"The Forgotten Ways:" Part 2

Last week I discussed the need for churches to promote the gospel as a life lived in pursuit of Christ as Lord rather than just the declaration of Jesus as savior.

The pursuit of Jesus as Lord in salvation is an act of surrender. Surrendering one's life, which Hirsch calls, “unqualified demand” is the first step in becoming a disciple. A church that fulfills the great commission does not do so by making converts. Instead, the church must reorient its focus on making disciples in obedience to Christ’s last command to his disciples.

Out of the six elements of mDNA, Hirsch places disciple making in the most crucial role. He contends that if churches “fail here, it is unlikely that we will even get to doing any of the other elements of mDNA in any significant and lasting way.” In my experience the American church is failing in this regard. According to research by the Barna group, (in Kinniman’s book, “Unchristian”) conversion experiences are relatively common among Americans ages 18-41 as 63% claim some type of conversion in their past. Unfortunately, of the 63% a small segment have a biblical worldview, which Barna uses to discern the success of discipleship. This is a poor reflection on the church’s ability to help transition from convert to disciple. Hirsch points out that while the western church may think it is doing a good job at discipleship in reality “our actual practice of discipleship is far from consistent, and as a result this mismatch tends to obscure the centrality of the problem.” I think this is because discipleship in our churches is primarily an education program.

Traditionally, discipleship occurs on the church campus in a structured educational environment set apart from typical life patterns. In each church that I have been a part of, the discipleship ministry is based on the acquisition of biblical knowledge. Therefore, in my experience, Hirsch is correct that the primary focus of discipleship in Western churches has been knowledge which is only one aspect of discipleship. As a result the church has not been successful in creating disciples. Something else has filled the void of disciple-making and that something else is that the church has been very successful in creating consumers of religious goods and services.

Next week I will look at the problem of consumerism in the church.