NRH2014
- Edward Harold Browne, An Exposition of the Thirty Nine-Articles, p. 455 ↩
- As quoted in An Exposition of the Thirty Nine-Articles by Edward Harold Browne, p. 464 ↩
- Ibid. ↩
7 Lost Areas of Discipleship
On a whole, I agree with J.I. Packer that the Church at large just isn’t taking God seriously. At least not as seriously as we should.
Deep discipleship just isn’t in the program for many local faith communities. I’m beginning to think that if your discipleship programs don’t cause some people to take a step back and say, “Whoa, that’s gonna be pretty tough” then you’re doing something wrong. Discipleship is death to self. It’s serious business.
The discipleship programs that are prevalent tend to focus on the basic spiritual disciplines of scripture reading and prayer. This is foundational, of course, but not only are there more spiritual disciplines that are essential for spiritual growth, there are entire spheres of our life that are being neglected as areas for discipleship.
Specifically, I’m thinking of:
1) Personal Finance
Stewardship training is often limited to guilt-driven "encouragement" to tithe or "sacrificial giving" to fund buildings. What about teaching people how to live simply, to re-order their values, and to discern where the greatest needs are in their sphere of influence?2) Time Management
How is this not a discipleship issue? In U.S. culture especially, it seems like there should be training on this. Why did God take a Sabbath? Why does he ask us to emulate him in this? What is the spiritual value of rest? Practically, what does it look like to honor God with how we spend our time? These are things that should be addressed with believers young and old.3) Physical Health
Diet and exercise are rarely, if ever mentioned as part of regular discipleship. Gluttony has never been considered in any discipleship group I have been a part of. What we eat matters. How we steward our bodies matter. Every part of our being belongs to Jesus, including our physical selves.4) Singleness
Is it just me or do "singles" programs seem to be more directed at helping Christians find a mate than helping them find their whole identity in Christ as they are? Where is the talk of the great ministry that singles can have? The truth is that singles can devote their lives to ministry in ways impossible for married Christians. Why isn't this celebrated and understood as a possible calling worth pursuing?5) Parenting
The trend is to offload discipleship to the church. Of course, the whole community has a part to play in raising children, but we bear the primary responsibility for the spiritual health of our own offspring. Is it really enough to make sure they are "involved" in Sunday School or Youth Group and read a Bible story every night? Who is teaching people how to pray for their children, how to help them internalize the Word of God, how to communicate why we believe what we believe?6) Social Media
I think a lot of Christians just don't know how to communicate about theology and emotionally-charged, big ideas with grace and patience, and especially not in the written medium. This is a problem since so much of our interactions with people we know and people we don't know are written through social media. We have to start looking at this as a vital area of ministry and recognize that we continue to represent Christ in the digital realm.7) Making Disciples
Every disciple of Christ is called to disciple others. Maybe not formally. Maybe not as part of a program. But every Christian is responsible to be ready to share the reason for their hope, and then to help others follow Jesus with their whole being. Are we equipping the saints for this work, or are we simply using them to attract a few more people to the pews (slash comfy theatre-style seating)?Following Jesus is our whole life, and we shouldn’t expect people to just figure it out.
We’re in this together, so let’s start coming alongside one another, and be intentional about training in these areas.
We’re not meant to do it alone.
My neighbor spent Christmas alone and it was my fault.
“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.” ― Mother Teresa
We had a wonderful family Christmas. Me, my wife, and my two beautiful kids. Presents, cinnamon rolls, music, the tree, lights, the Christmas story…praying and singing together…walks around the neighborhood with new scooters and toy strollers for new dolls…more cinnamon rolls. It was picturesque, really.
As part of our Christmas we dropped cookies off with a few of our neighbors…we had been feeling a desire to reach out for a while.
At 9 p.m. on Christmas night, a single gentleman that lives across the street came by our house to say thanks for the cookies and give us a last minute Christmas card. When I asked him how his Christmas Day had been, he gave a little uncomfortable laugh, shrugged, and said,
Church is a vineyard
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15:8, ESV)
Gregory Nazianzen calls the church a Vineyard, “into which all are summoned as to their place of work, as soon as they are brought to the faith."1
Cultivating a quality vineyard takes time, patience, science, study, knowledge, art, dedication, passion for the work. Vineyards require constant care. As vineyards grow, they need many people doing many different things.
Vineyards become a sustaining source for families, a heritage and a legacy. Whole communities and countries can be known because of their vineyards.
Is this how we approach being baptized into the Church?
Is this how we think of being part of our local Christian communities, and part of the Church universal? Is this gathering of believers a living legacy to us, something that we will toil in, so that its fruit might bless the whole world?
Is it our life’s work?
Martin Luther actually said this. No joke.
Recently, a prominent Reformed blogger I read (and generally appreciate) asserted that the the Roman Catholic Church is a false church. Of course, this isn’t the first time I’ve read something like this. It seems to me that this is par for the course among Protestants of all kinds.
The thing is, apparently even Martin Luther wouldn’t have made such a serious accusation, despite his many harsh words directed toward the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope.
Luther, for instance, said,
We call the Church of Rome holy, and the bishops' sees holy, though they be perverted...there are still Baptism and the Sacrament, the Gospel, the Scripture, the ministry, the name of Christ and God. Therefore the Church of Rome is holy.
Luther doesn’t stop there. He continues:
Wherever the Word and Sacraments substantially remain, there is the holy Church.1
The fact that even the Father of the Reformation realized the Gospel still resided in the Roman Catholic Church deals a mighty blow to the idea of the Gospel as basically equivalent to the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
Even Calvin acknowledged the validity of Roman Catholic baptism and said,
...some ruins of a scattered Church exist there...2
Obviously the Reformers had deep and divisive differences with the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, I am finding in some of their writings a charity that is strangely absent from mainstream Reformation Christianity.