The Church and Discipleship (Part I)

The Church is an amazing thing. It is one of the oldest “societies” in the world. It is living and breathing and moving and has been for a very long time. Founded on the Savior of the World, called to go in His name and proclaim the good news of salvation to the ends of the earth, the Church has the single greatest purpose of any group of people ever. It is the most powerful thing in existence… There’s just one problem. It’s full of some of the most complacent, hard-hearted, and lost people in the world. Don’t believe me? Let’s compare the church in America to the example of the church outside of the United States, especially in places like China and Africa.

Before I go any further, let me say that I have very limited knowledge of the Church outside of the United States, because I haven’t studied it in depth. However, I feel like I know enough to assess the differences between church here as opposed to church there. The “Westernized American” Church is the focus of this blog, and here’s why. Unlike anywhere else in the World, here, we have freedom of religion. No one questions us when we build a Church and hold a block party in our neighborhood, and why should they? We’re free. Yet with little opposition, comes a level of comfort that makes for a very lax and complacent group of people. Contrast this to the church in China: though illegal, with death or imprisonment a real possibility, Christianity is more on fire than ever. In Africa, with threats of Muslim oppression and witch doctors running rampant, the Church is growing more rapidly than just about anywhere else. So what’s the difference between our American Churches and the oppressed churches overseas? Boiled down to just one word, I think the church in foreign lands is hungry for a saving Gospel.

Hunger.

The American Church isn’t hungry for the Gospel like the foreign Church is. But you say, “Josh my church is plenty hungry for the Gospel.” I’m not bold enough, nor would I ever say that all churches everywhere in America aren’t hungry for the Gospel. Please don’t confuse what I’m saying. I am simply making the observation that in many Churches there are those who are “on fire” for the Gospel, and then there are those I talked about in my last blog, who are “check-box” Christians. We have all been the “Check-box” Christian before. I know I have.

See, Americans are spoiled. Instead of the Church educating people about the dangers of falling into the American lifestyle, it’s bought into it. Pastors are living in enormous houses, driving expensive cars, and living very wealthy lifestyles. This in turn is encouraging their congregations to follow suit. Sermons turn into pep talks instead of long hard looks into God’s word for instruction. Many times the Bible takes its place referenced at the beginning of a sermon, and then the Pastor’s opinions take center stage. Sadly, due to a lack of sound theological training, many Church members don’t notice this at all! They are fed the same thing week after week, checking their happy little boxes, and moving on down their happy little way. Meanwhile, in reality, God’s heart is breaking because His children, whom He gave His Son for, are essentially building up for themselves a “Golden Calf” church experience (See Exodus 32). We have all of the flashy, exciting, “relevant” things about worship, learning, and a “Christian walk”, without digging in and finding out who our real God is…

So, what’s the problem? What is causing the Church to throw itself at the pursuit of being “relevant” to a modern culture instead of falling back on the truth of the Gospel and its relevance to any situation? Satan. The father of lies spends all of his time here on earth causing as much confusion and disagreement as possible, especially within the church, and he is very good at what he does. Division is the name of his game. He swoops in and causes us to focus on things that seem extremely important at the time, but in the end only distract us from what is really needed in the church.

Jesus gave very clear instruction on what the Church was supposed to be about. He laid it out for the disciples in Matthew 28 as we saw in my last blog. (http://joshuapeppersblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/blog-changes-continued.html) Discipleship, personally training, one on one with other members of the church as well as those who are lost, is how we are to approach Church. With Satan diagnosed as the source of the problem, we can attack back with Biblical training and instruction. It’s hard to fully grasp how it can work so well and yet be so simple. Look again at the church overseas, growing like wildfire. There are no big stage designs or fancy worship leaders, props or big sound systems. There is only The Gospel! The Gospel changes lives. The Gospel shapes leaders. The Gospel convicts sinners. The Gospel gives hope to everyone! The Gospel saves us from Sin, and that is Good News!

People of God, why are we trading in the simple message of the Gospel for a complicated, flashy, and in the end false, view of what Church is? Church doesn't exist to serve its members. In fact, it's quite the opposite; we exist for Christ, for His purpose, and for His church. When we finally grasp that, we will truly become "relevant" to a lost generation, because we will no longer feel the need to impress, but all of us will be compelled to serve.

Please, do not get me wrong. Let me be very clear. I do not have a problem with lights or a great worship band (I’m in the one at my Church). What I am opposed to is too much emphasis being put into the lights and band and props, without enough focus being put on discipling the members of the church and the growth of a congregation toward more Godly lives.

In the next part of this blog, Discipleship and the Church Part II, I want to unpack whose responsibility it is to right this situation within the church. It does not fall on your senior Pastor alone, nor is it the Church staff; rather it is the responsibility of every single member of the church. We will explore Paul’s letter to Titus in the New Testament and view the way he instructed Titus to lead the Church. It gives very clear guidelines for the people who are to be in church leadership, and it has a message for every man, woman, and young person in the church. I encourage you to read Titus before reading my next blog, and then we will walk together through Titus, passing over the first part of Chapter 1 and focusing mostly on Chapter 2, especially the end of this chapter.

My prayer is that this blog will help us all, myself included, gain knowledge of His word, and together take back the church for God’s glory. It’s time that the Church awakens to find itself strong and vibrant, carrying with it a relevant word for a lost and dying world in need of the Savior we call our King!

Thanks for reading; please comment and share your thoughts!

I hope you’ll join me for part two!

Jp