Jesus said the purpose of His church was to “make disciples.” We, His followers, are to come together and give ourselves to the challenge of influencing others to respond to His invitation and incorporate His principles for living into their lives. The goal of the church is not merely to find a palatable or spiritually satisfying way to occupy people’s time … or to provide an escape from a fallen world … or to supply people with an uplifting form of entertainment. The goal of the church is to interact with folks in such a way to where they become more like Jesus as a result—they adopt his values … live by His priorities … see the world through His eyes … and conduct themselves in the midst of their circumstances the way He’d conduct Himself if He was in those circumstances.
When we hear the word discipleship, we usually think of the various Bible studies and classes a church offers—offerings meant to facilitate a heightened sense of spiritual maturity in the lives of those who participate. Discipleship activities are typically those small group gatherings, usually centered around a particular book of the Bible, or a recent best-selling book, or a series of videos created by a uniquely gifted teacher, or some pertinent biblical topic, where those gathered examine things in depth, discuss insights, and share observations as they reflect upon the material.
And these things often pay dividends. In many ways, I’m the product of Sunday School classes, Bible studies, and home fellowship groups I’ve been a part of over the years. Those things have enriched my life and enhanced my understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I have relationships today that are the product of ministry teams and accountability groups I’ve been a part of—relationships where even though we’ve gone our separate ways, there’s still an understood closeness to where we can pick up at a deep place when we connect in spite of the fact it’s been months, if not years, since we last saw each other face-to-face.
But at the same time, there are also people who’ve been a part of the church for many, many years who haven’t experienced that progressive and systematic change. While they’ve been involved in the church for years if not decades, they don’t seem to manifest an increasing affinity for Jesus. Their life doesn’t appear to be increasingly conformed to His example. Their character isn’t becoming more reflective of, and consistent with, His. They don’t love the things He loves … assess and evaluate the world according to His values and priorities … relate to those around them the way He would. Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, their religion has seemingly pushed them further away from God’s heart to where Christianity has acquired a tainted reputation in many people’s minds because of the way they live.
When this happens, who’s to blame? Sometimes it’s the individual, as he/she was in a setting where the opportunity to experience a spiritual breakthrough was placed before them, but they chose to not to open themselves up to it opting, instead, to remain stuck at the place they were. But I think sometimes the problem is the church, because the recipe we’re using for creating disciples is flawed and isn’t suited or capable of producing the desired results.
Which raises a fundamental question: What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Is a disciple someone who has a deep understanding of the Bible … or who engages in a number of spiritually formative practices and lives a very disciplined lifestyle … or who’s at church every time the door is open? As beneficial as each of these things can be in the right context, my belief is none of them is the measure of what it means to be a disciple. As important and valuable as each of these things are, none of them captures the essence of what it means to be a passionate follower of Jesus.
In fact, I believe discipleship can be boiled down to two words—faith development. A disciple is someone who’s faith in Jesus continues to expand to where there’s a deepening and ever-increasing commitment to obedience. For every act of obedience, at its core, is an expression of trust. It’s a way of saying, “God—I believe you know what you’re talking about. I believe you have my best interests at heart. I believe you are who you say you are and, on that basis, I’m going to do what you’ve asked me to do”.
What happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam & Eve decided they couldn’t trust God? He’d placed them in that pristine setting and gave them some basic guidelines to live by. But they decided, for whatever reason, He couldn’t be trusted … that He wasn’t looking out for their best interest … that He was trying to keep them from experiencing a rich, full life. So, they opted to do what He said not to do—the result being they inflicted upon the human race an ongoing downward spiral to where each of us comes into the world with a skepticism toward God … a sense of doubt and uncertainty about Him. What God has been about ever since is re-establishing that trust relationship and making Himself known to each of us so we’ll come to the place where we implicitly trust Him. When our level of trust begins to overshadow the insecurity we feel and we place our faith in Him, that’s when we’re converted or born again. But from that moment forward God goes to work helping us deepen our faith, expanding that sense of trust, and enlarging our confidence in Him.
Faith is the centerpiece of every great relationship—in fact, you can’t have a healthy relationship with someone without possessing a deep sense of faith in him/her. Grow the level of faith between two people and you’ll grow the relationship. And conversely … if the level of faith shrinks, the relationship suffers. At the end of the day, spiritual maturity is a matter of faith—an ability to trust God so profoundly and completely we do exactly what He’d do if He was in our circumstances. God is most honored—He receives the most glory—through our faith. Nothing reflects better on the Father than a child whose lifestyle says, “I fully trust you”.
So—the next logical question is, “How can we foster this type of faith development in people’s lives? What are the ingredients time has proven augment our faith in God? What experiences and practices enable a person to come away with an enhanced sense of faith?”
A number of years ago, Andy Stanley talked about faith catalysts—those things that have repeatedly proven deepen our trust in God. It was his contention those things ought to form the framework of the church’s programming … that a balanced emphasis upon the faith catalysts establishes the recipe for discipleship through the local church’s ministry.
In thinking about that concept, I believe there are four basic catalysts that form an outline or structure for discipleship—four ingredients that, when the local church builds them into its programming and makes them the focus of their efforts, results in an enhanced sense of faith in people’s lives and enables those of us who claim to be Christ followers to manifest a winsome, attractive witness to the surrounding world. Those four ingredients are …
1. Practical teaching from God’s Word. The key word is ‘practical’. It’s not enough to merely teach the Bible; its truth must be taught in ways so people can readily apply it. People grow in their faith when they understand the practical application the Bible has for them and begin to think or behave differently. The Pharisees, as I mentioned earlier, were knowledgeable of the Bible but did a very poor job of applying it. Conversely, one of the things that so fascinated people about Jesus was His ability to help them understand the truth of God’s Word wasn’t something to merely reflect on, but something to do. Teaching that forges an increased depth of faith is practical and applicable.
2. Providential relationships. Each of us is impacted by the people we hang around with. As a result, if we’re going to grow in our faith, we need to be in close, meaningful relationships with others on the same journey—close enough for mutual impact. To forge disciples, the church needs to provide settings where people don’t just ‘sit in rows’, but where they can ‘sit in a circle’ or ‘sit around a table.’ Providential relationships create an atmosphere where mutual growth can happen … where, as a result of opening ourselves up, being vulnerable, and sensing the love and acceptance of others in the circle, we can hear God’s voice through their words, sense His affection through their touch, and more fully become the person He wants us to be.
3. Private means of grace. Just as we’re impacted by the people in our lives, so our personal habits contribute to our spiritual growth. Certain things we do open us up to hear the voice of God more clearly, and other things have a way of shutting us down and squelching it. A number of years ago, extensive research was undertaken that examined what causes spiritual growth. One of their findings was particularly interesting—namely, the longer a person is part of the Body of Christ, the less of a role church programming plays in their spiritual development and the more of a role their private disciplines take on. It’s not that church programming becomes irrelevant or unnecessary, but its influence diminishes and the influence of our private habits increases. Rather than giving people a pat on the back and hoping they figure out how to cultivate a life of personal communion with God, a key element of discipleship involves helping people identify and develop some personal practices that tune their hearts toward His.
4. Personal ministry and service. If you’ve ever done something that had no payoff other than the satisfaction of pouring something of God into another person’s life, you know what the experience of ministry and service can do for your faith. If you were to graph your journey with God, my guess is there’d be a noticeable uptick each time you stepped out of your comfort zone and served God in spite of your feelings of awkwardness or inability … when you moved from being a religious consumer to being a contributor and used your talents/abilities to make a difference in the lives of others. Our faith deepens and our confidence soars when we get off the sidelines and get into the game by using what God has built into us in service to Him. For when we do that, He has a way of showing up and we get to see Him do what only He can do.
Stanley talks of a fifth faith catalyst—painful circumstances … the unexpected and often unwanted things that happen to us. Fact is, life in a fallen world by necessity involves a number of undesirable events—the loss of our job … a relational rupture … a financial setback … a grim diagnosis … a dreadful accident … the death of a loved one. C.S. Lewis was right when he said pain is God’s megaphone to get our attention, as painful events have a way of often facilitating progress and growth in our lives. The local church doesn’t have to intentionally make an effort to supply these things as everyday life does a pretty good job . Painful circumstances are like a wedge that is thrust into our life. The question is not about whether they will come, but whether they will come between us and God or push us closer to God.
But what would be the result if, when those painful circumstances came, we were part of a fellowship that offered practical, down-to-earth teaching from the Bible … that had helped them develop deep, authentic relationships with others on the same journey … that had nurtured in them some personal practices that opened them up more fully to the nearness and presence of God … and had cultivated in them a proclivity to give themselves away in service and they’d developed, as a result, a history of seeing God do amazing stuff through their energy and efforts? My guess is, while their circumstances wouldn’t be any less distressing or painful, there’s a perseverance they’d manifest that would hold them in good stead and facilitate growth in their lives.
My belief is a church built around these four faith catalysts—practical teaching from the Word of God … providential relationships … private means of grace … and personal ministry and service—will ultimately produce people who will not only live differently, but who will help make the world different as well. They’ll be disciples who produce disciples … who produce disciples … who produce disciples, and the marching orders Jesus left with us in Matthew 28:19-20 will begin to be realized.