Disciple Making

One aspect where the pandemic has helped us as Christians in churches is appreciating the distinction between 'attendance' (or 'connecting') at whole church services and ongoing depth of discipleship. For too long we have paid attention to attendance at the expense of sustainable discipleship, and that deficit has been clearly exposed in recent months.

It may help us to assess where people are at by using two axes: depth of discipleship and attendance (where the latter might be connecting electronically to our online gatherings during this season) - as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1

That creates 4 quadrants. Those in the upper-right bring cheer to any pastor - they have discipleship (growing more like Jesus), and are connecting! Conversely the lower-left are a cause for concern. The other two quadrants bring worry but for different reasons. The lower-right may be doing quite well in themselves, walking well with Jesus - though at the risk of feeling isolated or disconnected from the body (a cohesion issue). The upper-left are visible in the body, but lets be honest: we lovingly want them to go deeper with Jesus and become more mature in their faith. These different categories are summarised in figure 2.

Figure 2

Now let's make an interesting observation. Our not-yet-Christian friends/enquirers start out in the lower-left quadrant. This is not their fault - it is simply the starting point. Our typical western model is to then invite them to corporate events - be it a carol service, a seeker service/event etc. This is good (and God blesses it!), and on our graph it takes people up into the upper-left quadrant. By God's grace they hopefully come to faith and cross the line into their own growing discipleship (upper-right), a journey shown in figure 3. I wonder, though, how many in reality get stuck in the upper-left?

Figure 3

What if our model was depth of relationship and developing discipleship from the outset? We would invite people to stuff of course, but the emphasis is moving towards Jesus rather than simply to the good stuff a church can lay on. The journey may prove to be more like figure 4, with its different shape of curve. The destination is the same (with Jesus, mature discipleship and well connected in the wider body), but the route to get there different. Yes I guess there is a risk of becoming stuck in lower-right ... but I wonder if this route might actually be better in our context today? Maybe it is more suited to inviting first to the smaller group / expression of Christian community where faith and discipleship can be explored more personally ... but still with connection to the wider body ultimately in mind?

Figure 4

Either way, if you are forced to choose between the axes then making disciples should have the priority - for that was the primary commission Jesus gave us.

Can't see fruit for the tress

Sometimes we just can't see the fruit for the trees! God is doing something among us, but because we are in a certain fixed mindset we seem to be unable to fully go with it.

For example I heard someone share the other day, and they described how they are at a very small church (small in number, and very senior in age). A strength that they have is a building in a very good location in the centre of their town. The person was lamenting the fact that with so few of them they weren't sure that they would be able to host any event this Christmas (further complicated by all the restrictions, of course) - so the classic 'invitational event' like a carol service seemed out of reach for them.

Yet in the same sharing the person also told how one of the senior members had felt led to ensure the building was open for private prayer each day in recent weeks. Their prime location meant that passers-by were in fact popping in, leading to some good conversations. In fact, they said, one visitor even made their step of faith and commitment to Christ through one of these conversations!

So there is the fruit! There is activity of the Spirit of God right there among them, through the utility of their building, and through the openness & faithfulness of the person opening up and being available.

Why not make those open drop-in times the focus of the small fellowship for this season, and not worry so much about their inability to hold a 'church service'? After all, which of the two did Jesus actually call us to do? Wasn't the commission to 'make disciples', with no mention of 'maintain regular / traditional services at all costs'!

Our mindset of 'Christian faith = regular fixed service' can do us a dis-service and stop us from seeing (and rejoicing in and going with) the fruit of God's activity among us. Its not that none of us should hold services, or gather people for worship, or hold invitational events ... its down to a question of perspective and being clearer on what Jesus is (or isn't) actually calling us to do.

Rather than staring into a forest of things we can't do, why not concentrate on the fruit-bearing plant (however small it seems) that is right before us ...

Scattered Means Scattered

Recently I had an interesting conversation with a Christian who is both prayerful and keen on action (a great combination!). They mentioned a potential initiative around where they lived, which geographically is very much on the periphery of their local church. Having described that they quickly went on to canvass me for ideas and input on possible activities that geographically were central to their local church.

I realised I had to press the pause button. The 'central' ideas were great in their own right, but I asked why they were trying to give priority to those rather than the equally great idea they had mentioned in passing: the one that was 'far off' geographically. The conversation revealed a potential sense of false-guilt self-projection: the Christian was at risk of feeling guilty for not doing something centrally. This was ironic given that they potentially had a real leading of the Spirit for a new activity in their local area.

These lockdown times have forced us to think more of 'church scattered' than 'church gathered'. Virtually all 'central ministries' cannot happen because of the restrictions and difficulties caused by the pandemic. Frustrating though that may be, it gives opportunity for the Spirit to lead us into potentially new avenues scattered across our different locations of home, work or play.

If we are to embrace this 'scattered church' mentality, then we must learn to work out what that means in practice. Surely it means that as leaders we bless and release people to do look into opportunities they have out in their locality, even if that is geographically some distance from the traditional sphere of local church activity? It means we should help those activists not feel guilty about this geographically peripheral activity - in fact we should celebrate it, for they are putting 'scattered church' into practice.

It means us learning that 'scattered truly means scattered'! The work of the local church is now the union of the various dispersed activities - even if that is harder to visualise or quantify compared to the traditional central ministries.

Don't Turn the Magnetic-Field Back On

Coming out of lockdown I am repeatedly asked "When can we get back to church?". Of course this is the wrong question from the outset, since we never stopped being church ... so it is not possible to 'go back'! But I also must admit from a personal perspective that in many ways I don't want to go back ...

Yes I want us to gather together as the extended family of Christ-followers. Yes I want us to join together in an expression of worship with each other, a gathering into which we can invite God to speak to us together. Yes I very much want to gather into an environment where the Spirit is free to move and we see ministry among us. And yes I basically want to see, chat, have coffee with and generally be alongside my fellow believers. I want all these things and I miss them like many others.

But I don't want the inadvertent magnetic-field that I worry can go with such regular gatherings, wonderful though they are. The force that turns us inwards, that captures our attention and our focus, that risks making us 'building-centric' or 'sunday-centric'. The pull that stops us from looking out to the incredible, exciting (but also very risky!) things that can happen in our missionary discipleship out there in the periphery. The power-house that tempts us to rely on it rather than paying proper attention to our own rhythms and diet of personal discipleship, discipleship done with trusted partners - discipleship journeyed in the rough and tumble of life.

All these out there things some of us (I hope many of us) have experienced and explored because of lockdown and our inability to gather centrally. We've had over 3 months of the magnetic-field abruptly turned off: it has been difficult, it has brought many challenges (not all overcome), but it has also brought a healthy re-focussing of how we live and grow in our faith, alongside fresh mission endeavour. Yes we have lost many things, and it has raised many questions, but I have seen much blessing and what I believe are healthier for the long term habits arise.

So yes I would dearly love for us to be gathering again - as soon as we meaningfully can - but please don't turn that magnetic field back on!