Mission or Discipleship?

Have you taken the week to think about this question? Which is the Purpose of the Church, Missions or Discipleship? This is a question which, though probably not uttered much, is definitely at the heart of much of the differences in the local churches around you. Some believe that the message of the Gospel of forgiveness of sins is not going out enough, that the world is filled with lost, dying people who will enter an eternity of judgment if the Gospel is not proclaimed to all peoples. Their ministries emphasize local and global missions and their preaching is about Jesus as Glorious Savior. Then there are those who believe that there are too many people who have “received the Gospel” but have remained spiritual babies and have not been discipled in the faith. While they probably support Mission work globally, the emphasis of their ministry is on Bible teaching, through the pulpit and in Sunday School (by whatever name – SS, ABF, Discipleship Classes, Small Groups). Which of these emphases seems right to you? Your opinion is probably based more on your story than on the Word….

For those who have spent any time in the Church, it’s clear that Evangelism and Discipleship are radically different:

Evangelism is all about you being a sinner and deserving God’s punishment for your bad deeds. You can’t save yourself because nothing you could do “right” can erase the stuff you’ve done “wrong.” You need a Savior, and His name is Jesus. You just have to “receive” Him (or “repent and receive”) and you will have forgiveness of sins and will get a SWEET eternity! Is that pretty much what’s familiar to you? Maybe there is a class (Discipleship) on Evangelism where you learn how to “share the Good News” by handing out tracts, or sharing your testimony, or inviting people to church or your home for a Gospel presentation. 

Discipleship is about “becoming like Christ,” which generally is taken to mean becoming sin-free. It’s about listening to solid biblical preaching and teaching that “feeds you meat instead of babies’ milk.” There are classes and Bible studies. Maybe you get into Small Groups and study and discuss the Word in your homes. There are Disciplines that you practice, like Fasting, Tithing, Serving, Prayer, and Giving. And the purpose of all of this (and a laundry list of other things) is to remove sin from your life and to make you holy and pure like Jesus. Fair, if not generous, appraisal of what we have?

Well, if that’s what we have, if that’s the way it’s supposed to be, then there SHOULD be a war waged over which is the purpose of the Church. Without Evangelism, there could be no Discipleship, though lots of churches are trying to do just that, create holiness in people who have never given themselves to Christ. But if Evangelism is as described above, we would never fulfill the Great Commission to “make disciples” since we would only ever make “converts.” This problem is no secret. The seminary I attended made me take a class called “Evangelism and Follow-up,” acknowledging that it’s not enough to get someone to just pray a prayer. We know there has to be something more. “If not, we’d never get enough money to pay our salaries or enough volunteers to staff our programs!”

But what if everything that we have been taught about Evangelism and Discipleship and everything we have experienced in our churches is just a little off (to be generous and not say “wrong”)?