Most churches agree with Jesus’ teaching on the gospel, salvation, or good virtues; some churches would agree with Jesus’ method on discipleship, but only a few would actually practice Jesus’ method of discipleship, simply because his method doesn’t seem to be popular or easy. Throwing a church event or program is not Jesus’ method; developing people is.
“Church” isn’t about programs, just as discipleship isn’t part of a church program.
Listen, God is interested in generations to generations, not programs to programs, conferences to conferences. I am not against conferences, nor am I against events – however, that’s not the focus of our church. People nowadays are thirsty for relationships, authentic, honest, and control-free relationships; sometimes we Christians can’t seem to “relate” in this most precious relationship with God and others. In the book of Genesis, where the author wrote about the genealogy of Adam, it describes relationships of fathers to sons; in every book of the Bible, God is sending out messages of a desire for relationship with us. The point is, God is not angry or disappointed; God wants a deep relationship with us. That relationship isn’t found in the form of programs, events, or organizational structure; that relationship is found in the hearts of spiritual parents. Discipleship is all about the heart of a father to his son, and the heart of a son to his father; it is not about “obedience and control”, which is often found in organizational settings.
As I currently live in the land that awaits revival, I eagerly hope that Christians here would rethink what “revival” means. Yes, throwing more conferences and events surely will catch a lot of attention, but honestly I am not sure that’s how Jesus would do it. Beloved, people out there don’t really care how cool the conference is; they care about whether we really care about them on a personal level.
The most glorious age of church history was before Christianity became official throughout the Roman Empire in 391 A.D. Although the Roman Empire persecuted churches, believers grew rapidly and stood firmly even when facing death. Ever since Christianity was made the official religion of the state, it entered into the dark age. Without persecution, believers were then plugged into the Church's systems, organizations, or programs, making them easier to manage and control.
Church is meant for relationship. And the key to relationship is intentionality.
Jesus modeled this by ministering to many but discipling a few. He was intentional with his time. The disciples didn’t receive the life-transforming lessons from Jesus in the sermons He preached. They received their greatest life lessons on the road, in a boat, in a house, at dinner, on the street, through a passing comment, and even through a harsh rebuke.
The key to being intentional is creating a value system for you to measure how well you are parenting spiritually. Focus on one person at a time.
Don’t waste time doing church. Be intentional about building relationships with one person at a time!