A Biblical Defense of Leaving the Traditional Church
The following is an assignment I completed this week for a church leadership class. I defends discipleship outside of a traditional church setting. It gets into Biblical reasons why sometimes it is appropriate to leave the church as we know it.
Article
Study: A Study of “Innovate Church
Discipleship
I and II"
Kandy
Crosby-Hastings
LEAD
620 – B01
May
24, 2015
The purpose of the following paper is to discuss
discipleship, based upon the articles “Innovate Church: Discipleship I and
Discipleship II.” What does it mean to
be a disciple? How does one apply the
concepts discussed in these papers to his or her real-life scenarios? How does one truly become a disciple of
Christ? The following paper will attempt
to answer these questions.
“Innovate Church is
about being a passionate follower of Jesus AND being passionately involved in
His kingdom.”[1] Passion is a concept that is emphasized
throughout the articles. Dr. Rod
Dempsey, the articles’ author, believes that unless a Christian is willing to
lay down his or her life and follow Christ, that person is not a true disciple.[2] Dempsey believes the local church body is
instrumental in spiritual formation.[3]
According to “Innovate Church – Discipleship I,” the
three concepts related to being a disciple are sacrificial, relational, and
transformational.[4] Dr. Dempsey describes sacrificial as being
completely surrendered to Christ. He
describes the disciple of Christ as not only being surrendered to salvation,
but also being surrendered to the plan of Christ on one’s life.[5]
Relational refers to the disciple’s relationship with the
local church. Dr. Dempsey believes
disciples are saved to serve, and service must take place within a local body
of believers. He refers to the bond
amongst Christians in Acts as proof of how the local church body should be.[6]
Lastly, transformational refers to the Christian disciple
allowing God’s transformative power to work in his or her life. He believes this development occurs by
disciples discovering their spiritual gifts within a church setting. As these disciples serve their brothers and
sisters in Christ, they will bear spiritual fruit.[7]
In the second article, “Discipleship – II,” Dr. Dempsey
also focuses on three concepts. These
concepts describing a disciple-making church are that the church should be
intentional, individual, and missional.[8] He believes the church should fulfill Jesus’
definition of the greatest commandment, as found in Matthew 22:36-40 – to love
God and to love others.[9] He points to the disciples as an important
example of loving God and loving others.
Likewise, the early Christians followed this example by regularly
meeting together to worship and fellowship.[10]
This intentional love for God and love for others is the
first concept of a disciple-making church.
Rick Warren agrees, stating in his Purpose
Driven Church that if a church feels genuine compassion, it must express
that compassion in a way that everyone – including the unchurched – understand.[11] Dr. Dempsey emphasizes that the church must
be a place where genuine love develops.[12]
Individual, the second concept, refers to pastors equipping
disciples for spiritual maturity and works of service.[13] The local community of believers grows and
disciples discover and use their gifts.
These disciples, then, lead by example.[14]
Lastly, a missional church follows Jesus’ Great
Commission and purposely makes disciples.[15] Neil Cole points out in Church 3.0 that congregants in a missional church realize, “The
church is not sent on a mission by God; rather, God is on a mission and the
church is called to join Him.”[16] Dr. Dempsey sees a mission vision as a result
of maturity in Christ.[17]
While I agree with Dr. Dempsey’s emphasis on the
importance of being and making disciples; and I would like to say that the
local church body is as instrumental as he feels it is and should be, I do not
believe it is. I also do not believe it has to be. By this, I mean sometimes the local church
body is not willing to allow individuals to be the disciples Dr. Dempsey feels
they should be. One of his three
concepts of discipleship is the idea that discipleship is relational, meaning
that disciples discover and use their gifts in a local church setting.[18] This is a concept that I do not feel is
necessarily true or even available to all.
Many may question my viewpoint, based upon Hebrews
10:24-25, which exhorts believers to not forsake meeting together. However, when the church community does not
allow their fellow believers to properly use their spiritual gifts,[19] sometimes there is no
choice but to leave the church community behind and continue on with one’s own
ministry of being and making disciples.
I base this not only on personal experience, but also on several
Biblical teachings.
The first Biblical teaching on which I base my argument
is the life of Jesus. According to Luke
4:14, Jesus began His ministry by teaching in the synagogues. However, the Pharisees – the religious
leaders - would not allow this teaching to continue, according to the
Gospels. Jesus did not accept this
decision. He knew His identity and His
purpose. He began teaching in deserted
places, on the mountains, and by the sea.
Knowing one’s identity is essential in being and making disciples.
The second example is found in the Book of Acts. In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are sent by the
church on their first missionary journey.
Verse 25 records the two took along John Mark, a relative of
Barnabas. They ministered boldly, being
and making disciples. However, in Acts
15, beginning in Verse 36, there is a sharp dispute between Paul and
Barnabas. They had decided to continue
their ministry of disciple-making.
Barnabas wanted to again take along John Mark, who had left the ministry
earlier. Paul insisted John Mark not be
allowed to join them, because he had abandoned them. The conflict was so strong that Paul took
Silas and went one direction, and Barnabas took John Mark and went the other
(Acts 15:36-41).
This dispute between Paul and Barnabas is often still a
source of minor division. Who was
correct in his viewpoint? Rarely do we
ever focus on John Mark. John Mark chose
to use his gift this second time without the blessing of Paul or the
church. He chose to continue
ministering, despite his past mistakes and failures. He chose to go on his own, trusting God that
he made the right decision to follow Barnabas.
Likewise, this type of parting from the established church may be a
necessity for Christians today who wish to be and make disciples, who wish to
use their spiritual gifts but are not allowed to in the local community of
believers. This type of parting has
actually led to what many call the organic church movement – “regular
Christians empowered to do the work of the kingdom and… not waiting for the
professionals to do it for them.”[20] Working despite obstacles is a second step in
being and making disciples.
This leads to my third argument: that of the Corinthian
church. One of the reasons local
churches give for not allowing members of their congregation to use their
spiritual gifts within the body of believers is sin in the lives of these
believers. They deem them unworthy. As mentioned above, John Mark did not allow
his past failures or mistakes to keep him from being and making disciples. Not only this, but Paul himself wrote a great
deal about the importance of using spiritual gifts to the Corinthian church (I
Corinthians 12-14), which was known for its worldliness and sin. If sin were able to stop the use of spiritual
gifts, it certainly would have stopped these Corinthian Christians. Paul would have had no reason to write to them
about the importance of using one’s gifts. Using one’s spiritual gifts is important in
being and making disciples.
I agree with Dr. Dempsey that being a disciple means
following Jesus, whatever the cost, and using one’s spiritual gifts to minister
to others.[21] However, I disagree that it is always
possible for this growth to take place in a local community of believers. Dr. Dempsey writes, “The idea here is that in
our church work we need to figure out how to minister and develop every person.”[22] The unfortunate fact is, it is often the case
that the local church does not recognize true spiritual gifts, but the
spiritual gifts that the leaders feel the congregation member is worthy of
using. Sometimes following Jesus,
whatever the cost, means we must leave the local church that is hindering us
from doing so.
Perhaps what is even sadder is the fact that many believe
evangelism and disciple-making are two separate issues – one of which is more
important in the local church than the other.
Rick Warren writes of this in The
Purpose Driven Church. He writes of
the complaints Christians often voice against the church. He notes that these concerns are very seldom
theological, but rather issues such as not feeling valued or concern over the
quality of programs. He then concludes,
“Because of the letter, 205 people attended the first service of Saddleback,
and within the next ten weeks eighty-two of them gave their lives to
Christ. The results were worth being
misunderstood by some Christians. You
have to decide who you want to impress.”[23] Perhaps instead of trying to impress anyone,
we, as Christians, should focus on pleasing God.
Bibliography
Cole,
Neil. 2010. Church
3.0: Upgrades for the Future of the Church.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Dempsey,
Rod. “Innovate Church – Discipleship I.
Chapter One: What is God’s Will
for My Life? Disciple!” (lecture
notes for Liberty University online, Lynchburg, Virginia).
Dempsey,
Rod. “Innovate Church – Discipleship
II. Chapter Two: What is God’s Will for My Church?
Discipleship!” (lecture notes for Liberty University online,
Lynchburg, Virginia).
Warren, Rick. 1995. The Purpose Driven Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
[1] Rod Dempsey, “Innovate Church –
Discipleship I. Chapter One: What is God’s Will for My Life? Disciple.” 1. Lecture: Liberty University
online, Lynchburg. Accessed 20 May,
2015. www.liberty.edu.
[2] Ibid., 3.
[4] Ibid., 7-8.
[5] Ibid., 6.
[6] Ibid., 6-7.
[7] Ibid., 7.
[8] Rod Dempsey, “Innovate Church –
Discipleship II, Chapter Two: What is
God’s Will for My Church? Discipleship.”
5-6. Lecture: Liberty University online,
Lynchburg. Accessed 20 May, 2015. www.liberty.edu.
[9] Ibid., 2.
[10] Ibid., 3-4.
[11] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church.
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 211.
[12] Dempsey, “Discipleship II,”
6.
[13] Ibid.
[14]Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Neil Cole, Church 3.0: Upgrades for the Future of the Church. (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2010), 47.
[18] Dempsey, “Discipleship I,” 5.
[19] Ibid..
[20] Cole, 53.
[21] Dempsey, “Discipleship I,” 5.
[22] Dempsey, “Discipleship II,” p.
8.
[23] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church. (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 193.
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