THE DISCIPLESHIP PROJECT

Let's change the way we think

about both evangelism and sanctification

The Discipleship Project originates from a vision built around Luke 14:16-23 ...  

      Then said Jesus unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and invited many:

     And sent his servant at supper time to say to them who were invited, Come; for all things are now ready.

     And they all with one consent began to make excuse.   

     The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it: please have me excused.

     And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I need to test them out: please have me excused.

     And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore can't come.

     So that servant came, and told his lord these things.  

     Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

     Then the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room.

     And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Luke 14:16-23   

This parable is not frequently used to teach strategies for evangelism and advancing the kingdom of God; but it does exactly that. The "great supper" mentioned in verse 16 represents salvation. That's the first point to take note of: God is inviting all mankind to be saved. He's inviting us all into his kingdom - back into his fellowship.

Next are the two kinds of persons invited to the supper: (1) those who are socially and financially well positioned; and (2) those who are dispossessed - meaning . . .

• they're by and large powerless and easily exploited;
• they have little or no stake in the established order;
• they're on the "outside" looking in, with little or no hope of ever getting "in."

WITNESSING TO THE

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

The "beautiful people" - meaning the socially and financially well positioned - the first kind of people mentioned by Jesus in the parable - are "up to their eye-balls" in "the good life;" as a result, they're too busy to attend the supper.

They give three kinds of excuses for not attending:

1. the first revolves around property and material goods - and here in America that means up-scale neighborhood; new cars; expensive and well appointed homes crammed with all kinds of "toys" and goodies that tickle their fancy and reflect their status; etc.
2. The second pertains to business and financial matters - the world of commerce, of banking and investment, of jobs and careers.
3. The third and last excuse revolves around marriage, children, relatives, and friends - in short, a crowded social calendar.

For the most part the only way to effectively reach them is through a crisis - meaning some sort of serious misfortune that breaks the routine they're caught up in - that stops them dead in their tracks and gets them to take stock of their lives - of where they're going and what life is all about.

A crisis allows you entrance into their lives. Their defenses are down; they're willing to listen. What kind of crisis? Death of a loved one; marriage difficulties; loss of a job; over-extended credit leading to bankruptcy; an addiction that's gotten out of hand; illness; out-of-control children; a social, economic, or political calamity of national or international proportions (e.g. 9/11; the Japanese 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that followed; etc.)

Perhaps the single most obvious crisis dogging the lives of the "beautiful people" is a troubled marriage. Close to 50% of the "beautiful people" suffer from marriages that have "gone south." Ministering to their troubled marriages is a good way of reaching the "beautiful people."

Still, by and large, the "beautiful people" are not easily reached with the gospel.  That's the bottom line! Let's stop pretending otherwise.

WITNESSING TO

THE DISPOSSESSED

The second group of people Jesus mentions are the dispossessed - living in the streets and lanes, the highways and hedges. The reason the dispossessed might not attend is quite different. It's not that they're "caught up" and distracted. It's not that they're too busy to find the time. It's because they're unlikely to believe that the invitation is real. That's why in the parable the master says, "Compel them to come."  He doesn't mean tie them up and drag them to the supper. What he actually means is "convince" them that the invitation is real and that they're actually wanted.

Imagine for a moment a person showing up at your front door with an invitation from the President asking you to be his guest at a White House dinner. It's a little unbelievable, isn't it? You're likely to think that someone is "putting you on" - that you're being played for a fool. "Who'd want me to attend a dinner at the White House?"  The number one problem in witnessing to the poor - to the dispossessed - to the "down and outers" - is that they aren't likely to think you really want them around. You've got to persuade them that you do!  

Once again, however, there's no mistaking the bottom line: witnessing to the dispossessed is far easier than witnessing to the "well positioned."  Nevertheless, it's a bottom line that's by and large ignored here in America.

FISHING IN THE

WRONG POND?

Two very different ponds:

1. the first - an apparently clean, sparkling pond filled with rainbow and brook trout - beautiful, but hard to catch.
2. the second - a murky, weed-infested pond filled with carp, catfish, and eel - homely and a bit gamey, but easy to catch.

And where do we do most of our fishing?  It's in the first pond!  Is it any wonder, then, that the American church has been languishing over the past thirty or forty years? We've been fishing in the wrong pond.  We've been fishing for hard-to-catch trout rather than easy to catch carp. Appearances have beguiled us - appearances that mean nothing to God but, tragically, mean a whole lot to us.  

But what do appearances mean in light of one of our most cherished and closely guarded doctrines - the promise of a new life?  What does it matter if I catch fish from the first pond or from the second . . .

• from New York's Upper West Side or from New York's Bowery?   
• From Sacramento's Land Park or from Sacramento's Lemon Hill?

Whether it's brook trout or carp, the work of the Holy Spirit is to change both into the image of Christ - and not one more so than the other.    

SANCTIFYING THE

DISPOSSESSED

 But it's not only that we've been by and large neglecting the easy-to-catch dispossessed: it's also that we've failed to develop an effective strategy for sanctifying them.  And that's largely because we've ignored another of the Bible's most highlighted precepts:  

• that sanctification is not a solitary quest for personal holiness;  
• that it can only be undertaken in community - only when believers are truly, authentically built together with other believers.   

That, of course, is no less true for the "beautiful people."  However, the "beautiful people" don't ordinarily suffer from the glaring dysfunctionalities that plague the dispossessed.  They can at least provide for their own financial well-being.  Sanctification for them doesn't ordinarily extend to staying out of jail, holding down a job, or keeping a roof over their heads.  Their lives may not reflect the fruit of the Spirit; but they at least manage to take care of themselves.  They "get by" without too much trouble.  And from that standpoint, sanctification is not the pressing issue for them that it is for the dispossessed.

There isn't a single theologian I know who won't acknowledge that sanctification and "community" go hand in hand.  Tragically, however, it's a principle we honor mostly in the breach - meaning we pay it lip service only.  The little community that's established in most congregations is a far cry from what the Bible spells out. Ephesians 4:16 is a good example.

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.

Eph. 4:16

The Greek words "sunarmologoumenon," translated "fitly joined together," and "sumbibzomenon," translated "compacted," provide insight into the kind of "community" God intends for the church.  It's an organic whole that's far greater than merely the sum of its parts - meaning individual believers are meant to find their identity in the church - in one another.  The New Testament is emphatic: to be in Christ is to be in the church - with believers all but subsumed in one another.  And that's a bit frightening and off-putting for most Americans.  It's so much at odds with the individualism we've bought into - that defines our very mind-set - our way of thinking.  For us, the church - i.e., "body-life" - is not the sine-qua-non of spiritual growth, meaning its essential catalyst; at best, it merely facilitates spiritual growth - with a good many wounded and cynical believers convinced it actually hinders spiritual growth.

Let's be clear: if we're to sanctify the dispossessed, we have no choice but to repudiate the atomistic church life we've grown so accustomed to - where we bump into one another on a Sunday morning and go our separate ways throughout the rest of the week - and, instead, develop a church life that conforms to the biblical pattern Paul takes such great pains to sketch out in so many of his epistles.  Only then will the dispossessed find the wherewithal to break free from the destructive habits and attitudes that have so ravaged their lives and press forward to glorify God in their salvation.

A SIMPLE STRATEGY FOR EVANGELISM AND

ADVANCING THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Our strategy for evangelism and advancing the kingdom of God, then, is simple and straightforward.

Evangelizing the Dispossessed

We need to change the focus of our evangelism - from the "beautiful people" to the dispossessed - certainly not ignoring the socially and financially well positioned, but no longer making them the hub around which our efforts revolve.

Building Genuine Community

We need to encourage genuine community within our congregations, not just teaching what it means, but inspiring believers to begin living it out ...

• practically;
• actually showing them how;
• by concrete example.  

For the dispossessed, discipleship houses staffed by trained house parents, once so common during the "Jesus Movement Era," serve that purpose well - especially for the dispossessed who are newly saved.  

Discipleship houses can be developed for all kinds of situations: singles; couples; even - with a little creativity and Holy Spirit anointing - singles with children and couples with children; but the same biblical dynamic must underlie them all: a pervasive, all encompassing sense of community that incorporates on-going teaching and discipleship classes (1) that occur several evenings per week and (2) that allow for significant interaction among those in attendance. We're dealing today with a generation that wants to do more than "sit and listen;" they want to participate - and meaningfully so, not just "pro forma."

THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

"THE LONG ISLAND EFFECT"

In 1987, David Wilkerson moved back from Texas to begin a church in Times Square, a dead zone filled with X-rated film theaters, strip clubs, prostitution, and, of course, drug pushers and addicts.  The church soon began to grow, and in 1991 Wilkerson moved the church to the Nederlander Theater on 41st Street. 

It wasn't long afterwards that the unexpected occurred: the Sunday morning services began attracting prominent New Yorkers from as far away as Long Island - hardly the "down-and-outers" that up to then had packed out the services.  Why were they attracted to Wilkerson's Times Square Church? It's quite simple: they were inspired by the work of the Holy Spirit so evident among the dispossessed - and were eager to be a part of it. I call it "The Long Island Effect." It's one of God's special surprises.

THREE IMPORTANT GOALS 

The Discipleship Project is designed around three important goals ...

The first is to provide a setting in which men and women from troubled backgrounds ...

• can find encouragement and support from mature Christians, many of whom themselves come from troubled backgrounds and have overcome powerful addictions;

• can insulate themselves from both the temptations of the "street" and the fear that too often plagues unsafe neighborhoods;

• can be encouraged to find employment - either through immediate job-placement or job training leading to job-placement. An "entitlement mind-set" is a "killer;"  

• can cultivate a relationship with Jesus Christ - who alone can transform their lives from the inside out;

• can form enduring relationships among their peers - relationships that will both  
• support their efforts to cultivate new attitudes and habits to replace the destructive ones that have undermined their lives, and  
• provide a sense of "belonging," without which men and women inevitably feel destitute and impoverished. Isolation, like an "entitlement mind-set," is a "killer." 

• to deepen their own personal walk with Christ;

• to ground themselves ever more deeply in the foundational truths of scripture; 

• to identify, develop, and hone their spiritual gifts; and 

• to awaken the church as a whole to the sheer joy of serving God and walking in His presence.

• he provides over-all guidance and direction for the house: 
• he makes sure that everyone in the house honors the purposes of the house and abides by the house rules; 
• he helps everyone in the house grow in Christ - and sees to it that they cultivate the fruit of the Spirit;
• he makes sure that everyone in the house learns to live harmoniously with each other.