I remember once as a small child being sent by my aunt to get a teakettle for her in another room. I had no idea what I was looking for, since we did not have a teakettle in our home and I had never seen one. But, being too embarrassed in front of my cousins to admit that I did not know what a tea kettle was, I went ahead and fetched the first thing I saw in that room that I could not name.
I must have reasoned, “If I just come back with something she’ll be satisfied.” So I carried out the search, bringing back the first thing I reckoned might qualify. It was not a teakettle, needless to say, and I had to face the embarrassing fact that I had carried on like I knew what I was doing when in fact I did not.
Sometimes I think we in the church are guilty of the same thing when it comes to our calling to make disciples. Having only a vague notion of what discipleship is— or having such a wide range of views on the matter that we have never reached any real agreement as to what discipleship is— and having met precious few real disciples in our lifetimes, we press on in our teaching and training activities in the hope that somehow or other disciples will come out of the end of the pipeline so long as we do something.
We have never clearly settled in our minds, in specific terms, what the goals of our equipping ought to be, so we pay more attention to the process of making disciples than to the product that should result from our labors. Is it any wonder we hear so many complaints from pastors about the paucity of bold, vibrant, and growing disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in the ranks of His people?
T. M. Moore is Dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and Principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition (www.myparuchia.com). He is the author or editor of 20 books, and has contributed chapters to 4 others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. T. M. is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars, and works with pastors and other men in ministry to improve their spiritual lives and ministry skills. His most recent books are Culture Matters (Brazos) and The Hidden Life, a handbook of poems, songs, and spiritual exercises (Waxed Tablet, www.myparuchia.com).
T. M. has served in a variety of ministry roles over the past 30 years, including, campus ministry, church planter, associate and senior pastor, seminary instructor and president, writer, editor, and consultant. He is well-known as a conference and workshop leader in the areas of church and leadership development, Biblical worldview, and the Christian’s role in culture and society. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri (1971) and Reformed Theological Seminary (1977) and has done additional post-graduate work at the University of Miami, the University of Pretoria, and the University of Wales, Lampeter.
He and his wife and editor, Susie, make their home in Concord, TN. T. M. can be reached a nacurragh@aol.com.
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