Breaking Out of the Evangelical "Three-Step"

(Note:  this is the first of a series of 'rants' regarding the state of the church today. My intention is not to be critical of all the good Christians and churches who are working hard to present the Kingdom, but to express some heartfelt concerns about the direction of American Christianity in general.  I claim no infallibility--in fact I am sure I am wrong somewhere.  Neither do I claim these 'rants' to be balanced.  I merely offer my perspective.  Others may see things differently,  and they may very well be right as well.  I only merely offer my thoughts to provoke conversation.)

Ever since I was a teenager, I have self-identified as an “evangelical” Christian.  While people use the word “evangelical” in different ways, for me it means taking the Bible seriously as God’s Word and taking seriously the task of telling the world about Jesus.

Evangelicalism is more than just a statement of belief--it’s a culture in which I feel at home.  I’ve lived in that culture for a half century. It’s my spiritual home town and I’m comfortable here. 

Living inside a culture makes it hard to view it objectively because so much of what we think and feel comes from our environment.  We are unaware of our perceptual bias.  We cannot imagine other ways of looking at being Christian besides that of our own experience. But if we take seriously the Biblical teaching that we are all sinners, then we must believe that our evangelical world isn’t perfect. The world around us certainly sees our faults, even if we don’t.  If we wish to present the Gospel creditably, we must believe that even the evangelical tradition has its problems.

George Marsden’s book Fundamentalism and American Culture makes an astute observation about the fundamentalist/evangelical culture. He points out that it is a religion based on a never-ending campaign. We are good at crusading for salvation and various social causes.  But we have been historically unsuccessful holding ground. There have been tremendous revivals which have brought thousands to faith in Jesus, yet many of those converts disappear when the fires of revival die down.

But if we look at the two-thousand-year history of Christianity, short-lived revivals were not the norm.  People who were converted stayed converted. In the first three hundred years of the faith. The Roman Empire was converted to Christ despite fierce persecution.  Puritans and the Lutherans transformed the face of Europe.

Even so, American evangelicals are rapidly losing ground.  We are seeing a whole generation  turning against us rapidly—not because they have not heard the Gospel, but because they have not seen its benefits. Maybe it’s time we asked ourselves why.

The problem isn’t Jesus—it’s us. There’s something missing in our interpretation of the Gospel. 

One of the most quoted verses in evangelicalism is the Great Commission--Matthew 28;18-20, “Go into the world and make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded.”  We are good at keeping part of this commandment, but not the rest.   We have gone into all the world.  There’s still more to be done here, of course, but there are now Bible-believing churches on every continent and in nearly every country.  Now, much of our effort is aimed not at spreading the Gospel where it has never gone, but trying to reclaim parts of the world where the Gospel was once widely known but has been waning for years. Places like South Korea, Latin America, and Africa are now sending missionaries to us. We are still good about bringing people to the edge of discipleship. We still teach people to pray, read the Bible, share the Gospel and give to Christian causes.  Christian churches talk incessantly about the need to bring their friends and neighbors to church.

We enfold them into the organizational church. We sell them Christian T shirts, bumper stickers, music, and a wide variety of simple “Bible” studies which tell them how to be better fathers, mothers, workers, etc.  Most of what these “Bible” studies give is advice that is not very different from what they would could get from non-Christian experts, but with illustrative material from the Good Book.

We still stress the need to “witness” to others.  Witnessing is usually defined as being a nice person, inviting friends to church and telling them about Jesus. When we are successful in our efforts those people are then enfolded back into our churches. 

Over and over we dance the evangelical three-step—1) win them to Jesus, 2) give them basic training, and 3) send them out to win others.  “Discipleship” is defined as a short-term process or rudimentary training, culminating in training in stewardship and evangelism. Winning others to Jesus is seen at the sole work and purpose of our belief, and getting people into the church is our goal.  Then, if our churches are attractive and entertaining enough to keep people coming back, and if the cost of discipleship is not presented as being too high, they may keep coming back, and the three-stage process can be repeated many times before people start to tire of it.

Eventually though, people do get tired of it, and start to fall away.  We hardly notice at first, since new people keep coming. One by one, the old converts drop out, and we hardly see them.  People come in but are not permanently changed. They still do not forgive their enemies, love their neighbors, or turn the other cheek. They are what they always were, but now they are doing it with a Christian label.  The longer the dance keeps up the more they tire of dancing, and the harder it is to get others to join in.  Christianity, which is supposed to be lifechanging, becomes a multilevel marketing scheme guaranteeing salvation for the next life without bringing about lasting change in this one.  Eventually, society gets wise to it and stops responding.

The Great Commission is true, but we never finish it.  The last part of the Great Commission says, “Teach them to observe everything I have commanded you.”  The Great Commission doesn’t end with conversion and baptism--it begins there. After that, we begin the process of learning to do what Jesus commanded in every area of life.

Winning the world to Jesus isn’t all the Great Commission says—it’s not even the main point. The Great Commission is about establishing God’s Kingdom on earth by living like Jesus told us and having an ongoing day by day walk with Jesus. If everyone found out how to go to heaven but did not change on earth, the Great Commission would still not be fulfilled.  Letting people think it’s okay to hate others, ignore the hurting, stay unforgiving and live basically selfish lives because God forgives us is not the purpose of discipleship. 

The kingdom of God is wherever God rules. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for His kingdom to come on earth.  Whenever we in our lives submit to the rulership of God, the kingdom has come to us individually.  When we commit to being under God’s tutelage and seek to live like Him, we are in His Kingdom of God today. 

The problem with the way we are presenting the Gospel, is that we’re selling condos in an unfinished building.  We invite people to dine on meals of undercooked food. We are inviting people to join us in living a life we’ve barely tried ourselves.  It’s good to invite people to know Jesus, but all the while we should be seeking to know Him better ourselves. The Kingdom of God needs to be completed in us by learning to obey all that He commanded. We must complete the Great Commission in ourselves by learning to obey what He commands, if we are to produce lasting fruit.

Discipleship isn’t something we do for a few weeks or even years, but it is a lifetime pursuit. It isn’t just something we do to prepare people for membership and service, but for a lifetime of being formed into Christ’s image.

 The process of discipleship is first laying aside our past ways of thinking and feeling, as well as our sins and habits.   The second part of the process is becoming one with Christ in our wills, thoughts, feelings, and behavior—imitating Him in all things.   We evangelicals tend to measure progress by how much we have laid aside of our old life, instead of how much we have put on of our new life in Christ.  We focus on transforming everyone and everything else around us while the one mission field over which we have absolute control—our own inner lives—goes unevangelized. We win the world—we just don’t win ourselves. To help others, we must complete the Kingdom in ourselves.

Being a witness is not something we do, but something we are. When we are like Jesus, then we are a witness.  People who look at us, see our sins more than they see Jesus. We are not world changers or conquerors, but empty vessels unless we are transformed by the Spirit. 

Here are some questions we need to ask ourselves and our church.

Ø  Do we really “take no thought for tomorrow” or do we worry about the future?

Ø  Do we love our enemies, and pray for the welfare of those who don’t like us?

Ø  Are we committed to being like Jesus, or comfortable in our own hidden sins and hypocrisies?

Ø  Do “abide in His love”, knowing that God likes and knows us personally?

Ø  Do we have empathy for our neighbors, or do we ignore them?

Ø  Can we trust in God when we don’t have all the answers?

Ø  If we don’t experience God’s unconditional love in our souls, how do we expect to give it to our non-Christian neighbors?

What do you think?  Are evangelical churches strong enough in teaching us to observe what Jesus commanded?  Are churches too shallow in what they teach?  Let me know what you think, and join us here for the follow-up blog in a few days.

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