Lost knowledge
I am currently reading Truth and Transformation by Vishal Mangalwadi for a Bible study and have really been convicted by some of the things he has argued are directly responsible for the downward slide of the Christian church in the US and to some extent the Western World as a whole.
One of the things he talks about is how the church has failed to teach most people how to grow through the study of the Bible:
Isaiah 53:11 says that by his knowledge God’s righteous servant will justify many. For a hundred years now the church has been growing nations (including America), yet the same nations are degenerating in many critical ways. This is because the church has been offering justification without the knowledge of truth. We have turned salvation into a shallow religious experience that converts but does not “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). (p. 131)
This particular paragraph struck me as very profoundly true. How many Christians are seeking a spiritual “experience” and not spiritual knowledge. We have turned church into consumerism, accepting what makes us feel good and rejecting what makes us uncomfortable or is inconvenient. We fail to obtain this spiritual knowledge because we don’t see the benefit. We compare ourselves to other Christians either consciously or subconsciously and decide that what we have is good enough. Yet we are so incredibly blind to where God wants to lead us. We need to get back to focusing on knowledge so we can better understand God’s will for us and this can only happen if we are constantly in the Word and holding ourselves accountable to change.
This is why I am excited that International Teams has a partner organization called Sonlife, specifically focusing on true discipleship. It is not preaching to the masses but developing deep authentic, accountable relationships with a handful of youth teaching and training them to lean on their faith and follow God with all of their heart, strength, soul and mind just as Jesus commands us. Then in turn these people are discipling people of their own.
I become frustrated when the subject of reaching the unreached in missions takes center stage and a seemingly superior priority. I’m not taking away from the importance of this, because God’s word does need to be heard by everyone. But, even more important than hearing and converting is changing and becoming a disciple of Jesus and I would argue there is still much work to be done in this arena in all parts of the world. In the missions field I have heard horror stories of missionaries coming, leading people to Christ and then leaving and the people are left to their own vices. Sadly most of these people fail to change and fail to become disciples of Christ because there is no one to lead them, no one to hold them accountable and no one to help them understand what it means to walk the path of Christ.
Overcoming this problem is in my opinion the biggest challenge of the church in the 21st century.