Photo: Roya Ann Miller – Unsplash

If you read the Christian press, you’ll be aware that the wider Church is facing all sorts of problems in England at the moment. The most pressing in the denomination of which I am a part are the issues of declining congregation numbers and finances; and proposed changes in the teaching and practice of the Church. But look a bit deeper and more issues come to light across the denominations: Leadership failings; a decline in the number of people exploring vocations in Christian leadership; and a deep-rooted consumerism which puts provision of our own needs before the service of others. Recent emphases on leadership and church planting (as well as evangelism) have been helpful and have their place, but in my view they don’t get to the root of the problem.  

The cause – a discipleship crisis

It seems to me that the underlying cause of all these issues is a crisis in discipleship. We talk about discipleship, but as churches we have lost sight of what it means for our people to be disciples of Jesus Christ and how to equip them for it; and as a result we have failed to do so. And if we’re not equipping people to be disciples in every part of life, then we shouldn’t be surprised when leaders are not being developed, or when unhealthy patterns of leadership are formed; when there is a decline in those seeking vocations in Christian ministry; when sacrificial giving declines, and so on.

As I write these things I am not pointing the finger at others any more than at myself. As a vicar of two small churches I have spent many hours thinking, praying and discussing how we can maintain the ministries, finances and infrastructure of those churches. And those are important things to do. But not as ends in themselves. They are rather means to another end: The advance of God’s kingdom as disciples grow in community into disciples who make other disciples. This is what Jesus taught his first disciples to do, and I believe it is what we vitally need to recover in England in the early C21st.  

What we can do about it

So what can be done? Of course, lots is being done. Thousands of biblical sermons are preached on Sundays; thousands of small groups meet; thousands of leaders are being trained; millions of us read our bibles and pray daily. These are all vitally important and I praise God for them.

As we think about addressing the crisis more intentionally, here are some things that I’m thinking through at the moment, that may be helpful for your context. I’m not claiming to be an expert in any of these things, but they are designed to get you thinking. I’ve tried to avoid being too general (otherwise the insights will be of no value at all) or being too specific (because what I’ve tried may not work for you). But do consider how these things might apply where you are. 

1, Being immersed in a community of disciples

It is a cliché – but also true – that we were made for community. God formed a community in the Garden of Eden; Jesus formed a community of 12 disciples (and an inner community of 3); the early church was a vibrant, intentional community (Acts 2:42-47) and we are formed into communities in local churches. And this is the way it should be. Belonging – and knowing we belong – is a vital foundation to growth. And community provides us with fellow-disciples we can encourage and be encouraged by.

Of course, it matters what kind of community we are part of. Within our churches, we have tried to develop loving communities and teams throughout the life and ministry of the church. This would include midweek small groups; groups for prayer and discipleship; and groups reaching out to the wider community. We are finding that this is the best context for people to encounter Jesus, to grow and to thrive.

I have asked the question “how can we model the community of Jesus with his disciples in our church life?” I haven’t got an answer to that question yet, but I believe it’s the right question to be asking. Depending on one’s context, it may be that year long discipleship programmes, and even residential communities move closer to this standard. 

To consider: What communities do you have in your local church(es)? Are they loving foundations for discipleship?  What communities could be formed to that end?

2, Increasing security in God’s love for us

Community provides one foundation for discipleship. An equally important foundation is a growing security in the love of God for us. I have written elsewhere that we all need to know that we’re loved – and supremely that we’re loved by God. But this knowledge of God’s love for us isn’t just an emotional blanket for a hard life; it’s a vital foundation for discipleship.

Why do we choose to serve another person? Why do we choose to give our lives to them? Either because of slavish fear; or a sense of obligation; or because we are enraptured by a compelling vision or powerful personality; or because we know that they love us and want what is best for us. The first four of these can sustain us over the short term; but they will not last and they may lead to bitterness and resentment – and sadly there is a great deal of those in our churches. It is a knowledge of being loved that enables us to keep serving through good times and bad times.

Wonderfully, the whole Bible tells the story of a God who relentlessly loves his people. The pinnacle of his love, of course, is the cross of Jesus Christ – this is the place to look when we doubt God’s love for us (Romans 5:8). And the whole point of the cross is that he keeps loving us even when we go astray – as we all do, daily.

And I find it’s this knowledge of his unfailing, unrelenting, never-stopping love of me even in my weakest moment that motivates me to love and serve God and others.

We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19

This is why the apostle Paul prays half way through Ephesians that we would grow in the knowledge of God’s love (Ephesians 3:14-19) – for it is the knowledge of God’s love which will enable the church, and individual believers, to grow in spiritual maturity.

To consider: How often are your church reminded of God’s love for them? Is this presented as the main motivating power for discipleship? What barriers are there to people knowing God’s love for them?

3, Increasing focus on obeying Scripture

God’s Word the Bible should be central to all we do in making disciples, and praise God that it is in many churches. We take time to understand God’s Word (or we should). We preach from God’s Word on a Sunday; we run midweek Bible study and home groups; we encourage God’s people to read and understand the Bible each day.

But I wonder if like me you’ve ever been in danger of making Bible study an end in itself? Consider these familiar words of Jesus:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Matthew 7:24-27

We happily share and sing these words to children, but are we ever in danger of missing their main point. Jesus says it’s not enough to hear his words – or to understand them rightly. The key thing is to obey them: That is what will determine whether our life turns out to be built on rock or sand.

So when we study the Bible for ourselves or in our churches, do we spend time at the end asking “what does it look like to obey this teaching?” Do we ask for God’s help to obey it? Do we hold one another accountable to obeying it? Do we even ask at the start of the next session how we got on with obeying it?

Of course, Jesus’s teaching is hard to obey! Just consider some of his commands:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:36-40

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their lifewill lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

Matthew 16:24-25

Why would we choose to obey? Because of the previous point – an increasing security in God’s love for us. We know that he loves us as our heavenly Father; we know he wants what’s best for us; we know his ways are better for us than our ways; so we seek to obey, and come to him for forgiveness when we fail.

To consider: Do you / your church emphasise understanding the Word of God enough? Do you / your church emphasise obeying the Word of God enough? How can you do this more (including finding people to hold you accountable)?

4, Increasing dependence on the empowering Spirit

Francis Schaeffer wrote:

The central problem of our age… is this: the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, individually or corporately, tending to the Lord’s work in the power of the flesh rather than of the Spirit.

Francis Schaeffer, No Little People

I think he’s on to something. Speaking personally, I have spent too many years ministering in my own strength, operating as though if I do the right things (including praying in the right way) then I will achieve results. In God’s mercy this does sometimes happen – not because of my effort but rather because of his concern for the people I’m ministering to. But in his greater mercy it often doesn’t happen, because he is more concerned that I learn to walk with him, and to depend on him in the power of his Spirit.

Some of those reading this might be wary at this point – for sadly a Word / Spirit divide has been allowed to develop within evangelicalism, which in my view is one of the great tragedies of the past 50 years. But Scripture never separates the work of the Word and the work of the Spirit; and God tells us clearly that we can’t control his work, or assume there will be certain results if we do certain things, as though God was a kind of cosmic slot machine.

Our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.

1 Thessalonians 1:5

I believe we need to learn an increasing dependence on God to work as he chooses – and an openness to him working in any way that he chooses, including in ways that make us feel uncomfortable. Of course one of the key ways in which this dependence is expressed is in prayer – and we would do well to earnestly pray for a revival in discipleship.

To consider: In what ways are you / your church casting yourselves on the grace of God and the Spirit’s power to do his work? Are you in danger of limiting what the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead can do in your life / your church?

5, Spiritual practices

Some of us can be suspicious of concepts like habits or ‘spiritual practices’ because we are concerned they might be indicative of seeking to live by works rather than faith. But the reality is we all have habits and practices in our lives – the only question is whether they are helping us to grow as Christians, or providing barriers to our growth.  

As you read the gospels, you can observe certain spiritual practices that Jesus and others followed – such as solitude, prayer, fasting and so on.1 (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16,Acts 13:2-3). These were standard practices at the time, and we can assume that the apostle Paul and the other disciples would have followed them, as would most generations of Christians since until relatively recently. If they have been neglected more recently it’s partly because of an understandable reaction again their misuse in certain periods of church history. As I have argued elsewhere in this blog, we can also think of spiritual practices as ‘means of grace.’ God has provided a river of grace for us to receive from – and the spiritual practices are means or habits he has provided to enable us to get in the river and to receive his grace. As John Mark Comer puts it,

formation into the image of Jesus isn’t something we do as much as it’s something that’s done to us, by God himself, as we yield to his work of transforming grace. Our job is mostly to make ourselves available.

John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way

We do what we can (the spiritual practices) to open ourselves up to God to do what we can’t (deep change in our hearts by his Holy Spirit). Service, generosity, hospitality, and evangelism can also be viewed as means of grace – they act for our own blessing as well as for the blessing of others.

To my shame, I’ve only rediscovered these practices relatively recently. For me it was through the writings and life of Jonathan Edwards. I’m delighted that they are being rediscovered by our current generation through ‘Practicing the way’ and other similar resources.

To consider: Consider the role of habits in our lives: What habits do you / those in your church have? How might following the habits / spiritual practices of Jesus and others help?

6, Intentionally helping people grow as disciple-making disciples     

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:18-20

These words have rightly been foundational to the work of the church ever since Jesus spoke them to his first disciples. And many of us would say that we’re seeking to fulfil them. But it’s worth us stopping from time to time to ask “How are we seeking to make disciples? How’s it going?” Underlying these questions is the recognition that we need to have a plan for making disciples: it won’t happen automatically, rather we need to be intentional.

We also need to ensure that our approach is consistent with Jesus’s approach. Jesus didn’t just teach about making disciples: he modelled how to do it. And we are wise to learn from Jesus.

There are many approaches for making disciples using these principles, and I thank God for them. Here are a couple that I have been finding helpful recently:

Weekly central bible study / discipleship group

In our context we are discovering the value of meeting weekly and centrally to study God’s word and grow in faith with others in small groups. The weekly format enables accelerated growth to take place in a close community. We always end each session asking the discipleship questions – “What is God saying to you?” and “What are you going to do about it?” and praying for each other. There is a wealth of resources available to help with this – for example we’re currently working through the book of Daniel making use of this resource.

Huddles / discipleship shapes

The best place to find out more about this is in the book ‘Why aren’t we making disciples?’ (Kairos Connexion). The basic principle is meeting roughly fortnightly with a group of leaders / enthusiastic disciples to ask the questions “What is God saying to me?” What am I going to do about it?” and consider other principles helpful for discipleship and leadership. The power of this method is the focus on growing as disciples and disciple-making leaders; and the simplicity and replicability of the concepts involved.  

To consider: How are we seeking to make disciples? Is it working?

7, An increasing delight in Jesus Christ, leading to loving character

To regular readers of this blog, this will be the most familiar of all the points. I’ve left it until last because it is the end goal to which all the other points will lead. The apostle Paul writes:

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

Gazing on the loving Christ and increasingly knowing his love will make us increasingly loving, until eternity:

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

1 John 3:2-3

Even with Christ in the new creation while we will not sin we will continue to grow as disciples, as little by little we know more and more his perfect love, and love him and his people in return.

To consider: Are we continually pointing people to Jesus and encouraging them to gaze on him, that they might become more like him?

Conclusion

I’ve identified 7 themes which I hope and pray may help us to grow as disciple-making disciples. I wonder if it would be worth taking some time to ask of your ministry and that of your church:

How are we seeking to make disciples? Is it working?

“Which of these 8 themes might we particularly need to focus on at the moment?”

“Who can we ask to hold us accountable on these things?” 

May our glorious God grow us more and more into his likeness, that the crisis in discipleship is averted and his Church flourishes more and more as a result. Amen.

Note

1, It’s worth observing that when Jesus speaks negatively about them he’s not criticising the practices themselves, but rather the abuse of them (see Matthew 6 for example).