Don't Ditch Your Church to Disciple Believers
Today, with technology and social media, if you don’t want to deal with someone, you simply delete them from your friends list, log off your Twitter account, and move on with your life.
But this doesn’t happen with real-life people, and it definitely can’t happen within the church body. We can’t “log off,” check out, and go about our own lives while people in our church suffer. In a culture that easily allows for distance and avoidance, we must pray earnestly for a heart that breaks for the things that break God’s heart—specifically for the spiritual needs of the fellow believers in our church body.
WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul says that “through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). Jesus established the apostles (Eph. 2:20) to be the foundation of the church and built it with prophets, teachers, pastors, and ordained men (1 Tim. 3:1–7).
God designed the church to be a place where a group of people who are covenanted together gather regularly for corporate worship (Col. 3:16), the celebration of the ordinances (Luke 22:19), the ministering of the word of God (Col. 1:24–29), the leadership of qualified leaders (1 Tim. 3:1–7), and submission to the body on mission for Christ (Eph. 3:14–21). It is a community that promotes authentic spiritual growth among God’s people in ways that are grace-based and gospel-centered, relationally and theologically driven.
But there is a danger of confusion in regard to the doctrine of the church, especially in the nature and function of the church. Albert Mohler said of the local church, “One of the lessons we can learn from the evangelical movement is that its central weakness was not epistemological. Its central weakness was not its commitment to the core doctrines of the Christian faith. Its central weakness was ecclesiological—an undervaluing of the local church in particular.”
The local church is the primary means of discipleship. I would even boldly venture to say that apart from the body of Christ, discipleship is impossible.
There is no such thing as a solo discipleship.
“God’s work of personal transformation is intended to take place within the community of God’s people”
Too often, people try to accomplish the task of discipleship apart from the local church, but God’s work of personal transformation is intended to take place within the community of God’s people. Discipleship doesn’t happen apart from the context of the local church because God has chosen the local church as his instrument to fulfill the great commission.
BIBLICAL MEMBERSHIP IS A DECLARATION OF CITIZENSHIP IN CHRIST’S KINGDOM
The church is where the people of God unite for the gospel mission under the biblically prescribed offices God has ordained. They devote themselves to the apostles’ teachings. They share fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. They call themselves believers and share everything in common, including their possessions and goods as people have a need (Acts 2:44–45).
You might be saying, “Well, Jonathan, what about those who have loved Jesus for 30 years but don’t like the church and therefore don’t attend?” My response to this kind of statement would be that of the 114 times the church is mentioned in the New Testament, at least 90 of them refer to specific local gatherings of believers who have banded together for fellowship and mission. So statements like these are inconsistent: “I love Jesus, but I don’t like the church.” “I will never leave Jesus, but I’m done with the church.” In a sense, they are saying, “I love Jesus, but I don’t submit to his word.” The scripture says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
It is impossible to read the New Testament and come away with the idea that Christianity is a just-me-and-Jesus sort of religion. Salvation is something that connects us to God and his people. A personal and private commitment is an impossibility. Our individualistic mindset has tremendously and negatively affected how we understand the church in Western civilization.
The biblical recognition of the system God has put in place is always evident in local churches. The life and authority of the local church shape the lives of its members. What we see in scripture is that God forms us in profound ways when we gather to worship. We may not feel it in the moment, but the formation is usually occurring through the ordinary means of gathering together, such as singing together, hearing the word of God together, and breaking bread in communion.
The church is not a meeting you attend or a place you enter. It is not a place you go to bring about a feeling or fulfil a longing for community. Rather, it is an identity that is yours in Christ, an identity that shapes your whole life, an identity that presses you towards a life on mission for Christ.
LOCAL CHURCH AS GOD’S PLAN OF FOSTERING BIBLICAL DISCIPLESHIP
When the apostle Paul was discipling new believers, he repeatedly reminded them that there was help in Christ and Christ’s people, the church. He said that Christ “has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2:14). We are “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19). We are “being built together into a dwelling place for God” (Eph. 2:22).
“The local church is not an option; it is God’s primary way for believers to grow in love for him and love for fellow believers.”
The local church is not an option; it is God’s primary way for believers to grow in love for him and love for fellow believers. But, tragically, so many believers bypass it. In the New Testament, to be a Christian meant to be saved into the church, baptized into the church, and immediately made part of a covenant community together. We don’t see free-agent Christians roaming around the New Testament.
Why is this important? It’s important because it is biblical. Skipping church or not being part of a church is disobedience. Don’t neglect this truth. Make church a priority in your life (Heb. 10:25). The gathering of the saints is crucial and is essential to the faith, to the good of your own soul, to the mission of Christ, and to the health of the local congregation.
ACCOUNTABILITY + AUTHENTICITY = CHURCH DISCIPLINE
People say they want friendship and community, but if you mention accountability or commitment, they run the other way. Why? Often, there are two reasons: an unhealthy need for privacy and hidden sin.
They might say, “We are all part of the body of Christ. We don’t need to commit to the church to be a Christian.” But by distancing yourself from the church, you are disconnecting yourself from an accountable relationship with church members (Matt. 18:15–16). When a disciple is out of step with his brother or sister, he needs the church to be there to love, pursue, and discipline him to repentance (Heb. 13:18).
Authentic faith and accountability naturally lead to the beauty of church discipline. To those we love, we will speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15) and hold them accountable (Matt. 18:15–20). However, the idea of church discipline is foreign to many evangelical churches today. The absence of church discipline is no longer remarkable; it is generally not even existent.
When discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with it. An undisciplined church without mutual accountability characterized by authenticity becomes a weak, flabby, foolish, and unchaste church. Without discipleship and church community, we cannot grow to full maturity in Christ.
Jesus is interested in the process of progressive sanctification—daily growth in Christ Jesus. God is not interested in the quantity of disciples but rather the quality of discipleship. The goal of a church must be to present to God every Christian “mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28).
If people put aside the church, they are forfeiting God’s design for helping them grow spiritually.
A RETURN TO CHRIST-CENTERED DISCIPLESHIP
So believers, I encourage you to press into the means of sanctification that the Lord has given to you in your local church. Do not neglect meeting with your church body. Do not shy away from the commitment and accountability that is meant to grow you closer to Jesus.
Allow your understanding of the gospel to propel you to real, authentic, transparent care for one another.
Jonathan Hayashi, M.A., serves as the Pastoral Staff at Troy First Baptist Church in Troy, MO and a Doctoral Student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. Jonathan earned his B.A. and M.A. from Moody Theological Seminary where his studies focused in the correlation of discipleship and leadership in Church Ministry. His most recent book is Ordinary Radicals: A Return to Christ-Centered Discipleship (LucidBooks, 2018). He is married to Kennedi and a father to two beautiful daughters. Catch Jonathan on twitter.