In Arizona in the early 1990s, the “Biosphere 2” project created a huge dome designed to replicate Earth’s environment within a closed system. Trees planted inside enjoyed abundant light with controlled temperature, water and nutrients – all the support needed to thrive.
While the trees grew rapidly, they were so weak they would collapse under their own weight before reaching maturity. Protected from the challenge of wind stress, the trees failed to develop the structural tissues required for strength. To thrive, organisms require a balance of support and challenge.
Reacting to narratives of churches preaching fear of hell and soul-crushing guilt, the prevailing ‘gospel’ of the 21st Century western church emphasises comfort and reassurance. We sing about God who will save us from all our trials and troubles, we preach about a God who longs to soothe our pain and set us on a path to wholeness and fullness of life. It’s a gospel of light, water and nourishment with little consideration for challenge.
“When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die.” stated Bonhoeffer, reflecting on Luke 9:23. There Jesus declared that “…whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” While we can quickly write this off as hyperbole, Jesus’ instruction to his followers and would-be followers balanced supportive reassurance of love and forgiveness with challenges to repent, to be single-minded, to forego status and security for the greater ideal of the Kingdom of God.
Great discipling movements – like the monastic missionaries of the early medieval period and the Wesleyans of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries – transformed the societies of their time. Beyond flash-in-the-pan revivals, these multi-generational movements were built around personal challenge to higher integrity, deeper spirituality, greater personal sacrifice and more fruitful service, including bearing witness to the grace and truth of God.
Congregations expect ministers to spend a decent chunk of their time providing ‘pastoral care’: one-to-one personal attention with those who seem to be in most need of support. There’s little expectation that they would spend 1:1 time offering challenge to those with the highest potential to be fruitful disciples and leaders in the church.
The call to discipleship first requires our own repentance as church leaders – yeah, I know that sounds harsh. But until we ourselves shift our focus from meeting congregational expectations to making fruitful disciples, from comforting the many to challenging the few, from appearing to be a finished-product religious professional to modelling a transparent and sacrificial journey toward Christlikeness – we’ll just perpetuate what we’ve got.
I’m not arguing for a change of structure or adoption of prescribed process. Just a change of priority and a willingness to tolerate the displeasure of those that expect comfort without challenge.
For the church to flourish and to be effective in our mission as ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, we must make disciples, not just churchgoers: disciples who live a lifestyle of repentance a renewal – trees that grow strong and bear enduring fruit.