whole-life discipleship

I have just got in from a very interesting day with leaders from two other churches, Neil Hudson and Tracy Cotterell of Licc. The day centred around asking questions that simply put were based around - how well do our churches do in making disciples (lives that are transformed by the resurrection power of Jesus) not just church attenders and helpers in the church. This is something that I have been preaching and conversing about over the last couple of years (well its actually long but particularly in West Bromwich) to varying degrees with various success. 

The idea behind it is that there are not some things more important to God than others. So for instance we have in the  past elevated the place of Christian service to the point that people thought that to be a proper Christian and to serve God you had to be in full time ministry! How ridiculous is that?! The thought that God is actually interested in in the small details and can actually use it for our transformation is not new but it is foreign to much of our experience. So for instance how do we learn forgiveness? It in taught in church as something that we should live out and practice but how do we do that just in church; as there is surely not forgiveness needed in church right? Forgiveness has to be worked out with people that are not easy to forgive. So the colleague who has stabbed you in the back and made your life difficult and made you look bad so that they get the promotion over you, what do you do? A discipleship/learning opportunity; I think so. But maybe it is more that, maybe it is an opportunity to demonstrate an expression of the real Jesus to a world who has a warped view of him and Christians. Who can blame them as it is a picture that the church has painted for them and it is what they see and interpret, albeit sometimes wrongly. 

One of the statistics that was given was that Christians spend on average (and I think this is generous) 10 hours a week in church based activity and 110 hours a week doing other non-church based stuff. It is amazing to think that we have missed the point for so long in that we have equipped people to do "spiritual" stuff, like do small groups, be in the worship group, youth, welcome team and the rest, but failed to equip the church to engage the world they inhabit for the  bulk of the week as an authentic Christ-shaped, transformed follower of Christ. Equipping them to live counter-culturally in the other 6 days that they are not in church. 

I was really encouraged, challenged and inspired by the things we discussed and the people involved. I'm going to be working hard to find out the stories of what God is already doing in the day to day stuff of life in the people who make up WBCC, to find out what people are learning and how God is using the people of WBCC Monday to Saturday.  It is important that we hear the stories and are told of the way that God is using his people and not just in church. If you are a member of WBCC, I would love to hear your story of what God is doing in you and how he is using your life outside of church stuff. So be brave, be observant and share your story of what God is doing because he is we just need to change the lens through which we look.

till next time...