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Jason,

I thoroughly enjoyed the C.S. Lewis quote on your blog. I hope that this post may contribute to our overall discussion. I will answer your questions the same way that I would answer any question on my blog. With each question answered in turn.

Please note that when I refer to the church in this discussion, I am referring to the total group of people that identify themselves as Christian. This is a clear distinction to make from the Church. This is the Church that is the bride of Christ referred to in Revelation 19:7-9 and will be presented to Him in glory. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

The latter will be comprised of far fewer than the former. As it says in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Keeping in mind the first two verses, We must also remember that from the Bible it is clear that churches will always contain unbelievers. The parable of the wheat and the chaff in Matthew 13:24-30 illustrates for us this point. It is God who will separate on that glorious day of harvest.

These two beginning premises are important to remember – 1. Many will name Him to be Lord with their lips and deny Him by their actions. 2. We will always have unsaved people among us in our churches. This allows a certain amount of the onus of the problem off of our shoulders, and onto its proper place; at God’s feet. He knows that these two premises are a result of sin and of the enemy’s working against us. Yet, He is not surprised, nor is He worried. He still gave us a purpose. That purpose is to bring Him glory.

What is the problem here?  Have we put the majority of our efforts into “doing” church instead of “being” it?

In light of our first two premises discussed, these questions take on a new meaning. These are however, still complicated questions. The problem is sin. Sin is the reason for the current condition of the church. As far as doing church instead of being it, I agree partially. The doing it is completely futile if we are not being it, as I believe that this is what Lewis was getting at. I would take it a step further, springing off of Lewis as to say that to even consider the first part without first addressing the second part is ludicrous.

I’m not sure if this was meant to be a conversation about church programs, church tradition, or church doctrine. But, I would like to make it one of church doctrine as I believe that it will explain the systemic problems that have exhibited themselves in the church’s failing programs, outreaches and ministries.

A discussion of a more effective means of discipleship, while valuable, needs to be prioritized among the current problems with the church. I am not putting down discipleship efforts, proselytizing, or church programs. I believe in all of them. They are necessary and they are scriptural. The point I am making however, is that we are asking a question about the cart, before we ask the question about the horse. In short, the list below illustrates far larger problems with the church than simply our inadequacy to maintain converts or disciples.

<> – denotes “has been replaced by”

• Faith <> Fear
• Brokenness <> Braggadocio
• Exclusivity of Truth <> Inclusiveness of all “truths”
• Offense of Christ <>
• Cross of Christ <> Social Mission of Christ
• Blood of Christ <> Buddy Christ
• Depravity of Man <> Power of Man
• Godliness <> Greed
• Theology <> Tradition.
• Prayer <> Patronization.
• Holiness <> Worldliness
• Absolutism <> Universalism
• Sola Scriptura <> Emerging Consensus
• The Bible <> Christian Authors
• Scripture Memorization <> Movie Line Memorization

You get the idea.

How can we stop “wasting our time” and better assist believers in becoming “little Christs?”

Again, assuming that the “we” in this sentence is the church, not the Church; then we can stop wasting our time by ceasing to believe that we are capable of anything on our own. When presented with the weight of our own sin, in the face of a holy and just God, what are we to do except surrender everything that we have, if it means avoiding his wrath? This includes all of our agendas, our ideas, our plans, our goals, and our quotas. It is in this mindset that we must attempt to make ourselves “little Christs” first. Total surrender equals total lack of will. To be a slave, a bondservant, is to lose all value. It is to become an object to be used however ones master sees fit. When the object starts to wonder how it can make sure that other objects remain objects, the object can sometimes forget that it is itself just that. Let us, in this discussion of faults of discipleship, remember our proper role as servants and slaves to Christ. It is only after first examining ourselves to see that we are growing in holiness, that we can ever hope to be used properly in a discipleship or leadership role.

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