The following article from “Christianity Today” was recently sent to me by a friend. It speaks for itself about the urgency of discipleship in our churches today. As a supplement I would strongly encourage you to read the book titled “Celebration Of Disciplines”, one of Richard Fosters first books. It was (outside the bible) one of the single most spiritual growth enhancer in my walk with God.
In reference to the following article please share your thoughts, comments and even some suggestions on the following j how we can continue to avoid this abuse. Pastor Larry
The Chicago Tribune reported the story of a mother who let her nine children, aged 8 months to 11 years, fend for themselves in a gritty apartment filled with trash and excrement. Public officials, responding to a neighbor’s call, entered the apartment at 2 a.m. and took the children into custody. The mother, said the owner of the apartment building, was more interested in partying late than in caring for her children. The public was (rightly) outraged by this maternal malfeasance. Evangelical Christians commit the moral equivalent of such child abuse when they pour all their energies into evangelistic programs and fail to make sure that spiritual newborns are given the nurture they need to grow into healthy, mature followers of Jesus. Each young believer needs a mature disciple who has walked this way before and who can, in a transparent relationship, help the newer Christian toward the dual knowledge of God and self. Such relationships are not efficient, but they are essential to our growing in grace.
John R.W. Stott, of the International Consultation on Discipleship, called attention to the “strange and disturbing paradox” of the contemporary Christian situation: We have experienced enormous statistical growth, he said, without corresponding growth in discipleship. “God is not pleased,” warned Stott, “with superficial discipleship.” The consultation’s official statement defined discipleship as “a process that takes place within accountable relationships over a period of time for the purpose of bringing believers to spiritual maturity in Christ.”
James Houston identified the great danger in our churches today is our methodology, he said, “What is destroying Christianity is the marketeering of Christianity,” Methods treat discipleship as a problem to be solved, but mentoring treats discipleship as a relationship to be lived. Thus, Houston said, “Christian maturity is always a social, and never an individual, reality. There is no such thing as my maturity. There is only our maturity.” We have experienced decades of enthusiastic evangelical recovery of the classic spiritual disciplines. Meditation, examination of conscience, fasting, participation in church life (including baptism and the Lord’s Supper), preaching, and works of mercy received scant attention at the consultation but are vital for creating a discipling community. Nor can we ignore the role of the Spirit, who brings us to new birth, leads us into truth, and witnesses that we are children of God in the making of disciples. The message; evangelism without disciple-making can only end in cheap grace, not God’s grace. It would be like a wedding without a marriage, a celebration without substance.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/areas/biblestudies/articles/080213.html
