Uncomfortable

Written by cycleguy on September 8th, 2013

Don’t you just love it when something you are reading hits you, takes you down, and then smacks on while you are down?  (Notice: tongue-in-cheek).

I’ve been reading Richard Stearns’ newest book Unfinished the past couple of days.  I have had it for a couple of months; started it then laid it aside when more pressing needs for reading came along.   I have resumed reading it again and wish I hadn’t.  (Notice: I’m swallowing my tongue).

Richard is the author of The Hole in Our Gospel, a book I blogged about awhile back (The series started on Sept in 2010).   He has also been the president of World Vision since 1998.  One thing cannot be said about him: he is not a “sit in the office” kind of leader.  This book proves once again he is a hands-on  type of president who shows with his actions what he wants World Vision to be.  This is not a review of his book, (I plan to do that in other posts), but some “uncomfortable” thoughts that have got my mind spinning a bit.

Quoting Scot Mcknight he talks about the difference between becoming a disciple versus a decider:

Most of evangelism today focuses on getting someone to make a decision: the apostles, however, were obsessed with making disciples.”  (p.58)

Jesus called us to be disciples and make disciples, not just deciders.

OUCH!

I know as a pastor it is easy to get blinded, or at the least to walk around with blinders (the kind they use on race horses).  “Get ’em down the aisle.”  “How many baptisms did you have least week?”  “I’m such a failure.  All that outreach work and we had no one come forward.”  Those are often the words we hear around church.  Effectiveness is often seen by decisions.  What Richard is contending is what if effectiveness was gauged by disciples instead of decisions?  I like what he says, “But merely saying the sinner’s prayer no more leads to a life-changing relationship with Christ than simply saying ‘I do’ leads to a long, successful marriage.” (p.59)

I finish this post with something I wish I could have underlined a thousand times in different colors:

We cannot cherry-pick the parts we like and ignore the parts we don’t. Forgiveness and salvation are crucial parts of the whole story of Jesus, but they are not the whole story. We cannot limit Jesus to being our Savior but not our Lord and King. When we say yes to Jesus, we say yes to His forgiveness, but also say yes to His commands and yes to His kingdom.  (p.65-66)

Obviously, I’d like to hear your thoughts on this post.  Feel free to chime in.

So here’s the deal: September 29 we are having a World Vision Hope Sunday.  More on that later .  But I would like to do a book discussion based on Unfinished starting September 17th (one chapter a week).  Would you be interested in taking part with me?  Let me know in your comment.

 

 

 

36 Comments so far ↓

  1. It is ironic that you mention this last quote in your post today. I have heard this message several times of the past couple of days. I could not agree more. All too often we are afraid of offending people by telling them of the Jesus that judges.

    The book sounds like a great idea. You can count me in. (you may need to remind me when it is time to start though)

    • cycleguy says:

      I’d say God might be trying to get your attention. 🙂 I’d love to have you join in the discussion Sele. We will start next Tuesday (but I can remind you again). 🙂

  2. Daniel says:

    I have had the same concern as you about the church focusing on the “numbers game”. You can quote all the dang numbers you want about attendance, but that does not necessarily correlate with the number of (true) disciples made.

  3. Bill, I have “Hole” but still haven’t read it. I totally agree on making disciples. We focus on getting them saved and that’s it. No, that’s just the start.

  4. Ike says:

    We need to reclaim “regeneration”. I think the so called “sinners prayer” has sent far too many people to hell. Scriptures calls us to repent and believe the Gospel. When God raises a dead sinner to life…..they “will” bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

    You have touched on a very important subject.

    • cycleguy says:

      Absolutely Ike! You get it!! I watched a video last week at someone’s request and was struck by how “cheesy” those “pray this prayer” moments sounded, especially after a couple of moments of just meeting the person.

  5. Jon Stolpe says:

    Sounds like a challenging read. Thanks for sharing. I read “Hole” a few years ago, and it definitely had an impact on me.

  6. Hutch says:

    Great post. I need to read this. Being overly concerned with numbers seems to go against the command to “make disciples”. I really like the part about saying yes means yes to His commands and His Kingdom as well.

  7. floyd says:

    I’m squirming in my chair! The most profound truths are always the simple ones, but change lives by action. Who can argue with those statements? Not me… I’m in a book study with Jason, but I’ll try to keep up with this one too.

  8. Susan says:

    I don’t know when the focus changed from watching people’s lives transformed to “getting people saved.” It’s not a change for the better. 🙂 With the numbers game, it’s all too easy for it to be all about what we have done instead of all about Jesus and what He has done.

  9. Lisa notes says:

    Yes, ouch for me too! Being a decider versus a disciple–never thought about it in those words, but it’s definitely an issue we need to deal with. We can too easily get carried away with a decision, but we all know that intent alone never gets us very far.

  10. Nancy says:

    Very interesting! We all come or return to church for different reasons, mostly because of our needs, personal or otherwise. I do reach out to people, especially those I know need Christ desperately in their lives. I’ll try to not be so selective in the future. It comes from a sales background… Convince them that they can’t do without it! Which is true about Christ!

    • cycleguy says:

      Good to hear from you Nancy. You are right about why people go to church. There does need to be a desire in us to reach out to those who desperately need Jesus. That is basically what this post is about. Thanks. Hope Gary is having a good time and catching me some salmon. 😉

  11. Too many irons in the fire (books to read) right now for me to join.

    As for making disciples, what you’ve written sounds a lot like the idea that there are plenty of fans of Jesus, but not enough followers. Very true.

  12. I’m not part of a denomination that has a decision theology, but even if I were, I would know that getting a decision doesn’t change people. When I was practicing, I had many people who had decided to get therapy. Believe me, many of them did not have changed lives.

    I also had a friend who went through the whole exciting process of professing faith, getting baptized, and getting the attention from church members because her fiance was a Christian. Turns out she wasn’t though it certainly appeared she was. If she had been discipled, those mentoring her would have known something was wrong.

    I would love to do the book, but I will have to pray about whether I can spare the time. I’ll enjoy reading here even if I can’t commit.

  13. Caleb Suko says:

    Ok, you’re going to make be buy another book aren’t you? I love the quote about discipleship. Western evangelism has failed us with the decisionism emphasis.

    I’ve done about 20 evangelism and discipleship seminars here in Ukraine now and one thing I often say at the beginning is that in the New Testament there really isn’t a difference between evangelism and discipleship. In fact the call from Jesus is to make disciples. Evangelism is just a small part of the disciple making process.

  14. Kari Scare says:

    My pastor has said this many, many times… make a decision for Christ but then make him Lord of your life. (He says it better than that, of course.) Much of my goal with writing is the aim of making disciples, starting with myself. I agree that so much of the focus these days is on that initial decision, which is an emotional one, and there’s not enough focus on the making disciples process. It’s a lifelong process for sure, and we need all the parts of the body to make it happen. We need each other. I could go on…

    • cycleguy says:

      Starting with ourselves is a good place to start Kari. In fact, I would venture to say it is the best place to start. And for sure it is a lifelong process. Thanks.

  15. Nancy says:

    Yes on the book, didn’t see that before, I was just reading the parts that looked interesting…

  16. tcavey says:

    I wish I could be part of that series- it sounds wonderful! Looking forward to reading it.

    Decision vs. Disciples…this is something that’s been heavy on my heart for a while. I look forward to hearing more.
    God bless.