Our Great Omission - To Make Disciples
In 2006, well known Christian writer Dallas Willard published The Great Omission - Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teaching On Discipleship which highlighted the failure of the church to embark on a programme of ongoing Intentional Discipleship for new and existing Christians. In effect, he pinpointed that much of the focus of the church has been on conversions but that it was then not following this up with the ongoing development of the individual in a structured way.
Willard quoted from AW Tozer’s 1974 book - I call it Heresy - as follows:
.. the widely accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need him as a Saviour and that we have the right to postpone our obedience as Lord as long as we want to!
and then Willard asserted:
This “heresy” has created the impression that it is quite reasonable to be a “vampire Christian”. One in effect says to Jesus, “I’d like a little of your blood, please. But I don’t care to be your student or have your character. In fact, won’t you just excuse me while I get on with my life, and I’ll see you in Heaven”.
In the time since, it is far from clear that Willard’s observations have had any marked impact on the body of Christ today - particularly in the West. We can hear the many voices of "Evangelical Christians" who support views that they consider to be "Christian" or "Biblical" and yet research shows that, certainly in the USA and the UK, many of those who identify as Evangelical / Christian go to church infrequently and/or rarely read their bibles (Refs [1], [2], [3], [4]).
Our Greater Omission - Failing To Teach Them All Jesus Commanded
But Willard’s charge about the Church (in its broadest sense) not truly discipling believers is only one component of four that are contained within Jesus’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). We are to:
- “Go into all the world” - Check. Yes we have done that but even then 42% of the world population have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel [5].
- “Make disciples” - Possibly. We have certainly made converts and some have become disciples.
- “Baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” - Check. Clearly huge numbers have been baptised around the world.
- “And teach them to obey all that I have command you” - No. We have not systematically taught new and established believers to obey Jesus’s commands.
It is this last element that we need to confront today as the Body of Christ. In many senses it is a
“greater omission” than our collective failure to truly disciple others, but is inextricably linked to it.
From a broad brush perspective, today’s Church has steered away from one of its primary tasks: to help believers to become more like Jesus (by teaching his commands, providing a context for them to start practising these (assisted by the Holy Spirit), and for them in turn to teach/disciple others).
For some churches it may be a focus on increasing the membership, getting funds through the door, building projects (Jesus never commanded believers to construct churches) and bending its theology to be more accepting of the world. This really is a travesty and is one reason why “When the church feels it must become like the world, to win the world, the church has not won the world but the world has won it” [6].
A Biblical Perspective
We should not expect the world (non-Christians) to adopt, or even accept, biblical views on personal attitudes, behaviours and actions. However, those in the church should examine themselves in the light of Scripture, particularly from the New Testament. And let’s not be exclusive about this - by highlighting certain sins above others - we are all called to live a holy life (Matthew 5:20 and Mark 7:20-23) as far as this is possible assisted by the Holy Spirit .
In a recent post [7] Bruxy Cavey identified some of the feature that the Anabaptists hold dear. In particular, that because all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18) that His teachings and commands should take precedence, especially when people attempt to counter His teaching with other biblical texts, e.g. from the Old Testament.
In spite of the fact that the Christian church has existed for nearly two thousand years, it really is a sad indictment that we do not have an established and universally accepted way of leading, assisting and coaching those who come to faith to understand specifically what Jesus commanded us to do and then put it into practice.
- Yes everyone is different and comes to faith in a unique way.
- Yes everyone who makes a commitment has a different past and/or circumstances that may need Jesus’s healing touch and restoration - and this may take time to lead them to the point where they are outward rather than inward facing.
- Yes we all have our part to play - as the Holy Spirit leads - and we need to constantly discern this as our Christian walk develops and changes.
BUT, we can only really become effective disciples of Jesus if we comply with his instructions to teach ourselves and others to obey all that he commanded and then apply it. If we all put Jesus and the practise of his commands at the forefront of our faith, the world would be a considerably different place.
References
[3] - https://www.barna.com/research/state-church-2016/
[4] - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/14/church-england-christians-never-read-bible-survey-finds/
[5] - https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/has_everyone_heard
[6] - https://twitter.com/LandonLancaster/status/1024631008417787904
[7] - http://www.bruxy.com/theology/the-word-of-god-part-1-authority/
Photo by Max McKinnon on Unsplash