I was recently talking to my brother about a huge transition his church is going through. They recently acquired a large and needing-a-lot-of-work church building. In deciding what to do with this building they brought in a consultant. This man pointed out that the building was further down the list than they all thought; there are other things more important that need to be fixed.
See, the church full of well-meaning, good Christians had lost its focus on what the church is supposed to do. This consultant laid out that the church exists to see people 1. come to Christ and 2. grow in Christ. This particular church, in the last few years had seen few people begin a relationship with Jesus, and few people in any form of discipleship group.
This church took up the challenge. Immediately they started evangelism and discipleship classes. My brother has shared that it has been a hard transition, for it is really hard to hear that you've dropped the ball. Amid the difficulty of this transition, this church has decided to fight.
As I listened to this story, I was deeply convicted. Not only is it the church's job to evangelize and disciple, it is also the responsibility of individual Christians. It is my purpose too. How many people have I shared the Gospel with in the last year? How many have I prayed for that they would receive Jesus? How many young believers have I mentored and discipled?
These questions hurt. I want to justify myself saying I work for a Christian school. I teach Bible, that's discipleship right? But if I really look at, I find the conviction lingers. Evangelism and discipleship involve intentional life on life relationships. I can't say I have that with my students. So I stand at a small crossroads. What will I do with this conviction?
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