Going to Church Isn't Enough

There are three kinds of people in the world: (1) those who make things happen, (2) those who watch things happen, and (3) those who ask, "What happened?"

If you want to make something worthwhile happen, get involved in personal discipleship. "Discipling men and women is the priority around which our lives should be oriented," says Robert Coleman, author of The Master Plan of Evangelism (Baker Publishing Group, 1998). "The Great Commission is a command—an obligation incumbent upon the whole community of faith. There are no exceptions. Bank presidents and automobile mechanics, physicians and schoolteachers, theologians and homemakers—everyone who believes in Christ has a part in his work."

Discipleship requires committing ourselves for an extended period of time to help others grow to maturity in Christ and equip them to reproduce themselves spiritually in the next generation. This is not a fad schemed up by the church growth movement. It's as old as the first century when Jesus said, "Follow me."

Too many of us are sitting on the sidelines instead of getting into the game. Hebrews 5:12 says "by this time you ought to be teachers"—a challenging thought for Christians who have soaked up God's Word in Sunday school classes or small groups for years, but seldom make any attempt to help others grow in their faith.

Why aren't we more intentional and proactive about discipleship? Why don't more mature Christian women teach younger women (Titus 2:3-5)? Why don't more Christian men invest time in developing "reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2)? Why isn't disciple-making the heart of every church program?

We've created a religious culture where instead of "attending to the people," we measure spiritual success by the number of "people who attend." But nowhere does the Bible tell Christians to "go to church." It says we are the church.

Worship is a lifestyle, not merely something we do for an hour on Sunday morning. When we meet together on the Lord's Day, it's not merely to fulfill a religious obligation but to refuel for the Lord's work in the week ahead. We meet to hear Scripture read, taught, and applied. We meet to share our spiritual gifts with the body and encourage one another. We meet to follow the example of the first century believers who were devoted "to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). But for a disciple of Christ, activities like these should not be a religious compartment of life, but life itself.

Acts 6:7 says, "So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly."

Wouldn't it be great not only to count the number of church attenders in your community, but to see the number of "disciples" increasing rapidly? Many of our neighbors are hungry for friendship and spiritual direction. Young people are seeking mentors and role models to help them navigate a complicated world. Why are we so hesitant to pass our faith along?

Going to church is fine, but we won't accomplish our mission unless we become a church that goes.