The passion of my heart is discipleship, which I see as helping Jesus followers live like Jesus. This has always contrasted with my evangelistic side which is that part that wants to see people coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus; entering into a relationship with Him and making Him Lord of their life.
As we think about the purpose of the church it is easy to say that we should do both equally. However the reality is that you are going to lean one way or the other. You can't offer an infinite number of programs in the local church, so do you offer more discipleship or more outreach? You can't share two messages on Sunday, so is this Sunday going to be discipleship or outreach? (What was last Sunday? What is next Sunday?)
It is obviously a great church growth strategy to trend toward non-believers because there are more of them out there to reach. But, for me, I think that in over emphasizing that aspect you end up with a room full of shallow believers (inch deep, mile wide). However, an overemphasis on discipling people who already believe leads to a group of people that are so inwardly focused that non-believers are made to feel like outsiders walking into a conversation that they are not a part of mid-stream.
As in everything we have to find a balance and avoid letting the pros on one side swing the pendulum too far.
What do you identify as the greatest responsibility of the church?
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