years, casting votes for politicians and actively supporting various causes, some good, some misguided. It is time we become peacemakers and simply become known as "Sons of God"

Technology-Assisted Christianity

Recently, I was asked to comment on LifeChurch.tv and our satellite campuses. It seems like there are still a number of people that want to stay away from using technology or are a little nervous about some of the implications.

One of the observations I can make is that many Christians and their churches and educational institutions seem to be a "little late to the party" when it comes to technology. Maybe it goes all the way back to the challenge and struggle the Catholic church had with science back in the middle ages.

I've been teaching at the under and post-graduate level for years and have observed that most of the professors and institutions hesitate to fully embrace “technology-assisted” education (what commonly has been called "distance" and "on-line"). They have many reasons for their hesitancy but typically I find that they are just slow at embracing change…painfully slow.

While there may be some good arguments for their resistance, the bottom line for me is that many people learn very well via independent study. In addition, the quality of video and audio presentations available via technology-assisted programs is actually quite good. I can take notes while I watch, stop the DVD, back it up, play it again. All too often, I’ve known instructors and professors who talk to the chalk board and bore their students to death, but have tenure to ensure their continued employment. Someone please tell me why in 2009, so many professors are still adverse to using technology even in the traditional classroom. Recently, while teaching at a Christian college, I was one of the few that were using a website for my students featuring on-line quizzes and other study aids despite the fact that all of the text books included and recommended these tools for the students.

Finally, when it comes to satellite sermons, I want to think not too highly of myself and call to mind that we have many Biblical and contemporary examples of how God has used His word to completely transform a person’s life. Just the Word…no instructor, pastor or preacher.

Building Relationships

Visitors to our churches aren't often looking for Jesus, but "value", and may likely be visiting because they are struggling with an important, life-impacting issue, not because they want to worship, according to Christian researcher and prognosticator, George Barna.

Churches that are effective at building relationships understand that their guests don't want to be overwhelmed but, like guests to other venues, prefer to acquire information about the church and ministry at a pace that they set, not something that is contrived by the church.

Many church leaders consider that that the majority of the their first-time guests are "unchurched". This is likely a mistake. This word, "unchurched" has always bothered me and I wish we would just knock it off. For one thing, "churched" isn't a verb nor an adjective and adding the word "un" before the word "churched" creates a great opportunity to make a false assumption and also presupposed that the actual objective of our ministry would be to get people to be "churched" rather than following Jesus (but I digress).

It matters little if the church is small or large, building relationships start the first few seconds after a guest arrives. People that are assigned or naturally welcome both regular attenders and first time guests should be friendly and understand that visitors value anonymity. Visitors are also looking primarily for how well they are greeted and made welcome and only secondarily, are looking for the opportunities to get involved in culturally relevant and personally high-value activities.

Having visitors wear name tags or stand up and identify themselves is going to work exactly the opposite of what both the visitors and the church are hoping to accomplish. If your church is doing that, knock it off as well. Actually, aggressively contacting or visiting first-time visitors works against the church as well.

While studies have indicated that a greeting or meeting with the the pastor is important, having someone take the time to offer a genuine opportunity to connect and ultimately to build a relationship will often turn first-time visitors into repeat attenders.

No one church can be every one's "ideal" so trying to get it "just right" is usually not as important as many think. According to surveys by Barna and others, most people are quite flexible on issues of style including the type of music, how long the service lasts, the way people are dressed and the general appearance of the church. Creating an environment where regular attenders and members are appraised and reminded of the importance of building relationships and valuing authenticity in the ministries and activities creates great value in the eyes of the guests. Churches that are good at creating multiple opportunities for people to connect will create positive impressions with guests who, even if they don't come back, may share their positive experience with others.

Ultimately, churches should want to show clearly that their weekly worship service makes a difference and that attending the church again, or on a regular basis, would be a good use of some one's time. We often say that the "church" is not the building but the people. That is true and it is also true that building relationships is also the way we ultimately build the church.

Too Close To the Edge

When I was a new father, one of the things that scared me more than anything was when one of my children got a little too close to the edge. Whether it was on the second floor balcony, or at the park on a jungle-gym, seeing them get too close made me nervous.

At the same time, I’ve always wanted to be “edgy” myself. I’ve wanted to push myself to the limit and also have embraced a faith that I wanted to be “edgy” as well. Edgy to me meant that I was actually trying to live my faith and when I preached, to teach others to embrace the real Jesus over man-made religion.

Churches try to be “edgy” and it may work for them if their purpose is to be different or noticed. Often, the objective is all about numbers and numerical growth. It’s been my experience however that other than attracting a crowd, “edgy” is just as likely to get you too far away from being truly grounded in the gospel and being truly useful in ministry.

Today we have all kinds of churches: Seeker, traditional, liturgical, postmodern, emerging, post-liberal, neo-conservative, neo-evangelical and all kinds of phrases and descriptive terms that are being used to describe the variations. The definitions for these terms are likely being debated by people that haven’t had a real job in a very long time; and may likely need to get a life as well.

Recently (actually daily), it seems like I’m being reminded that I’m called to ministry, which basically means I’m called to serve. The best way that I can serve is to be prayerful, available and open to whatever God wants to accomplish in and through my life. Churches that want to be serving as well should consider how well they are reaching both saint and sinner, how effective they are in transforming people spiritually, and how God is receiving glory in the process.

Hair of the Dog

Have you ever heard that old adage, "Hair of the Dog that bit you?" It's supposedly a cure for hangovers. The idea is that since you've poisoned your system by imbibing too much alcohol, a little more alcohol (i.e. "hair of the dog") will cure the symptoms.

According to Wikipedia (I realize I likely have lost all of your respect) the origin of the phrase is literal, and comes from an erroneous method of treatment of a rabid dog bite by placing hair from the dog in the bite wound.

Perhaps we should think of that adage, or how silly it really is, when we find ourselves in other situations that feel like a hangover.

Have you ever had a debt hangover? You know..you stumble out of bed, look at yourself in the mirror and think, "how in the world did this happen?" Well, if you find yourself up to your armpits in debt, don't for a minute think that maybe a debt consolidation loan or second mortgage may fix what ales you. This 'hair of the dog' is just more debt and you don't fix a problem with having a little more of the same.

People can get out of debt when they change their behavior. Stop spending more money than you have, cut up the credit cards if that is the poison that got you in this situation and stay on a budget. A recent study showed that most people that get serious about getting out of debt can accomplish being debt free (with the exception of the home mortgage) in 24-30 months.

If you need debt counseling go get it. Be careful not to respond to some offer that end up being more 'hair of the dog'. Many churches offer great services such as 'Financial Peace University' or 'Good $ense Ministry'. S top spending more than your income, get on a budget and pay off your debt.