Here I am at 35,000 feet above the earth darting through the air back to LA. It is time to reflect on the last two days. I loathe to sit in meetings, but once in a while, the subject matter draws me in, and I even pay my way. I gathered with fifty other men and women who really care about making disciples. There we were, young, old, black, white, male, female-all very concerned about what the church isn’t doing while celebrating what it is doing in the arena of forming people in Christ. You know that the majority of my adult life has been devoted to calling the church to return to its primary mission, being and making disciples. That is if you don’t count all the time I spent trying to be famous, build a mega church, and my quest to become whatever monster I had in mind. It seems that all those who are committed to being and making disciples are befuddled by the church. It continues to be a mystery why the church has largely chosen to do other things. I was encouraged to hear and interact with many young black leaders who have been greatly moved to devote themselves to the same cause. There are real limits to such gatherings, everyone has their own “day jobs” so when we leave the meeting we move on with our own thing. Yet, there is something that happens that is commonly overlooked, the affect the attendees have on one another. There may not be a major new organization or movement come out of the meeting, but it hopefully is a part of the actual movement of the Holy Spirit on the church and society. I made some new friends, and if we meet again, those relationships will grow past the “show and tell” aspect of such gatherings. After everyone has passed out their resources, you can relax, start feeling like an accepted person rather than a professional at work. My life has been marked indelibly by men and women I have met at such meetings. Choose carefully what kind of gatherings you attend, make sure there is interaction, listening to talks can be very helpful and inspirational, but if that is all, its effect is limited. The more specific the meeting, the better, invest in what you care about. OK, that is enough, the movie is starting, “Gidget meets the flying nun.”

 So I went Thursday evening to the Art Deco Wiltern Theater in Hollywood for an evening with Rob Bell. If they would of had a door prize for the oldest people present, Jane and I would of made the finals. The crowd looked more like an American Idol audition than a spiritually motivated throng. They were playing music that everyone seemed to know, I felt a bit left out. I have read the Velvet Elvis and a couple of other books by the Reverend Bell, he is very innovative and I like many of his ideas. I do admire mavericks, those who leave the normal path and cut new trails through the religious and cultural jungle. The stage was bare except for a large screen that he periodically employed to empower his points. The Reverend Bell appeared and held forth for two hours. He is very talented and his presentation was well crafted, he particularly made good use of quotes from artists, writers and philosophers. If you are an artist, you would of loved him, if you were a buttoned down preacher looking for code words and important religious phrases, you would of been frustrated. If you were expecting a gospel presentation, the kind that states the facts in a linear order, a major disappointment for you. If however, you were interested in listening for the voice of God, hearing his voice, and thinking of ways God is speaking into the contemporary culture today, you would of found it moving. The overarching story was about suffering, not so much about why we suffer, but what do we do with it. I know the Most Reverend Bell has his critics, but I find him a passionate follower of Christ who has been given a gift to speak to his generation, why not cheer him on? He may be a bit of a wanderer at the edges of theology, but so have many such as Jesus of Nazareth. 

 1. How do you see churches approaching discipleship today? 

 

The most common paradigm is to treat discipleship as of secondary importance, a needed activity that takes place somewhere in the bowels of the churches infrastructure. The reason for this is that discipleship is a needful process for new christians, it can be accomplished through lay people. The leaders of congregations look for some good material or curriculum and in a few months, the work is done. A less common approach is to take it seriously and to extend the process into normal life, this is usually done in small groups and in some cases one on one appointments. It is better than nothing, but it fails to address the most important issues of the christian experience. The least done but most effective approach is for the leadership to become disciples themselves, to be the embodiment of Christlikeness and to intentionally develop an apprenticeship system where they are schooling the next generation and even the generation after that. This will require a serious realignment of what the church believes to be important. It actually starts with how you define the gospel. Only when discipleship becomes a natural part of the gospel, will it  takes its place at the center of all spiritual life. 

 

2. If you could teach churches just one thing about discipleship that I have learned, what would it be? 

 

It is more important to be a disciple than to have a plan to make disciples. 

 

3. Uncomplicated obedience is a term you use in Christlike. How would you define it? 

 

It is the unconflicted heart - it has a trained readiness to do good. 

 

4. What did God teach you personally as you were writing Christlike? 

The values of rethinking and rewriting 

 

5. What do you hope readers will take away from Christlike? 

 

It would be similar to what C.S. Lewis said and I quoted early in the book 

 

" The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that , all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose."  We are called to be disciples and make disciples before we are called to create churches and run them. 

 

 I am not an old man, nor am I young. I live on the cusp of elderliness, not old enough to collect Social Security, but close enough to look forward to the benefits. It is that time of life when many of my friends have retired, some of them are wealthy, they are enjoying the "everyday is Saturday" life. There is an attraction to living in a way that releases one from the pressure to be productive, to succeed, to still need to sell others on what you are doing. There is something peaceful about not risking failure. And then there are the airplanes, yes tomorrow I'm off to Cleveland, I have nothing against Cleveland, its just not home. I will miss my wife's birthday and of course my Saturday morning bike ride with my grandson. But there are 200 Christian leaders to speak to on Friday and 500 men to teach on Saturday. Then off to Jacksonville where 2,000 pastors will get my new book, Christlike. That is just the start of the 2010 schedule, one that will require me to travel, to raise funds, to keep telling people why they should support my work as a discipleship evangelist. I love to do this, but how much longer can I do it? Won't I run out of places to go and people to teach and won't my body refuse to squeeze into one more airplane seat? I was reading a very timely passage this morning, Paul is saying goodbye to the Ephesian elders from a small island called Miletus, he spoke what I needed to hear, " Now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me there, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God." Acts 20:22-24 NLT I don't think I will get thrown in jail on the trip unless I offend airline personnel, in fact I expect to have a very good time. But I attach myself to Paul's motive and reason to continue to push it. If you need a boost, read his words and thank God for the honor. 

 Who could say no to the statement that we ought “to teach people to obey everything Christ commanded?” There is wide spread agreement that we ought to do it, but many believe that we can’t really do that, we are not set up to do it. What it involves is apprenticeship and submission. Our church systems are built on profession of belief, but often we do not believe what we profess. The church systems we have set up protect those who profess from the intrusion of discipleship. We say it is ok to be a part of our churches without a requirement to follow Jesus. Again because our gospel requires nothing of its recipients. What can be done about three generations of Christians who have been trained to evaluate their spiritual lives by how much they enjoyed the worship service? When we lose discipleship we lose the permission to teach deeply, to teach them to obey what Christ commanded. And when that is lost, as it is in our churches, we get the American church.

 

So what to do? I commend to you the simple plan of Philosopher Dallas Willard. “ I recommend that we not announce that we are going to change things. Just start doing things differently including, of course, teaching people to do what Jesus said. Begin to teach what discipleship is and lay down a theology of discipleship on a scriptural basis. Begin to assume discipleship in church activities. Begin to teach in depth the things central to the New Testament teachings: God [existence and nature] his kingdom, Jesus in that context, discipleship as a way of life, and how one becomes the kind of person who will, out of inner transformation of mind, will, body, soul and social relationships, do what he said. This is the tried a true method of “Church growth” through the ages: Bigger Christians. And it is precisely what Jesus told us to do.”   [i]

 I keep returning to this question that is at the heart of all Christian thought and mission. If the church took over the world, what kind of world would it be? Would it be any different than other periods of Christendom in Western Civilization? You give the church an army, they tend to evangelize via the army, forcing people in other nations to covert or else. If you give the church political power, it attempts to change behavior by law.In order for the Christian mission to be of any help to the world, a prerequisite is required. Before the church can or should take over the world, Christ will need to take over the church. Yes, I will stipulate that Christ is the head of the church, but my meaning is to be the functional head of the church. You might remember, Jesus could not do any great works in his hometown, they were used to him, he was too common, a prophet without honor. His church is called to be Christlike, to live lives of uncomplicated obedience. We are his disciples, he is our leader, we are learning from him how to live. This is why what C.S. Lewis wrote is so penetrating, " The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose." We are told to be disciples and make disciples, everything else pales in comparison. There is confusion among church leaders between what are the product ministry and the by-products of that ministry. The product are transformed disciples, the by-products are love, justice, helping the poor, loving and reaching the world around us. In order to make a difference, we must be different.

 2009 reminded me that there are forces over which I have no control; cancelled flights, weather problems, postponed conferences, illness, and the most unpredictable of all, the will of God as orchestrated through imperfect beings. Figuring out what is the first and most important things God's wants us to do can be daunting. I have read this year that we should teach more doctrine, others just as sincere think that the  tight compartments of doctrine we teach are the reason we are failing as church. In my recent memory we have moved from the classic attractional church model to the house church, to the networks of churches that don't admit they are a church. Some teach that the church is finished, others that it is being renewed, but only through starting new churches. Innovators seem to run from structure and authority, but eventually they catch us and tackle us from behind. Enjoy the run until you hear their footsteps, when you do, weave and bob, avoid it as long as you can. Those not in the fold have been called the unchurched, seeker, lost , and sojourners. I have read authors who think they have just discovered the lost planet of "Relevance" something no other leader has noticed in the last 2000 years. I love to learn and I like the new packaging, every generation needs to discover and make things seem new. Then they have to sit back and watch the generation behind them do it over again. Its ok, I enjoy the view and am in love with the ideas that are presented. For nearly many years I have been espousing that what really matters is the power in the life of a person called a disciple. That what really matters is what is happening Monday through Saturday in the world in which they live work and play. That the church is an outpost in the kingdom of God and if it doesn't keep up it will be left behind in what God is attempting to do. More important than the church activities are the activities of his disciples and their making of new disciples. We can expect the unbeliever to attend church, it is not even expected in the bible, the church must go to them and live among them, in order to be the church. So I end this year the way I started it, exhorting you to be a Christ follower, live it out in your ordinary daily life, and people will be drawn to you and will ask you about it. 

 I shed a few tears earlier this week when I heard of the death of Oral Roberts. The tears were not about his death, but his life. I rejoice for this magnetic man who will now spend Christmas with his beloved wife Evelyn who preceded him in death. He has not only joined her in the unadulterated presence of God, but he now sings the song of praise to Him who alone deserves all the praise. Everyone seemed surprised that I chose to go to ORU in the fall of 1967. I was coming off a great career at Northeastern A&M Junior College in Miami, Oklahoma. I had my pick of most of the major basketball programs in that region of the country, but I chose ORU because of the influence of a friend. It was chancy to join this upstart Basketball team that was jumping from a Junior College schedule to what today would be considered Division II. I was a sharp shooting forward with a big ego and a smart mouth. I was not a Christian, in fact I was a mocker of everything religious. I thought most of the young people I met were religious space cadets, they spoke in tongues, they danced when they worshipped, they heard voices, the environment was as other worldly as the space station like buildings. It was like an episode of Star Trek.  I was afraid of Oral Roberts, I had seen him perform on television when I was a kid, those big hands, and even bigger ears. I had met him during recruitment, he had an even bigger persona, a personality that would suck all the available oxygen out of any room. It was three months later that I committed my life to Christ, I started reading the bible and my attitude began to change. Oral really liked me because I had a really good jump shot and because one day I stood before the student body and confessed to being a follower of Jesus. He took me under his wing, he took me to Kenya, he took me to speak to the faculty, the board of regents, to churches and other events. His discipleship of me was to throw me into the deep end of the pool and commanded me to swim. He taught me that God was a good God, he stood fast on this even when his oldest son committed suicide, when his oldest daughter was taken in a plane crash and three children were left behind. Even when life got really tough, he never backed down from God's goodness. I will cherish not only these memories, but the reconnection we had in the last decade. Jane and I visited Oral and Evelyn at their west coast home, we talked about old times, we discussed how much he enjoyed my books and many other common interests. We will always treasure being on our knees before them, their hands on our heads, their prayers of faith and blessing upon us and our ministry. He was a great man, a man of simple faith, I thank God for him today.