Back in my university days I
participated in something called a Discipleship Group. We were a group of five students that the
campus pastor threw together because we were all going through something
whether it was grief because of a death, a break-up, or parents divorcing. We didn’t choose each other. We came from all walks of life, but we agreed
we would meet together on a weekly basis, have a short devotional, share how
things were going, and pray for each other.
The presence of the Holy Spirit was richly in our midst. To varying degrees we all got emotionally
better. The troubled circumstances of
our lives worked out for the good. We
grew in faith, in trust. After this
group experience none of us could doubt the existence of God or that God was personally
involved in our lives.
During our months of meeting together
we all sensed that we were being strengthened by the Holy Spirit to face our
difficulties. He was among us and
dwelling in us giving us rest from our burdens and transforming us to be people
who can live free of those burdens. We
all came to know the steadfastly loving and faithful nature of God more
fully. Through experience we came to
know God wasn’t some far off Creator/Judge but rather was deeply interested in
our lives and personally involved with us for our good with a love that would
not let us go.
Six strangers who were awkward on all
accounts and who would not have been friends otherwise began to trust and love
one another to the extent of being able to share our lives, the pains and the
joys, pray for each other, and grow in Chris together. That’s remarkable. We met.
We shared. We listened. We prayed.
Jesus was there. He saved us from
our brokenness and healed us.
When I think of what discipleship is
I am biased by my experience in that Discipleship Group. I also participated in others like it that
were less therapeutic and more Bible study oriented. Jesus calls us to a group of believers to
grow together in him. What it is to be
his disciple is formed in fellowship such as that. When I think of what it
means to proclaim “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” that Discipleship Group
experience is my foundation. The Kingdom
of Heaven covers the earth through the Christian fellowship I found in those
Discipleship groups.
Let me shift gears now and tell you
about my experience with membership at the “Y”.
Not long after moving to Owen Sound we got a family membership at the
YMCA. The “Y’ offered valuable services
for my family - workout facilities, instructors, swimming lessons,
baby-sitting. During the two years that
I was a stay-at-home-Dad getting to the “y” on a daily basis kept me sane. Alice and I would take off at about 9:30
AM. After swiping our cards I would drop
Alice at the childcare and go work out for an hour. Then, I would pick her up and it was family
fun time in the gym for another little bit.
Building relationships with other “Y”
members was a difficult task. Up in the
workout room no one really talked to each other even though these were people
you see every day. Chatty people are
annoying when you’re working out. Guys shouldn’t
talk to girls and vice versa because people will think you’re hitting on
them. Most people had earplugs in
anyway. In two years, I only got into
one conversation in the bike room. Family
Fun time in the gym was nice in the winter because it was like going to the
park but with some really sooped up tricycles.
But, I was a dad bringing a kid and nearly all the other parents were
moms half my age. Although I
occasionally ran into neighbours and church people and we talked a bit, I
really didn’t make any new friends at the “Y”.
Building relationships with the staff
was a different story. The paid people
were very friendly and helpful. The women who looked after Alice while I spent
an hour working out were outstanding. Teresa,
who was my kids’ first swimming instructor there, was just the greatest. Even now a couple of years after the fact she
still remembers their names when we run into her in town. There was also a young guy named Trevor who
taught swimming and Kung Fu and wants to go live on Mars. They were great with my kids.
But anyway, as members we went
several times a week to partake of the services which we thought were making us
healthier and better people. If we hadn’t
paid for the membership, we wouldn’t have gone.
We even continued to pay the membership fees for about five months after
we stopped being able to go because it was a worthwhile “donation”. Please hear me on this. I am not down-talking the “Y”. It is a fantastic organization and facility
for Owen Sound and surrounding communities.
I hope you see where I am going with
this sermon. My experience of
discipleship was utterly life transforming.
My experience of membership was, well, no comparison. I didn’t even lose weight in all the time I
spent at the “Y” – my fault, not theirs.
I was paying for a service that was supposed to help me make me a better
and healthier person. I maintained. It felt good to go to the “Y”. I felt like I was making a good, healthy
choice for my family and me. It was nice
to be greeted by someone who at least attempted to know my name. My kids learned the rubrics of swimming and
met some fine and caring adults and young people. But, membership is not discipleship.
One of the greatest challenges for congregations who are trying to turn around from dwindling into closure is trying to
shift the culture of the congregation from membership to discipleship. For most of us, our understanding of and
experience of church more readily resembles membership in a social organization
rather than the utterly life transforming experience and understanding of
discipleship. But, frankly folks, if we
want this congregation to live and to
endure through this very difficult time of being the church in North America, we have to make this shift from simply
being members of a Christian social institution called “Church” to being
disciples of Jesus Christ who actively participate in the
process of discipleship.
I have a discipleship challenge I
would like a few of you to try. It
involves meeting together with a group of three of four people and following
the studies in this book, Discipleship
Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ by Greg Ogden. He’s a Presbyterian minister. It’s not group therapy. It’s a study in Christian essentials. It’s a commitment. It requires time. But you will grow in Christ and this congregation
will change. It will take a couple of
years for the process to blossom. If you
feel drawn to this, come see me. Amen.
