I need your help. Please list the #s in the comment section and in order of priority, your top 5 reasons why discipleship is a problem in the church today. (Or comment with your own reasons or why it is not a problem.)
I want to use this to improve my pre- and post-asessment survey in the 40 days of discipleship.
Here is a sample list in no order of priority…
1. People are confused about what discipleship is.
2. People don’t know how to make disciples.
3. People don’t feel they are qualified to make disciples.
4. People don’t have the time to make disciples.
5. People think it is the pastor’s job to make disciples.
6. People go to church for other reasons than making disciples.
7. People don’t have the right tools to make disciples.
8. People have no one to help them make disciples.
9. People don’t get enough practice in making disciples.
10. People don’t have a simple system to make disciples.
11. People are afraid they might fail in trying to make disciples.
12. People don’t feel they are authorized to make disciples.
13. People lack a real passion for making disciples.
14. Traditional disciple-making methods are not working as well as before.
15. Pastors are too busy to make disciples.
16. The church doesn’t really expect people to make disciples.
17. The church’s programmes absorb all the energy and effort.
18. We see discipleship as an introductory exercise and not a life-long learning relationship with Jesus
19. We don’t recognize the opportunities the Holy Spirit is giving us to make disciples.
20. ______________________________________________________________
#16, 13, 17, 1, 15
I would also say that the church by and large has lost the focus of the Great Commission as first priority. Without that strong vision, the people flounder!
I think the problems are 4, 13, 17, 6 and 20. 20 being: people are sick of the church.
I think most people in our churches have not been personally mentored or discipled. They lack a role model.
all of the 19 are current factors – my top 5 = 18, 5, 13, 16, 6
My picks are 4,6,13,16, and a toss up between 14 or 17…no particular order of priority
I agree with Phil that the church in general has lost focus and become too much about the programs and comfort and nurture of the “members” and believers.
16, 2,8,10,13
I would say that you’ve got a 20-sided diamond there… every facet mentioned has its own legitimacy. Perhaps it is assuming too much to even think in terms of discipleship in postmodern western culture. “Discipleship” is an ancient concept in the church (yet almost entirely dismissed even there today) and I can’t think of any other place (workplace, profession, home, school etc) where the term would be actively used or meaningful in any way. There is a functional and cultural literacy here that is missing entirely. The larger context for the word has ceased to be… my guess is that the context itself has to be re-created in some way before the word will have much meaning to most people.
13, 19, 11,6,4
Bottom line to me is that I am afraid of paying the cost for being a disciple of Christ. Human nature is such that we want to conform and fit in. Christian faith is not welcomed in a western culture, and there is real cost if you want to be faithful to the Lord.
The other thing is that we need to act out of a well founded conviction of what is true and what is false, not out of Christian obligations. I am grateful that over the years, the Lord used my experiences inside and outside of the church to allow me to see a different reality. I am now having more confidence to share with others why I believe Jesus is the Way and the only Way to life.
These are all great options – hard to choose! 🙂 #2,3,4 and 7. I recently have felt more encouraged to disciple but only b/c I have been discipled in the past year and b/c I have some specific resources that I can use in order to teach people; otherwise I wouldn’t really know where to begin!
My thoughts in order of importance are 16, it’s not expected, 2, no desire. 3, think it’s the pastor’s job. 4, Not enough time. 5. might fail, feel incapable. All of them are factors for sure. I think most church goers have a minimalist mindset when it comes to Christian faith and life. Many have not found a way to communicate what God has done for them.
Forwarded with permission:
For me one of the main problems is that the Word is no longer the foundation and the sufficient, complete authority. A kind of mysticism is taking the place of the Word… what peope feel, think, etc. Worse yet is that now in many churches people simply do not read the Bible any more. At a church Sunday school class recently in the USA the class was trying to figure out how to desire to read the Bible… hardly anyone was reading it!
Another problem is lack of commitment to make the Word a priority in life. People are too busy with less important things.
Danny
I think you have listed the main issues that hinder people from Making disciples.
Here are the 2 that rise to the top:
1. Never been discipled before
2. Don’t know what to do
I cover most of the issues you listed in my new Discipleship book: Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples.
To some degree all of the above hamper discipleship. However, No 19 caught my attention.
It is amazing the amount of scientific evidence supporting creation and verifying the truth of God’s Word yet it is not being taught in our churches, the great halls of learning or the media.
As author Bruce Malone said, “If the Bible is wrong about scientific issues why believe
any of it?”
Another area is prophecy that is rapidly being fulfilled before our eyes. Again evidence
of the one true God who said He would prove who He was by predicting the future.
The Holy Spirit has provided us with the evidence we need to challenge people to think.
When they see the evidence that the Bible truly is God’s Word they will be lining up to
be discipled!!!
6, 5, 18, 19 & 20. I agree with some of the comments from above. Folks aren’t reading their Bibles, aren’t memorizing and engaging in the concepts of scripture. The Gospel has been replaced by busyness and apathy. Folks have lost excitement for The One who defied death.
My top five reasons on why discipleship is a problem in the church today are:
1. Most Christians do not have a clear idea of what discipleship is, i.e. they are confused on the concept.
2. Discipleship is equated with some kind of short term learning program instead of a holistic and lifelong process.
3. Discipleship is not seen as important and is thus not given one of the highest priorities in the church. It is usually tagged on as an extra or optional activity.
4. Most Christians have never seen discipleship in action and if they have, didn’t know that is was discipleship.
5. There is a lack of leadership in the area of discipleship. Leaders who know what it is, see its importance, are passion about it and investing it into their churches are few and far between.
1, 2, 4, 5, 8. First off, I think people think being a disciple is growing in goodness, not leading others to Christ or even helping a believer grow deeper in intimacy with Christ or do more for Christ. The Great Commission is not thought of as command of Christ for “me,” but for some special people who like to go to foreign countries to spread the word. If they don’t think it’s for them, they certainly won’t think of actually helping someone else to do that. I have yet to hear a sermon on how the Great Commission is a command Jesus asks all of us to follow. Even my own thinking about it never went past the first disciples until Dunamis.
If anyone is interested. check out ww.dynamicchurches.org. Principles, and how to is available to all.
17. The church’s programmes absorb all the energy and effort.
10. People don’t have a simple system to make disciples.
2. People don’t know how to make disciples.
7. People don’t have the right tools to make disciples.
1.People are confused about what discipleship is.
I believe pastors want their people to be disciple makers. It becomes a priority for pastors and leaders to equip their people without letting programs and projects interfering.