Why Discipleship is almost Impossible in America
Warning: This post is half rant, half well thought out article. So beware, this will step on some toes…
I have been passionate about discipleship for years. It is crux of the church and makes the difference between being a people that impact the world and being a people that only impact each other. It is also the most neglected and belittled component (or worse, program) in most churches, which makes me sad. But we have to ask, why has discipleship suffered so greatly in America when it should be at the very foundation of who we are as followers of Jesus? I think the answer is found in the greatest American Idol (not the TV show, the idol), which is consumerism.
We can’t seem to make disciples based on a commercial approach to the faith. We plainly cannot consume our way into discipleship. All of us must become much more active in the equation of becoming lifelong followers of Jesus. Consumption is detrimental to discipleship.
-Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways
I love that last line, consumption is detrimental to discipleship. I have heard too many people say they are leaving one church and going to another because they can “learn better” at the new one, or because the new one “suits their tastes” better, and honestly, I want to yell at those people. If you are going to leave one church for another it better be for a good reason like feeling that you are better able to serve at the new church, or even perhaps because God is moving you there so that He can use you, not be consumed by you.
All the worship wars, teaching wars, and preference issues are moot; what matters is that we are in churches of all types, shapes, and sizes where we are able to serve and make disciples. I think somehow Americans have bought into the lie that church is actually about them, its not. The Church is the bride of Christ and as His bride it lives for and loves Him above all else, even above individual preference.
Once the Church finally has that “light bulb moment”, realizing that its just not about us, then, and only then, can we begin to fulfill the calling to make disciples. Once we get over ourselves and are willing to sit next to the dude that smells like booze and smoke and once we are able to approach the gay couple and ask them into our home for lunch, maybe then we are taking our first steps toward the type of radical living and disciple making that Jesus practiced.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Adam,
Great post! I can actually see you veins about to pop. The American Dream, our prosperity and “get it quick” seduction has bled of us of any desire to identify with Jesus with any depth and suffering. God help us!
Russ
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Adam,
Amen.
I will pick one nit, and that is with your line, “Once the Church finally has that ‘light bulb moment’”. “The Church” will NEVER have that light bulb moment. “The Church” is in some sense imaginary. It’s parts – us – are reality, are God’s hands and feet and face and heart and love in the world. It is up to EACH ONE OF US, not “the Church”, to have our “light bulb moment”. “The Church” has been trying to have its “light bulb moment” for 2,000 years. Christ didn’t talk about “the Church”. He talked about (and to) us. All we can do is work on us and try to love and help the world as each of us encounters is, alone and together. And together, we ARE “the Church”. But the emphasis is still on OUR action. Otherwise, we can all wait around and point fingers waiting for “the Church” to change.
Does that make sense at ALL, or do I need to just STFU?
God’s blessings,
Jim
February 25th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Great POST!!!
We are the church, we are the bride, we – you and I and Jim, and it is up to us to realize that “church” in every context of the word is not a building a movie theater, a school, or any other physical structure. I often laugh when people pray for Jesus to show up at their service, why? Because scripture clearly states that He and His love lives on the inside of us, so if WE show up to “church” shouldn’t He already be there? But then again I guess we spend so much time with our hands out asking for this or that, we never have anything in our hands to give!
If we could buy Jesus, or “church”, or the salvation experience, would they outsell the iphone or be on everyone’s ipod?
June 29th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Your comments are exactly what I and another child of God are discussing. That “aha” moment you spoke of is determined by the individual “aha” that then springs forward to encourage the next to do good deeds. Church is for growth and strengthening for the labor of the harvest; i.e. discipleship. Yeshua has redeemed us so that we can have a relationship with our Father and that alone should be enough to make us want to shout from the mountain top! Consumer based advertisement and programing can be overcome by simply showing the Love that God and Jesus has shown for us.