Patti Burris

I have visited churches where the pastor will give a Hell-fire and brimstone sermon and then give an invitation for baptism. Not surprisingly, there have been 20 to 30 being baptized on those days. Did they really accept Jesus into their hearts? Did they really understand the meaning of following Jesus and the implication of baptism? Or were they scared into baptism to fill a quota?

I have seen church leaders that only care about the numbers: how many members their church has, how many baptisms they do every week, how many converts they have every week and how big their buildings are. The one thing that has bothered me, is the fact that once these baptisms are over, these people are left to struggle on their own. They go back to their lives and are left to find out for themselves what following Jesus really means. Most will give up and not darken the doorway of a church again. This has to change! Church leaders need to wake up and follow the example of Jesus, making disciples.

Jesus was all about building relationships. When Jesus called the disciples, He made the commitment to spend time teaching them, making sure that they were ready to be sent out on their own when the time came. Jesus was with the disciples 24/7 while training them to be disciples. Their training was the most important thing. He knew that in order for them to succeed in proclaiming the gospel He needed to build a relationship with each one and spend the time training them. He invested His time and resources in training these men.

Are we, as church leaders and Christians taking the time to disciple new converts? Are we willing to sacrifice our time and resources to invest in someones life, making sure that they really understand what it means to follow Jesus? Are we willing to follow through, even if it takes years before someone is ready to fly solo? If we want to follow the example of Jesus, we better be ready. We better be willing.

America has become the largest mission field in the world. Our churches are failing in the most basic of Christian principles: making disciples. We, as Christians, are failing this beautiful, awesome country because we refuse to invest in the lives of those around us. We are failing our country because we refuse to make disciples. There is an URGENCY!!! This is a call to ACTION!!!

GO OUT AND MAKE DISCIPLES!!! Right now and right where you are!!!