Why We Don’t Disciple #3: Our Churches Are Less Converted

Here’s a third reason our discipleship of others is so shallow, and may even be non-existent.

3. Our churches are less converted.

Our churches have fewer truly regenerate Christians in them, and so there are fewer people able to disciple each other.

No doubt the reasons for this are complex, but let me suggest two.

Firstly, it used to be the way that to be known as a member of the body of Christ, you had to be a Christian. That’s the assumption made by the New Testament.

But now, in many churches – even in some large, well-known evangelical churches – you can become a member of the church simply by ticking a box on a welcome card. It’s a voluntary practise. There is little or no attempt to examine the person spiritually to try and ascertain that they are truly followers of Christ.

How can we expect people who aren’t disciples themselves to be discipling others?

Secondly, the practise of church discipline has been all but lost.

This was the standard practise of the New Testament church. In 1 Corinthians 5, for example, Paul says that we are to expel unrepentant sinners from membership in the church.

Our failure to hear what Paul says here means that our churches often contain a great number of people who profess to be disciples, but show little sign of actually being disciples. Indeed, they may be showing signs of being actively opposed to Christ, to the great dishonour of the Lord and his gospel.

Again, we can’t expect people who aren’t disciples themselves to be discipling others.

Why have we neglected these two things?

I think there are several reasons, but here’s one of the main ones: numbers have become so important to us, we will do anything to boost them. We are desperate for people to enter, and desperate for them to stay. We have lowered the cost in the hope that more will buy.

What happens when we ignore the biblical practices of church membership and discipline? We end up with a church culture that is profoundly de-Christianized, denuded of its salt and light. How can we cultivate a culture of discipleship in our churches when so many of our members are not disciples in the first place? And what influence will those non-discipling church members have on those church members who are genuinely seeking to follow Christ?

To put it another way (and to borrow Mark Dever’s analogy), it used to be that the front door of the church was protected carefully, while the back door was left wide open. Now, however, we leave the front door swinging wide open, and we jam the back door tight shut because we’re so afraid of anyone leaving.

If this is our mindset, expect to see congregations who are not discipling one another.

Next time, if you’re still with me, I’ll suggest a fourth reason we don’t disciple.

Barry Cooper is an author and speaker. He is Director of Product Development at Christianity Explored Ministries, blogs at Future Perfect, Present Tense, and is currently helping to plant Trinity West Church in Shepherd's Bush. You can follow him on Twitter.