Mathetes

I feel compelled to cry with desert rumblings to my generation.  Its not as though I think or feel like I am the lone seer in the Country of the Blind.  Quite the contrary!  My own eyes have been gouged and plucked.  I too heard the call, followed the Voice, crucified my soul to the Story.  Somewhere along the way, I allowed men to define the Voice's meaning, I sold my soul to an ecclesiology measured and weighted with quantitative reasoning.  You know, "How many people do you run?"  "What was your budget last year?"  "What is the square footage of your building?" It was subtle.  At least no one ever explicitly stated this, but conversations revolved around this.  Results and numbers were the final say at the end of the day.   The church became a business.  My holy vocation bartered for a career.

I have referenced this topic in sermons and lectures but I haven't vociferated it from the Wilderness of Blog.  So, with hands cupped to my mouth,  "Let's make disciples!"  

Three years ago, driving alone up I-280, late one night, I pondered what the Voice that called me would hold me accountable to.  I concluded, in terms of my call, the King would measure the gifts and offices he gave me to one command, "Disciple!"  (Matthew 28:19).  If you read this pericope in the Greek you notice  the only imperative is 'matheteuo' (disciple!).  That's it.  The mission of the church is plain, make disciples.  Clearly, he didn't say, "make believers!"  Or "get confessions!"  Or, "lead them through the 4 spiritual laws"  Or, "give them an experience!" 

This led me to ask, "What was a 'mathetes'?"  And that led me to research over 60 different books, countless periodicals and journals, and numerous trips to Graduate Theological Union.   For four years I have discipled and mentored, giving my best to live out this command.   I've gone back to the lab again and again and reworked it as I chiseled away at the past and brushed off the traditions of time and the cultural sands.

footnote (got to do it here since the Blog wont accommodate'em).  Ten years ago (1999), 450 church leaders from 54 countries and nearly 90 fellowships and denominations met in Eastbourne, England for the International Consultation on Discipleship.  “How can our evangelism produce not only converts but disciples?”  The conference revealed the church is “marked by a paradox of growth without depth.”  And “Many within the church are not living lives of biblical purity, integrity, and holiness.”  David Neff commented on the consultation, “Now that the consultation has placed disciple-making higher on the global evangelical agenda, it is vital that our biblical scholars, theologians and spiritual guides develop for us a full-orbed vision of the life of the disciple?”  Two years later (2001) George Barna (Growing True Disciples) demonstrated how lethargic and pathetic discipleship in the West really was.  Barna lamented a Christianity devoid of any discipleship.  He said there was less than 10% who claimed to be committed to being disciples and making disciples.   If this wasn't alarming enough, last year after ten years of awareness to a Christianity bereft of discipleship, Brad Waggoner (The Shape of Faith To Come) conducted a longitudinal study with 2500 Christians.  The news was even more disturbing.   I started the book, got 3 chapters into it, and couldn't read any more.  Part of my frustration with both Barna and Waggoner was how they defined discipleship.  It seems everyone (with the exception of a few scholars) define discipleship in Western culture terms.  Individual comprehension, individual service and individual behavior.  They treat discipleship like its a curriculum.  Herein lies the first problem.  And one that i shall take up for the next few weeks as I begin chronicling my thoughts on "Mathetes".  

Other ministers and pastors tend to define their ministries and churches with how trendy and cool they are.  They pour energy and money, time and creativity into lighting a Sunday stage and the 20-minute band.   They spend 2-3 hours a week searching for the right video clip, countless phone-calls and marketing ploys trying to get people to gather for 1 hour a week.  Life and culture, money and creativity bottlenecks around this 1-2 hour event.   And they never even ask if they are making disciples!   They are just trying to keep up with the pastor up the road. 

I don't think the Rabbi will evaluate our ministries and churches based on lighting, sound, video, and band.  One word, "Disciple."  Here are the questions all of us need to ponder.  First, what was a disciple in Jesus era?  Second, what would one look like today?  Third, am I discipling someone, according to the first century models, to Jesus Christ?

Comments

[Luke]

Let's hear more on this!

[G.Gatt]

From G. Gatt:

Pastor,
I find truth in your writings on this... I want to be a follower of Christ, not a follower of Man. I want to find His will, not some set program that I read from a book, or some solution from another Minister, or even a set Idea from a group stating that they are right, and all else is wrong (what ever group that is). I want to be his disciple. I want to find his truth for myself...

I want to be His Servent...