The message is changing...

I've been trying to process why my dad and I did not need one on one discipleship when we got saved. I came up with a thought. In our church we were taught every Sunday and Sunday night how to live for Jesus. What it means to be a Christ following disciple. We were taught the cost of following Jesus.

Today in many pulpits we are taught how to live. We use friendly language. We preach messages to draw in the unsaved and relate to them. We preach messages on how to live, messages more in our society need to hear and learn from. But at what price for not teaching the message and cost of the cross?

While I was growing up were not just taught to how to live, we were taught how to live for Jesus, the cost of following Jesus. How we need a mind and heart and lifestyle change. I see this missing in our search to be seeker sensitive. We preach from the Bible but a clear discipleship component is now missing. We end up teaching churchiology -how to be a good member of our church. We miss teaching people how to follow Jesus with sacrificial living. I suspect the seeker sensitive priority is the reason for the weakening of deepening discipleship. Instead of inviting people to Jesus the goal has become inviting people to church, so they can hear a relevant message on how to live.

Instead of teaching newcomers just how to live. We may want to go back to teaching our people what it means to live for Jesus with sacrifice and repentance. Actually the latter is what really matters. There are allot of venues that teach people how to live. We must not give up the venue of teaching and leading people in how to live for Jesus with the cost of following Jesus included.

If we primarily teach people how to live versus how to live for Jesus we end up with professing Christ followers who never know the sheer joy of living repentant lives while paying the price (which is great) in following in the footsteps of Jesus and breathing the dust from His footsteps.