Just some things I have been thinking on lately. Dodger always says I should write a book.
The Church Survival Guide: Discipleship 101
"Hi, what's your name?"
"Joe."
"Nice to meet you Joe. Are you new here?"
"Yeah, just joined last week! I'm really excited."
"That's awesome! Well, good luck."
"Wait....what?"
The Church today has gotten into a bad habit. We are all to ready to get you into the church. We push, pull, prod, and on occasion drag people to come with us to church in the hopes that they will have their eyes opened by God, and see the beauty of Zion. Countless sermons, and an innumerable amount of pamphlets are employed to help the current church member break down the barriers on the path to the Christian walk. All of this is an essential part of our duty as Christians. This falls under the category of "letting our lights so shine in the world." As little beacons of the Light of God we shine forth to show the way through the darkness for His children. The problem we have today, however, is that we flip the switch off after the person or persons actually join the church. The new born Christian comes to a service after he or she has joined and finds the same loving atmosphere they came for, but a lack of hand-in-hand care they once had. The Church all too often sees the new Christian as "in" and their job is complete. However, this is where the Church's role becomes vital.
Discipleship is the first key step in a new born Christian's life. Without it the Christian will fall back into the world, give up, or never fully grow up into the mature Christian they are called to be. For the Church to continue to grow, and continue to have a world changing impact as it did in the Apostles day then we as the Church body must take a drastically more involved role in the "new born's" life.
Just an introduction. There will be more to come. Or not. Who knows.
4 comments:
You know also, when this trend reaches it's conclusion and the member starts missing Sundays, we often fail to then go and try to help. Allowing members to drift away.
Nice thoughts...see i just feel the need to comment so that you know i read your stuff but really that's all i got
Dani- yes...this unfortunately is the ultimate conclusion of our initial failure
Table- I love your comments. Even if they are just confirmations that you are interested in me.
This really hits home with me as I realize I've been doing that exact thing in recent months. There are a couple of teenage brothers that have grown up in the church but have only just recently been baptized, and I haven't once talked to them directly about God or what it means to be a Christian. It's difficult for me to have a "buddy" relationship with either of them, and I keep making subconscious excuses because of that. But a mutual interest in the church is a perfect bridge for getting to know them better. Thanks for the reminder.
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