Making Disciples not Members

The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Christ called his followers in the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations."

Unfortunately, it has come to pass that the church has become preoccupied with making members more than disciples. There is a difference between church membership and discipleship and it is the task of the local church to cooperate with the power of the Holy Spirit to facilitate this process of becoming and growing as a disciples in Jesus Christ. This was the topic of concern at a seminar I attended this past Tuesday put on by Four Seasons Ministry under the direction of D. Glen Langston and Franklin Gillis, Jr.

It was pointed out that the purpose of the church is not membership recruitment but introducing Christ to the seeker and equipping the faithful to be servant leaders so they can respond to Christ's call to meet human needs.

The challenge for the church is to help disciples identify their passion, connect those passions to a purpose, and turn that purpose into a ministry. As disciples grow they learn that they are to produce more than they consume and that is costs something to be committed to Christ. 1 Sam 24:24.

It seems that in order to fulfill Christ's Commission we need to make this paradigm shift or might we say recover this principle that are main business is making disciples not members. Maybe instead of reporting members in end of year reports we might report disciples which would be a more accurate indicator of vital ministry.