Below is a copy of the article I wrote for our monthly newsletter. Thought I’d pass it on….
Lifestyle or Label?
Dallas Willard, one of the foremost authors on discipleship, opens the first chapter of his book entitled The Great Omission with these words:
The word “disciple” occurs 269 times in the New Testament. “Christian” is found three times and was first introduced to refer precisely to disciples of Jesus – in a situation where it was no longer possible to regard them as a sect of the Jews (Acts 11:26). The New Testament is a book about disciples, by disciples, and for disciples of Jesus Christ…. For at least several decades the churches of the Western world have not made discipleship a condition of being a Christian. One is not required to be, or to intend to be, a disciple in order to become Christian, and one may remain a Christian without any signs of progress toward or in discipleship. Contemporary American churches in particular do not require following Christ in his example, spirit, and teachings as a condition of membership – either of entering into or continuing in fellowship of a denomination or local church. I would be glad to learn of any exception ot this claim, but it would only serve to highlight its general validity and make the general rule more glaring. So far as the visible Christian institutions of our day are concerned, discipleship clearly is optional.
Ouch!
Willard’s argument is, at its most basic level, that the contemporary American church has abandoned the lifestyle of being a “follower of Christ” and settled for the label “Christian.” Willard isn’t the only person to recognize this, of course. As a matter of fact, I’d be surprised if most of us, in our most honest moments, didn’t admit to similar thoughts.
My best guess is that it goes back to the early American revivals. Somewhere amidst the several Great Awakenings, American Christians began believing that Christianity was predominantly about a “decision” or a “conversion.” We started to understand the faith as a religion based on “getting saved” or “going to heaven.” During this period, traveling preachers famously held revival meetings where dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people were led through a conversion (or REconversion) process. Whether they admitted it or not, numbers were the goal. The success of such meetings was (and continues to be) the quantity of people who claim they’ve made “a decision for Christ.”
The problem was, the local religious infrastructure to deal with all of these new converts was often either failing or nonexistent. Ministers (if there were any) weren’t prepared to deal with such an influx of so many people who knew so little about the faith, and congregations weren’t prepared to welcome these (often disturbingly familiar) people into their midst merely because they claimed to have had an experience of God’s grace.
Institutional failures were not the only problem or even, perhaps, the biggest problem. Even more destructive was the fact that people actually believed the preaching they heard at these revival meetings. Preachers told them they were saved; they were going to heaven; they didn’t have to worry about hell; God loved them. (All of which was true, of course!) However, these same preachers seldom bothered to teach their audiences that, in thankful response for their salvation, God expected discipleship.
Before long, Christianity became a religion primarily about conversion to a heavenly eternity rather than to an ongoing discipleship within God’s kingdom.
To be fair, even though we perfected “conversion-only” Christianity, we cannot claim to have invented it. It has been a problem since biblical times. The scandalously extreme nature of God’s grace has always been followed with the intense temptation to ignore the only appropriate human response to that free grace: faithfulness. Yet, the church has continued to fight that temptation diligently – or have we?
It is an important question. If Christianity is merely a religion of conversion – why bother with worship? Why have churches? Why bother raising our children in the faith? If Christianity is merely a religion intent on getting the hoards “saved,” why waste time and resources on those who have already converted or those who never will? The answer, of course, is that Christianity is not merely a conversion religion; it is a discipleship religion. To be “Christian” is to be a student (discipulus) of Christ’s teachings – one who increasingly learns how to live as Jesus lived and according to the priorities Jesus taught.
This is where the proverbial rubber hits the road. Discipleship is not accidental; it takes intent and conviction; it takes time and attention. That is what I’d like to leave you thinking about this month: Are you being intentional about discipleship?
I know time is limited and life is busy. You’ll notice I’m not suggesting you spend two hours in prayer and three hours reading the Bible each day or that we start a daily worship service at church (although, neither is historically unheard of!)
The question is far more basic than that: Are you intentional about learning how to live as Jesus lived? Are you a disciple?
If you’d like to talk about discipleship, or if you need help finding resources let me know! That’s what I’m here for!
Grace and Peace,
`tim
Thanks for that. It’s an astute observation and one that I wish would get more discussion. It’s been my observation that people who describe themselves as “Christian” most loudly use it primarily as a political label. They are often also some of the least likely to be exemplary disciples of Jesus and his teachings. As a nonbeliever, I still appreciate the value of those teachings and think that a strong call to true discipleship is sorely needed.