Conversations with God

The goal of churches is not to convert people to Christianity. Rather the goal is to "make disciples," (Matt. 28:19 NIV). Accepting Christ as the way to God is only the beginning of a faith that also demands to make a difference. Dr. Kent Hughes, senior pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Ill., and author of numerous books about discipleship, wrote in his book, "Set Apart," that "from the onset God's plan for reaching the world has been to create a people distinct from the world who would then minister to and reach the world."Hughes asserts that the key to that outreach is holiness. "The holiness of God was to be the example and motivation for God's people," Hughes writes.In principle most church leaders may understand this. But in practicality, churches struggle with discipleship. Statistical evidence of the decline of morality and the rejection of absolute truth abound, but none of this cultural shift is of primary concern to church leaders, except as it relates to spiritual teaching in the church. According to a 2005 Lifeway Christian Resources survey that asked some 1,300 evangelical leaders to rank the "Top 10 Issues Facing Today's Church," prayer in both personal and church life was the No. 1 issue, followed by discipleship, or "the need for involvement of every believer in being continually transformed into the image of Christ."The practical problem for churches is that spiritual disciplines don't automatically appear once a person accepts Christ. According to Dr. Thom Rainer, "Realistically, the acquisition of these habits takes time and instruction." He writes in the Church Health Encyclopedia that healthy churches both encourage their members to practice spiritual disciplines and they help them learn how. Classes, Bible studies, Bible reading, devotion and prayer guide resources are all effective ways churches use to teach the disciplines. But seeing is often believing-even in faith communities.ModelingThe best teaching tool for discipline appears to be modeling. According to the Church Health Encyclopedia, church leaders who exhibit a strong prayer life of their own will find church members emulating them. How does a minister or pastor find time each day for spiritual disciplines?According to Dr. Don Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality and author of five books on spiritual disciplines, the "over-busy" American culture makes finding quiet time difficult-especially for ministers."The two most important spiritual disciplines are the intake of the Word and prayer-and in that order," Whitney says.Other personal disciplines are: fasting, study, simplicity, stewardship, solitude, submission and service. Then there are the corporate spiritual disciplines that are practiced within the context of a local congregation: confession, worship, teaching, celebration.While church leaders are ultimately responsible to foster all kinds of spiritual discipline within their congregations, again, it is their own leadership in these areas that often points the way for others. Especially when there is no time, Whitney says, ministers should make time to seek God.Whitney points time-stretched leaders to the example of Christ, who was constantly pulled by his followers and crowds, yet who frequently escaped the pressures of ministry by going off on his own to pray.He told seminary students at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary recently that without the spiritual disciplines of meditation and prayer they would fail in ministry. He quoted H.B. London saying that 1,500 ministers leave the ministry each month. And that on average, half of seminary grads are no longer in the ministry five years after graduation.The stress of the job, or money, sex, power and pride can lead to an exit from ministry. But Whitney says a lack of spiritual discipline is always at the root of a departure. "You are a Christian first, before you are a minister." Whitney says that even if you only have 10 minutes to spend in the Word and in prayer on a given day that this can be extremely profitable if the time is well spent. Bible reading that becomes too habitual and prayers that turn to rote recitations don't hold the power that even a shorter time of meditation can. He says this is often what is missing from most pastors' time alone with God. Yet, he points to passages where other leaders, Joshua and David, for example, prioritized meditation. "These were big civic, military and judicial leaders, meditating day and night," Whitney points out. He says that it is in meditation that the absorption of scripture occurs, and that is what leads to transformation-to the holiness and godliness that can fill up a pastor's soul."You are a well and everyone in the world is a bucket. And they will drain you dry if you are not drawing from the Word," Whitney told seminarians. "Don't let the ministry keep you from Jesus." ~ Rebecca Barnes, editor