Making Disciples is What the Church is All About

The last words of Jesus that Matthew records are a command to His followers to make disciples:
“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"(Matthew 28:19-20, NIV).

Yet, is that the first priority of your church? Is it your first priority in regard to your involvement in the church? If it is not your priority, it’s probably not your church’s priority, no matter what the mission or purpose statement says. I think this scripture, along with Luke’s last words of Christ from Acts 1:8 indicate that everything that the church is and does should be targeted at making disciples. I’m afraid our churches do a lot of things that have very little to do with making disciples. Some traditional church programs probably began as means to bring people to a saving relationship with Jesus and help them grow in that relationship, but as the years have gone by the programs have become an end in themselves. Churches also are victims of what the military calls “mission creep.” By that, I mean the church starts with the very simple mission God gave it, but other things get added. For some, the unspoken mission becomes protecting the building, or reaching only a certain kind of people, or preserving the past, or even putting on a show.

Don’t get me wrong. I am amazed at how much many people do for their church. People give generously of their time. I applaud their efforts, but some of them work very hard at church doing things that don’t have anything to do with what Jesus said was the main thing. What do you do at church? Does it contribute to making disciples? Make a list of the ministries, programs and activities of your church. Are there any that don’t contribute to making disciples? Then why is the church doing them? Often the answer is, “Because we’ve always done it.” Churches are not very good at stopping things. Old programs that no longer make disciples need to be stopped to make room for new more effective ones.

There are a lot of churches that are declining. For many, the reason is that they have chosen to make other “churchy” things more important than making disciples. Christians get comfortable with churchy things and would rather do those things than do what is necessary to help people find Christ’s love and grow in it. A lot of churches are all for making disciples as long as they can do what they have always done. The truth is there is only so much time and so much money. If your church devotes only the time and money that is left after the church does all its churchy stuff to making disciples, it is probably not doing very much. Folks, Jesus said the point of the church is to make disciples. If that isn’t the point of your church, is it really a church?

Let Your Light Shine – How should Christians confront the world?

The other day at Wal-Mart I couldn‘t help overhearing this conversation:

First lady: “We have always home schooled, but she will be starting 6^th grade, so we are looking into a Christian school.  There is no way I am sending her to Woodstock Middle School.  I don’t want her in that place.”

Friend: “Really, I would think there would be a lot of opportunities there.”

First lady: “I just don’t want her around that influence.”

Just then, on the other side of me (where the mothers probably couldn’t hear the girls) I heard the friend’s daughter, “You aren’t going to be at Woodstock?”

First lady’s daughter replied in a tween girl’s haughty manner, “Of course, I don’t want to turn out bad like you.” (There was no smile or giggle.)

This conversation bothered me for several reasons. First of all, I hope that the daughters were friends and that the one girl was kidding, and the other one took it as that. (However, nothing in either of their expressions or body language demonstrated it.) That was disturbing, but I have been around middle school kids enough to know that such insulting talk is not an unusual thing to hear in that circle. 

What truly disturbed me that afternoon was the attitude of the “Christian” mother. She embodied v to me why the world is going to hell and the church is so ineffective in its efforts to change that. Now, I don’t know this particular lady, but the conversation I overheard reminded me of many people I have known in the past. At one time in my life, I might have been tempted to agree with her.  I might even have thought she was wise, but as I have grown older, I have come to a different understanding. 

Though churches are growing larger, the world gets no better and could be said to be getting worse.  Things that shocked my parents’ generation, and even some things that were shocking my “everything is all right as long as no one gets hurt” baby boom generation, are now considered normal parts of life. 

There is a strong temptation for Christians to seal ourselves, and our families, into a fortress where we are not confronted by the lost world.  That would be nice and I believe if we remain true we will be rewarded with the privilege of spending eternity in a place like that.  It is called heaven!  In the meantime, we have an assignment. It entails making disciples of all kinds of people--people of a different socio-economic stratum, opposing political views, and even those with lifestyles that run counter to our beliefs. Instead of meeting those folks on their turf and demonstrating the redeeming love of Jesus by the way we speak, live, and love, we do our best to separate ourselves from the very people God has assigned us to reach. Jesus’ teaching is that we are to be in the world, but not of it.  We must dare to be different in the world. It is not God’s plan for us to become a novel colony within the broader world, but to become salt and light to that world - salt that melts cold hard hearts and light that does a lot more than show them their error.  We are to be the light that leads them to the Savior.

Although I know that as I get older, I am considered more and more eccentric, I didn’t think I was old enough, or quite eccentric enough to get away with confronting that lady.  What I wish I had done is to start humming the old chorus, “This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let it Shine” as I stood there.  This lady was not being light. She didn’t care about being light. She just wanted to be safe and comfortable. That desire to be safe and comfortable is thwarting the influence of the church and killing many congregations. Now, my problem is not with Christian schools or home schooling.  My problem is with the mind-set that limits the influence of Christians because the world makes us uncomfortable.  Now if the secular school they were discussing was literally physically dangerous, I would encourage her to seek a safer environment for her daughter, but I am pretty sure this particular school is not like that. Her daughter, and their family could have been the salt and light someone needed.  On second thought, given the daughter’s snotty statement to the other girl, it might be better for the Kingdom to keep her with Christians and away from sinners. I’ve changed my mind. Mom at Wal-mart, please don’t send your child to the public school. With the attitude you and she exhibit you would give Christians a bad name.

God bless you as you find ways to be salt and light in your corner of the world!

What Does God Want the Church to do?

What is the church here for? What is God’s purpose of the church? Why are we called together? These are pretty basic questions, and Rick Warren dealt with them years ago in his great book The Purpose Driven Church. Yet, as I have had occasion to visit many churches, and talk to pastors, and their people, I have found that way too many folks are confused about God’s purpose for the church, and some people are just plain wrong about it. Let me share some things that might help to clear up confusion, and perhaps make some think again about what God wants the church to be and to do.

I believe there are five parts to a Biblical purpose for the church. These all come straight from scripture. Most written church purposes include some of them, but I have seldom seen a church that proclaimed all five as the reason it exists.

The Purpose of the Church in Five Parts:

Part 1 – The church exists to glorify God. That is the purpose of all creation. All through the Psalms we are reminded of this fact. In particular, the church exists to proclaim the glory of God, our Savior. This part of the purpose of the church overarches the other parts. All the rest are ways that we glorify God. Everything the church is and does should be designed to give glory to the Lord.

Part 2 – The purpose of the church is to reach out to those who don’t know Jesus with the message of salvation and discipleship. Jesus’ last words on earth make this very clear:

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." Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 (NIV)

In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus told his followers to make disciples of all nations. Notice that he didn’t say to go get people to make decisions; instead he said to make disciples. It is not enough to push people into a moment of decision. We are to lead people into a life of following Christ. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told those who were on hand for his ascension to be his witnesses everywhere they went. We are to reach out by simply telling people what Jesus has done in our lives and showing them what it means to be a disciple as we reflect his love and hope on those around us.

Part 3 – The purpose of the church is to grow up to be like Jesus in our thinking, standards and maturity. Take a look at Ephesians 4:11-13:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephes. 4:11-16 (NIV)

Seems to me that this means we all have a lot of learning and growing to do, and that we must never stop doing what needs to be done to become more like Jesus.

Part 4 – The purpose of the church is to grow together in the fellowship of Christian love for each other.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Christ-followers have to learn to love each other. Sometimes that is a breeze, and sometimes it is nearly impossible, because we can be impossible. The love that we share must be a love that others can see and desire to experience. It is also a love that wants as many people as possible to be part of it. The church is to be an open, inviting, fellowship, not a closed clique or club.

Part 5 – The purpose of the church is to lift up those in need simply because they are in need and we have help to offer.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit 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? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:34-40 (NIV)

This part of the purpose of the church is often missing in written purpose statements. Sometimes, it is thought to be included with the “reach out” part, but I think it stands alone. The church is to help people with out expecting anything in return. If you don’t think Jesus is serious about this read, the whole context of the quoted passage: Matthew 25: 31-46. He is not messing around. He means for us to do it.

The temptation for a congregation and for a pastor is to pick the part of the purpose that they find the easiest, and concentrate on that. That is the reason that there are a lot of small churches that love each other deeply, but don’t do much to bring other people to the Lord. Other churches feel like a school where people have piles of notebooks from all the church courses they have taken. The members do a lot of training, but they never get into the battle. Still others do a lot for their communities, but they have become little more than simply another charity that does good, instead of being a place with more to give to those in need than a warm meal or free clothes. And some churches like to count the rear ends in the seats, but that is all that happens. People come to those churches for the “show”, but there is nothing beyond “the show” for them.

A friend of mine says the purpose of the church is to “grow more and better disciples with emphasis on the more.” He finds that churches tend to concentrate on things that are comfortable. Reaching out to the unchurched is often uncomfortable. Most churches tend to be more enthusiastic about the other parts, so they have to be encouraged to reach out. He may well be correct. I think a church needs to be and do the whole package to the glory of God. Is your church doing all these: reaching out, growing up, growing together, and lifting up? Why not? Small church, large church, and everything in between, all of us, need to live the whole calling of God. The church was God’s idea. It was paid for by his Son’s sacrifice. So it stands to reason that we should do church his way. Are we?