Worship Night

Worship Night
Catalyst Christian Church, Nicholasville, KY

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Jesus Forgotten

I have been reading a book called "The Last Christian Generation" by Josh McDowell. What he said has broken my heart.

"The research on the current generation of young people reveals an alarming fact: they have redefined what it means to be Christian. The majority of our churched young people do not believe Christ is the Son of God, do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity, and think 'doing good' earns them a place in heaven. And just as disturbing is the fact that their attitudes and behavior are virtually no different than those of non-Christians."

How can you be a Christian and not believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Is it because of namby-pamby sermons and lessons that are spoken with the express purpose of attracting more people to church? In our desire to produce numbers and large crowds, we have forgotten Christ. Christ the Redeemer, Christ the Son of God, Christ the Savior, Christ the Lord- forgotten, ignored, belittled, and misrepresented. When a majority of young people who have grown up in church do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God- which, by the way, is THE central belief in Christianity- what is left? The answer: behavior modification. Be nice. Look good. Act cool. Get good grades. Wear your seat belt.

That is not Christianity, nor does it even resemble Christianity. Jesus came to turn this world- and our lives- upside down. Jesus is about transformation. Jesus is about radical love, radical discipleship, and radical life change. Unless the church starts teaching that- and the people start believing and living that- the church will fade into oblivion, like a flower cut off from its stem. It looks good for a while, but inside it is dead. The church without Jesus is dead. The church without Jesus may have a nice building, draw crowds, entertain, and be a nice place, but inside the people are dying, cut off from the Source of life. The church without Jesus will have a lot to answer for on the day of judgement, when we truly find out how real, how powerful, and how majestic Jesus truly is.

I would love to be part of a team that transforms this generation that has redefined what Christianity is into young people sold out to Jesus Christ. Sometimes it seems like too big a task. The only thing I can do is to magnify Christ- lift Him up, exalt Him as the highest Being, worthy of glory, honor, and praise. I can make it my life goal to make Christ and His glory known among the students of this world. I can make it my goal to, like Paul, preach Christ and Him crucified.

If I do that, at the end of my life, no one could say that I didn't love Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. If I do that, no one could say that they were around me and never knew that I was a Christian. And most importantly, no one could ever, ever say that I was one of the Christians that forgot Jesus.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Got your attention, huh? Actually, I believe very strongly in discipleship. What I don't believe in is discipleship quantified, programmed, and measured. I hear all the time about the church's need for 'discipleship,' and that usually means there is a small group program or something similar. A program. The theory goes that as people join and continue in a small group, they grow closer to God.

That's excellent in theory. Please believe me- I love small groups and have seen people grow from being in them. Some of my best experiences have been in small groups. However, I don't believe that that captures the true nature of discipleship.

Discipleship takes commitment. Plain and simple. Without commitment, attendance in a small group or anything else means nothing. When Jesus called His twelve disciples, He called them to leave their jobs, their families, their homes, their means of income- everything. He called for total commitment. These twelve men made that commitment, and therefore were called "disciples." I'm sure they sat around in small groups from time to time, but the majority of the time the disciples watched as Jesus led by example- from His dealings with the Pharisees to His care for the poor to His sermon on the mount.

They followed Him. Most of the time they didn't understand what the heck Jesus was doing or saying. I'm sure that half of the time they questioned why they were still following Him. Jesus constantly asked them, "Why are you so dull?" and called them "You of little faith," and yet still they followed. Jesus had a huge crowd following Him at one point. He then turned to the crowd and, in a reference to communion, told the crowd that they must "eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6). At this point, most of the crowd stopped following Him, yet the disciples continued to follow. They were persecuted, scared, discouraged, and disowned. Still they followed. They turned the world upside down with their ministry after the death of Jesus, and the world hasn't been the same since.

Now you see why I don't believe in 'discipleship' as many churches define it. I have never been called to that kind of commitment- probably neither have you. Most of us are like the crowd and run away when we don't understand what Jesus is saying or He expects too much of us. Church members are plentiful- disciples are in short supply. I guess being a disciple is harder than it looks. I wonder if Jesus would have chosen me if I had lived in His time.

As a church leader, sometimes I'm afraid to ask people for that kind of commitment for two reasons: 1) I might not be willing to go there myself, and 2) I would be seen as a bad minister if 90% of my church walked out on me, like the crowd did to Jesus in John 6. Maybe that's why so many churches are shallow and their congregants lead well-meaning lives but make no impact on a world that is rapidly going to hell. Who is REALLY willing to be a disciple as Jesus defines it. Me. Sometimes.