This is an answer to the Ask Aaron Anything:
Question from Brett:
I feel the term descipleship is used so loosely when I hear it in certain places… the radio… TV, todays church….. A song or a one hour group meeting per week, or a radio show or television program discussing life issues hardly even scratches the surface of what discipleship really is. Christ was engaged daily in the lives of his disciples and spent day in and out with them. He raised them up and sent them out. My question to you is, do you feel that people are making themselves feel better by calling their more than lack luster activities discipleship? Do they know what it is? or are they making it easy and chewable just as they have done with the gospel? Furthermore what can we do as a house to show the world that discipleship works? we have so many testimonies to prove that it does.
My Answer:
Brett thanks for lobbing me a softball on my first question. I love discipleship and I cannot imagine going back to doing life with Christ or doing church any other way. I think the key in this is what you wrote in your question and that is that discipleship can never be an activity, a program, a class, a group, or any other thing that churches do and call it discipleship. It must stay at its purest state-a relationship, a life, a covenant. When it all comes down to it Jesus came to this earth and paid the highest price ever to restore relationship and purpose to His people that He created. Because of the finished work of Jesus, God placed that same Spirit that dwelt in Christ (the Holy Spirit) in His church and empowered them to fulfill the great commission to go and make disciples of all nations.
To answer your questions:
Do they know what it is? You know what, I am convinced that people are doing what they have been taught to do. One thing that really grates on me is how the church has become “Seeker Sensitive” where they are teaching people what they want to hear instead of truth. I think we have too many salesmen and not enough preachers. Salesmen who are trying to package Jesus and discipleship in a way that they believe that the consumer will buy it. I am not against big crowds… I want them!!! Just don’t change the message to keep them. When we started calling people to discipleship at lifeconnectionchurch.net all of my peers told me it was not going to work in America because it was too much commitment. I think the American church needs to look at Jesus and church as a covenant relationship and not as a religion.
Furthermore what can we do as a house to show the world that discipleship works? We can just rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us to live it. Let’s not just preach it, let’s live it. I think the biggest thing is that we continue to preach it and not deceive ourselves in being hearers but not doers. We need to continue to preach it but we need to have everyone be involved in what Mark Driscoll calls the “ground war”, we need everyone to be on the front lines and fighting the good fight everyday. Discipleship is lived out everyday not just done once a week.
Brett, I am glad you are so passionate about discipleship and the gospel, as well as I am, but one thing I have to remind myself of is I cannot just preach this thing I have to live it out. Paul says in 1 Cor. 9:27 “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” It is going to take discipline, control, and preaching and we will show the world it works.
Hey everyone Feel free to comment…
If there is one word to describe Aaron Dailey it would be 100% genuine. It’s that genuine passionate love for God and sold out commitment to being a true Christ follower that makes him daily live the call and great commission.