We are a part of a small group in our church. This small group has been wonderful. We are so blessed by the couples who share two hours of their lives with us every Sunday night. It was at this small group that myself and a couple of the men in the group began to discuss the church, not specifically our Church, but the American church. There were three of us in the discussion, all of us either having obtained, or are almost complete with, seminary degrees so we have spent many hours with future church leaders. As we began to lament over the various shortcomings of the churches in America (two of us have traveled extensively to various churches all over the east coast, so we have a very broad sampling to base our findings upon) we noticed that they all had something in common, lack of discipleship. If you think about it, how many churches have "revivals" where they try to witness to everyone in town, which is a good thing, but if someone comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ at one of these revivals what happens next? Does the pastor just put another "knotch in his belt" so that he can discuss the conversions at his next pastoral luncheon? What happens to these brand new Christians after their initial decision to follow Christ? Are they just given a Bible and a pat on the back, a heartfelt "good luck with all that" from a deacon?
Here is a relevant analogy. When a woman is pregnant, she is very conscious about herself and how every decision that she makes might have an affect on the baby. Well what happens when the baby is born? Does she leave it to take care of itself? Does she throw it some cheerios and a couple of diapers, a heartfelt "good luck with all that". Of course not, she spends time nurturing, feeding, teaching, protecting that newborn until it is old enough to function on it's own. What would happen if a church looked after their new born Christians like that? Can you imagine if we took the time to teach, train, and protect these impressionable and vulnerable believers from attack from the Evil One? Why don't we do this? What is holding us back?
I submit that the reason is because the vast majority of church members are they themselves spiritual babes. Babies cannot train or nurture other babies. There are FAR too many in our churches who are still sucking on a bottle, when they should be cutting, grilling, and eating their own steaks. We need to hold our church members to a higher standard of growth. The Bible is not silent on what a mature believer looks like, nor is it silent on the need to call everyone who claims the name of Christ to spiritual growth. This comes through discipleship, and it starts with pastors. The need is great for these leaders to point to a Biblical standard and say, "Look, this is what the Bible says we are going to do, and so this is what we are going to do, and if you have a problem with that standard, take it up with the author". That might (gulp) offend people, and they might leave the church? Well, what are we here for, are we here to make everyone happy, or to be obedient. I would hope that obedience is our singular focus, but are we ready for what that obedience will cost us? Find out what your flesh thinks, then do the opposite.
