We’ve assumed that’s something the church is supposed to do. Unfortunately, when that happens, it creates several challenges.
- Disciples aren’t involved in discipleship.
- Discipleship is relegated to the pulpit and the classroom rather than everyday life.
- We eventually become dissatisfied with church programs because they aren’t producing disciples…forgetting that discipleship was never intended to be a church program.
- The hyper-spiritual people get frustrated that the church programs are not “deep enough” and they start searching for another church where they can be “discipled.”
One of my favorite verses in Scripture comes from something Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica. He shared:
“We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.”
That’s a great reminder (and challenge) for me about a plan for outreach. Discipleship is not just hearing the Gospel message. It’s not just about gaining knowledge. It’s also about applying that knowledge to everyday life. Because of that, discipleship can’t happen apart from sharing life. That’s why church programs and preaching will never make disciples. Both may be part of the discipleship process, but, if the church is completely responsible for the discipleship process, we’re doomed to fail.
I think we need new language. Maybe we can start with this. We can encourage people to invest and invite and invest. We need to help disciples make disciples. It can’t be programmed. Think about your own experiences. You studied the Bible. You engaged personal disciplines. You probably had someone in your life to encourage and challenge you in your faith journey. I did. There were different guys along the way — Charlie, Larry, Lee, Chris, Matt, and Tim to name several. These guys didn’t assume it was the church’s responsibility to help me take my next steps toward Christ. They invested in me.
Rather than promoting church programs to help people take their next steps, what would happen if we challenge people to just invest in their friends. What if we gave them the tools to understand basic doctrine and spiritual disciplines and then encouraged them to share those tools with their friends? What if we gave people tools to continue the conversation and the study beyond the Sunday message and encouraged them to do that with their friends?
Is it possible that our plan for outreach that we designed to be our discipleship process are actually preventing discipleship from happening in our churches? What would happen if we encourage people to invest and invite…and invest?
