"In the United States, numbers impress us. We gauge the success of an event by how many people attend or come forward. We measure churches by how many members they boast. We are wowed by big crowds."
"Jesus questioned the authenticity of this kind of record keeping. According to the account in Luke chapter 8, when a crowd started following Him, Jesus began speaking in parables - 'so that' those who weren't genuinely listening wouldn't get it..."
"...The fact is, He just wasn't interested in those who fake it."
I have been working in local churches now for about 17 years. As I look back on these experiences, one thing seems to hold true - most churches are much more concerned with creating "church-attenders" than with creating true disciples.
Allow me to explain. Most places I have worked or observed have been VERY interested in the Sunday worship attendance, offering numbers, and other program attendance. While these are useful benchmarks to use for measure, they certainly do not tell the whole story of whether or not a church is truly making new disciples.
Unfortunately, most church-attenders are nothing more than that! They have no concept of what it means to have a real relationship with Christ. They have no idea what it means to multiply themselves by making it a passion to create new disciples. They just assume that is the preacher's job.
Jesus didn't care anything about collecting a gathering of people that would attend church on a regular basis. He wanted to find out who the true disciples were. He wanted to know who was willing to go out and make new disciples so those new disciples could go out and make even newer disciples.
I don't care who you are. If you are a disciple of Jesus, your job is NOT to dutifully attend church each week, put your offering check in the plate, and join a Sunday school class. Your job is to turn around and start making new disciples and training them to make new disciples and so on!
I don't care how big your church is. If your church is just full of a bunch of church-attenders, it is a failure!!! I'd rather have a small group of 20 people who are passionate about making new disciples and teaching them to make even more new disciples, than to lead a mega-church of 2,000+ church-attenders.
Let's get off this "bigger is better" train. Bigger is failure if it isn't creating true disciples. Let's follow the example of Jesus. Let's find out who is really paying attention. Let's take the few true disciples and pour our efforts into training them to be true disciples that multiply.
What good is it if you have a church with 800 people in it, but none of them have any interest in being true disciples? I am convicted to start a new-old way of doing things in my ministry. I want to pour myself into those who are sincere and ready to be disciples and teach them to make new disciples. My guess is that some of the "church-attenders" will drift away (or RUN away) with this approach, but I am convinced that they will be replaced with true disciples. I am also convinced this is the way Jesus always intended it to be.
Bottom line: I'm tired of wasting my time with people who just don't care. It is time to focus on those who want to make a difference. I'm ready to see the church get serious about discipleship and to quit pandering to the "church-attenders" who just don't get it.
Wanna join me???
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