What the Church is too impatient and needy to do

The contemporary church has reduced the gospel and hollowed out a new disciple’s natural response to the gospel, which is to follow Jesus and build his or her life around his practices. Receiving Christ is the starting line, not the finish line. It means “game on.” What did salvation cost Jesus? His life! What does it cost me? My life! My life, then, is an answer; it is an offering, a living sacrifice. As Bonhoeffer so eloquently said, “We must not make cheap what cost God everything[jm1] .”All disciple-making activity is based on what the gospel actually is and requires of us. To give a little formulaic prayer that does not require repentance and desire for a new life makes a mockery of the gospel. The most common view of salvation does not require or include transformation. It creates the disturbing question for congregations, “Who is saved and who is not?” or, more troubling, “Who is not saved and who has been taught falsely that they are?”The second part of disciple-making activity is “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Teaching people to obey is called discipleship or apprenticeship. It requires determination, patience, and investment in the lives of others. [jm2] Thechurch does not possess the character to be patient enough to wait on God’s methods to work. The nation’s character and therefore the church’s have been weakened by impatience. Church leaders are addicted to the fast food of immediate gratification; we want meaning and growth, now! This speaks to the unsatisfied souls of our leaders. It would be a major change for pastors and church leaders to shift their time commitments from programs to individuals.This does not mean a lack of program; it does mean the careful long-term apprenticeship of men and women in understanding and living the life of discipleship to Christ. It requires accountability, submission, vulnerability,and a great deal of trust and caring. But what is all the fuss about? There are many kinds and types of churches that are being used greatly of God, so why do we need to pay attention to a particular model of church—the disciple-making church? When we think of churches that are greatly used of God, almost always we think of numbers, size, and publicity.There are days when everything blurs together in my mind and I don’t think acutely about church. I do see wondrous happenings around the globe, and for the growing church in Asia and Africa I give thanks. In Uganda, China, and Nigeria, the church is indeed a force to be reckoned with. But I must say that in the United States, our discipleship sloth has made us a new mission field. The disciple-making church is not a model or a program, it is the story of the men and women who followed Jesus and formed the early church. The evangelical churches in the United States in particular are in decline, primarily for their superficiality in the previously mentioned preaching of the gospel. This has led a generation of Christians to believe that following Jesus in discipleship is an option—it’s not necessary for salvation but is helpful only if you really want to be serious. And being the lusty creatures we are, we most often have opted for a cheapened gospel, one that is easy to live out because we don’t confront character and community issues in the body of Christ. This has led, then, to a lack of distinction in life and practice between Christians and non-Christians. And when thedistinction disappears, the two become one.