Will the TRUE Disciple PLEASE stand up!

Something is bothering me...REALLY bothering me. Do you know what it is? CHURCH PEOPLE! Not all church people-but MANY of the church people that I've come into contact with. It is interesting to me: Jesus never instructed/exhorted the church to 'go and make Christians'. He instructed/exhorted them to 'go and make Disciples'. I don't know what we're trying to call this brand new Burger King Christian we're now seeing all too often in this 21st century (have it your way ain'ts); but it certainly doesn't exemplify true, biblical discipleship. By that, I mean a "Christian" disciple. There are various kinds of learners and disciples.

What in the world are we doing?
Where in the world are we going?

A disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ, in my view; they are people who are hearers AND doers of the Word. They follow the commands of God and His Word. They stop making excuses when it comes to Christ and His kingdom. People (for lack of a better word--they can't be disciples) make so many lame excuses when it comes to Christ and His church that it overwhelms me to even think there is such apathy and flippancy. These excuses are the excuses that people know would NEVER fly in the corporate arena, the secular workplace, or anywhere else. They expect the church to deal with it.

Take Christian Education--that is my background and it was my livelihood right out of college. I have heard almost EVERY excuse to why people can't attend Bible study: everything from cats being sick, headaches, forgot, overslept, leg fell asleep, couldn't find their glasses, on and on. However, MOST of the people who have given these 'excuses' have been people who I know would never use to justify why they weren't at work, a party, on a hot date, didn't call in, didn't go to school. Which leads me to the premise of this blog: will the true disciples please stand up. Come on--are we serious? In this emerging age of self gratification where "it's all about me"--it is only getting worse! My prayer is that the Lord will increase the number of passionate and committed disciples of Jesus Christ in our churches. The world is becoming MORE aggressive, which means that we as Christians, Disciples, and the Church need to become MORE aggressive than we are with our poor attempt at what we've termed 'Postmodern Relevance'. When it is self-centered rather than Christ-centered, it isn't relevant at all and it is nothing more than postmodern MAYHEM. I'm sorry--I just refuse to cater to Pew Potatoes, Sitting saints, and church free-loaders. If this empties out the church even more--FINE! We'll still be around when the REAL DISCIPLES show up and ready to go and REPRODUCE!

Now I am not saying that things like cats, headaches, jobs, schools, etc are not important. They ARE important and some of them are necessary in this world. I am saying that we must learn how to put FIRST things FIRST. (Matthew 6:33) The strange thing is this--those who have been apart of the church for any length of time--KNOW, all too well, that what I say in this blog is so true. The only thing that really allows me to voice all that is aforementioned is the fact that I LOVE the church and I LOVE God's people. This provokes me to 'speak the truth in love'.

I don't claim to be very old--though I know I am about to sound archaic....but
- what happened to the days when coming to church EVERY Sunday was just a given?
- what happened to the days when the average tenure of church membership was, on average, more than 15 years?
- what happened to the days when people made church a priority?
- what happened to the days when Bible study and Sunday School attendance just made sense?
- what happened to the days when parents made their children come to church and fathers and husbands led the way?
- what happened to the days when the Pastor could correct people out of line and people would straighten up?

I feel like a Dinosaur, almost extinct. Maybe I am naive and this day never really existed in the church. But I do know that it was better several years ago than it is today! I KNOW that there are those whom God will transform into true Christian disciples. It is my prayer that more churches that are Christ-centered, Bible-teaching congregations will experience a greater influx of true disciples. Why? Because these inflated-church freeloaders won't get the job done....Period!!!