The Discipleship Void…

May 21st, 2008 | Posted in » Baptist Issues, Christian Living

Over the past couple years, I’ve spent quite a bit of time learning about “Baptist Issues”. I’ve spent way too much time reading blogs, internet forums, and other online Baptist publications, and have read quite a few books on a variety of topics ranging from church vision to small group development to missional living to apologetics.

In doing all of the above, I’ve come across some general facts and statistics that are simply frightening:
– Southern Baptist church membership growth is vastly outpaced by general population growth.
– The vast majority of “church growth” is either biological growth (children of church members getting saved) or transfer membership.
– Somewhere between 80 to 90 percent of teens never return to regular church attendance after they graduate school and move out of their youth group.

From these things, I conclude three things:
– Most churches are doing a miserable job or reaching unchurched people.
– Most churches really aren’t even reaching their own kids.
– Something must change.

There’s no beating around the bush here… these are serious problems that churches need to address, and quickly at that. We’re losing a spiritual battle for the hearts and souls of our kids, our families, our friends, and our communities!

Something must change.

I write all of this in the context of self-examination. You see, I am the Sunday School director at my church (Missouri Valley Baptist), and in my two years serving in that position, I’ve done absolutely nothing to make a dent in these problems. While I could chalk that up to being rather new in the church and still feeling my way in regard to how we operate, I’m really without excuse. I’ve seen the problem… even in my own church… and done nothing.

Something must change.

But what?

Here’s my thought as to one root cause… the discipleship void.

Do a bit of self-examination here, and tell me if your answers don’t reflect a lack of discipleship.

– Describe the quality and frequency of your quiet times with God.
– When is the last time you prayed with your spouse? Your children?
– What kind of regular, focused efforts do you take to help your kids grow in Christ?
– What kind of intentional efforts do you make to share your faith with others?
– How do you go about “being” the church on a daily basis?

Here’s the deal… when I see the unchurched continuing to be ignored by the church, I don’t see a lack of pastoral concern for the matter so much as I do a lack of congregational concern rooted in stagnant faith. When I see teenagers graduating from high school and leaving the church behind for good, I don’t see the youth minister at fault for lack of effort in helping to mold them, but the failure of moms and dads to step up to the plate and fulfill their God-given assignment to guide them in the ways of the Lord.

Worst of all? I see these traits in myself, and I simply don’t want to live a life of dead faith anymore. And I certainly don’t want to see my kids grow up only to bolt straight out the doors of the church, running from God, never to return.

I believe there is a huge opportunity here to make a difference in addressing these problems through family-focused faith. If we can help moms, dads, and kids to grow in their faith together, we can see miraculous things happen in their lives. As families begin to reflect God’s design, and they begin to see what God can do in their lives, I believe we’ll see the unchurched want to see what makes faith-focused families tick. I believe we’ll start to see families begin to have a passion for sharing what God is doing in their lives, and I believe God will open doors for them to make a difference in the lives of others.

Pipe dream, God-given vision, or something in between?

Let’s wait to see how God helps to develop this idea for discipleship before we make that call. This is something I feel pretty strongly about implementing in my church, and I’m definitely open to the advice and insights of others as I pray about this and formulate a discipleship plan.

Your challenge? Help me with a few ideas.

What should a family-focused discipleship strategy look like? How would you go about getting this off the ground? What kind of curriculum or other materials would you use? Am I totally missing the boat on this? If so, how?

You get the point? This is free game, so fire away with whatever thoughts and ideas you may have on this topic.