As part of a presentation on discipleship, I seek to focus participants on “Practices to Avoid in 21st Century Discipleship”. This part of the presentation usually creates a lot of discussion because it raises a number of issues that have their foundation in the 20th century and will not be relevant in the 21st century. Check out this blog to see if you are avoiding the following practices.
Continuing to use discipleship models that are frozen in historical periods.
Even if they appear to be working in the current era, will our discipleship models work in the emerging era? We need to start by reviewing them honestly and asking if they have produced obedient disciples in the current generation and then if they can be used with the next generation. We will need to use the current and future cultural and philosophical criteria, alongside core historical beliefs and practices, to evaluate the way forward in making disciples
Reacting to the current situation by swinging to the complete opposite. This is often the way Christianity has reacted to change in each historical era as we seek to be relevant and contemporary. I constantly hear statements like ‘the church has become an organisation, what we need to do is become an organism’. There is truth underlying these perceptions but we need a broader understanding of who we are historically as God’s people before we attempt to instigate major changes.
It is good to look back and to understand our history. Despite our imperfections, the activity of the Holy Spirit has been evident as we look back over 2000 years of church history. Our response to change in the 21st century needs careful consideration so we adjust our discipleship practices using God’s wisdom.
Working even harder at making disciples out of those who have been on the journey for years. Have you ever had someone tell you that they are leaving a church because ‘they’re not growing’ or they’re looking for ‘deeper teaching’. It’s great that people understand what they believe, but knowledge in and of itself is not a hallmark of a disciple. As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:1, ‘Knowledge puffs up. Love builds up’. Some of the most scripturally literate people in Jesus’ day were bypassed as chosen disciples.
Biblical knowledge is ultimately designed for application. One leader put it this way: ‘Most modern Christians are about 3000 bible verses overweight’. The kind of maturity that honours God most deeply is knowledge applied in love. Our lives should be different. Our marriages should be different. Our parenting should be different. Our love for our neighbours and community should be different. Our confession and repentance should be deep and sincere. Our transparency should be authentic. And we should be radically committed to living out our faith in a way that makes disciples.
Locking people up in programs and activities so they never have the opportunity to live life with those who don’t know Jesus. If you consider the Apostle Paul to be a mature disciple of Jesus, consider his obsession with un-believers. Eventually it got him killed. Real maturity is not a life lived through programs – it’s a life lived making disciples as you go about your normal life activities.
Jesus commanded us to make disciples, not be disciples. Could it be that in the act of making disciples, we actually become more of who Christ designed us to be? It was in the act of making disciples that thousands of early disciples were transformed into new creations.
Separating evangelism and discipleship. This separation is an essential part of the belief of most Christians today because it was magnified in the middle part of the 20th century by new-evangelicals like Billy Graham. New-evangelicals successfully placed evangelism into the hands of the professional evangelist and left discipleship to ordinary Christians who were given the resources to run a six-week discipleship course. Eventually evangelism worked its way down to the local Church where people were taught to imitate the professionals. According to Jesus, discipleship starts when ordinary believers encounter and walk beside ordinary non-believers and evangelism is a natural outcome of the relationship. As popular as discipleship has become in the last 15 years, it is usually tainted by history and presented as something that starts after a person has been ‘saved’.
Rushing people through a discipleship journey. Growth takes time and is usually not linear. Many modern Christians are the result of a quick factory- style process that reproduces shallow sameness. Obedient discipleship takes a lot more work. In the second and third century (a period of time that is very similar to the period we live in) the process took up to 3 years, but take into consideration the fact that those disciples changed the world even if it meant it cost them their lives. It takes time for someone to separate from cultural norms and develop a lifestyle where they love God, love others and make disciples.
Imprinting people on the church, the pastor, any other person or even the Bible. It is essential that a new disciple begins to imprint on Jesus (his or her creator) as early as possible in the journey, even before a full response to God is made. The role of the discipler is to introduce the disciple to Jesus. As quickly as possible, a disciple must learn to talk to God, to listen to Jesus, and to do what the Spirit of God says. The role of the discipler is to guide this process and make sure substitutes for Jesus are not put in place.
Using a discipleship process that is institutional rather than relational. Over the last seventeen hundred years Christendom has produced an institutional form of discipleship that is light years away from God’s intention.
From the beginning of recorded Bible history, we see our Creator’s desire and intention to walk relationally with people. He created us also for relationship with one another. When Jesus came, He showed a love for relating with those around Him. Throughout His ministry Jesus met people where they were. He met some people while they were working (Matthew 4:18-22) and others in homes (Mark 2:15-17). He met people at weddings, wells, in the streets, in grave yards. Jesus spent time with many of these people and shared life with them. He constantly entered into their world and He invited them into His world. The tenderness that He experienced with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus reflected His deep relationship with them over years (John 11). Jesus knew there could be no discipleship without relationship. Jesus began calling these people friends (John 15:15). He shared with them things He didn’t share with everyone (Matthew 13:10-11). He took them to Gethsemane so they could be close to Him. After the resurrection, He met them at the beach and had fish and chips with them. As far as I can recall, He didn’t invite anyone to the synagogue, a temple meeting or a Torah study group.
Relational discipleship continued for another 300 years after Jesus, until the conversion of Constantine and the establishment of Christianity as the state religion. From this point on, the church gradually lost its relational foundation. Discipleship moved to classrooms, a book with stories of people who lived years ago, and attendance at a weekly gathering of strangers. Today, with the death of Constantinian Christendom in the West and the emergence of a Post-Christian pagan culture, the Church will have to recover its relational and missional status through discipleship.
Summary. I’m pleased to find that the participants in my discipleship presentations are passionate about discipleship even if they are often locked into the practices of a past era. If you also feel strongly about discipleship you may need to avoid some of the practices I have outlined above. Re-read this blog a number of times, pray about what I’m saying and ask Jesus to guide you into a more productive approach to making disciples.
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