Protestantism

» paper_turtle - Discipleship

Barna continues: "[N]ot one of the adults we interviewed said that their goal in life was to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ or to make disciples." He goes on to explain that this survey included people who regularly attended church.
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A survey is only as good as its questions. If what is quoted above was the question asked, then (IMHO) that could explain why no one said yes.
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There could be any number of reasons for answering such a question negatively, but my sense is that some people might have felt the question was doctrinally biased. Had the survey asked:
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do you strive to love as Jesus lived?, or
do you follow what Jesus said were the two greatest commandments (love God, love neighbor as self), or
is Jesus a role model in your life?
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I think people would have responded positively to questions like those above.
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As for discipleship, I'm sure a lot of people aren't really sure what it means, or how one would go about calling someone to be a fisher of men.
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*My* perception is that conservative churches tend to be more interested in salvation than discipleship (which implies both healing and teaching).
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More liberal churches, unfortunately, often tend to just throw money at the problem, rather than rolling up their sleeves and getting actively involved.
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Just some random musings.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle

» pink101 - Some Random Musings.

In response to Discipleship posted by paper_turtle:
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You bring up some curious issues.
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And, we live in curious times.
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Curious in the sense that things are beyond or deviating from the usual or expected issues we normally entertain.
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Are these points legitimate concerns? Can we ask why churches do what they do at the local level where they exist?
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When we ask--today--what it means to follow Jesus, what answers will be forthcoming? Does it mean that we should live a priestly life always ready to drop to our knees in prayer? Or should we, like the Jainists, wear gauze breathing masks for fear we might cause some poor airborne insect to die? Must we be careful not to use any vulgar language? Does following Jesus mean we are to be prissy?
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Were the religious folk of Jesus' time enamoured of his ways? Or were they the ones who conspired to get him crucified?
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And, when it comes to churches today, do congregations choose new pastors based on their reputations for building new and bigger churches?
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What does it mean for Jesus to be a role model? Will it get you crucified?
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-- posted by pink101