A Failure of Discipleship?

Remember Covid? Just saying the word Covid brings up images, thoughts, and pain. Images of the first online service. Thoughts of trying to figure out how we would navigate this time. The pain of seeing our churches battle over masks, vaccines, and the politics of it all.

• As we navigated all this, many pastors noted what they called a “failure of discipleship.” It showed up in many forms — the inability of their congregants to sustain their faith, to show love to one another as we navigated complex issues, and to have faith overcome politics.

Was this the case, or did these events reveal the sheer complexity of discipleship and how the evangelical church has misunderstood the process of forming disciples? In the book Religion for Realists, Samuel Perry writes about the complexity of human behavior.

• Perry says the reality is that people’s views on Jesus are shaped by their political convictions more than their faith convictions. Churches and their members reflect their place and status in society more than their doctrines. And Christians often use theology to justify our preconceived beliefs and actions rather than allow their doctrinal convictions to lead the way.

Perry reminds us that the meme “A Failure of Discipleship” hides a complex challenge to help people follow the Jesus way. So how do we move forward to form Jesus people? Here are a few ideas.

Navigating the complexities of discipleship

1. Awareness

• Knowing how much our environment shapes us helps us pause and engage is discernment. In this pause, we can ask the question: “Is this Jesus, or is this my culture?”

2. Listening

• We need to understand the importance of hearing from different cultures and different times. If we only listen to our culture and our time, we will form disciples who reflect both.

3. Asking

• We need to ask, “What forms our community? What ideas, assumptions, and politics have we been captivated by?” We must remember Paul’s words about “taking every thought captive to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). We should also take to heart the words of Tim Keller, who said that if our God looks just like the one we want, we’ve probably got something messed up.

4. Collaborating

• Find a few wise collaborators and start some conversations about the way you are making disciples. Think together about how to steer clear of cultural biases.

5. Engaging

• Engage your congregation in this conversation. This will likely be the most challenging part because we are embedded in our communities, politics, etc. Asking people to think differently will cause some bumps along the road.

How are you forming disciples in your congregation? How are you navigating the process of making followers of Jesus rather than making Jesus follow the culture?