Discipleship is probably the most misunderstood word in the church today. Here's a simple definition: discipleship is 'people leading each other to maturity in Christ'.
Today's evangelical church has dicarded the discipleship model in favour of an academic model. Instead of discipling people, we teach them. We put people in classrooms and present them with Bible knowledge. We offer them a weekly lecture(sermon) from an educated person...that is why a man who has sat in church for 30 years without much life change will be suddenly transformed after going on a mission trip. men are changed by what they experience, not necessarily by what they are told.
At the conclusion of Matthew's gospel, Jesus gave his followers 3 responsibilities:
1. make disciples
2. baptize them
3. teach them
we have reversed this process. We teach a lot of people, baptize some, but produce very few genuine disciples.
page 33-35 Why men hate going to Church
2 comments:
think i quake at anything thats such a clearly defined process...especially something like discipleship. its a life long journey.
and sometimes i think that because i'm not even discipled what gives me the right to disciple others.
but i'll keep trying to live that out.
thanks pal
YES!!
Post a Comment