Various “theories” and theologies not found in the Bible are gathering momentum—indeed accelerating—within the body of Christ. These theories and theologies are wholly antithetical to the fundamental tenets of the gospel of Jesus and thus undermine the church.
So, why do they accelerate and proliferate?
Most churches have strived with some success at evangelizing and spreading the gospel message. By evangelizing, we mean communicating to non-Christians the saving knowledge of and desire to trust in Christ for eternal life. Making a church’s primary goal to evangelize can be called “evangelicalism.” But, vital and important, “evangelicalism” is actually not the primary task Jesus encouraged and admonished us to do. In fact, Christians’ primary goal is disciple-making, also called discipleship.
Matthew 28:19-20 declares “the Great Commission.” This commission quotes Jesus as urging His followers to go and make disciples by teaching other people to pattern their lives after Him and be observant of all things Jesus taught and commanded. Jesus taught and lived a pattern of life, and He urged people to follow His pattern. The discipleship process draws directly from the Bible and is available and repeatable across generations.
The repeatable discipleship process is the only solution that circumvents the adoption of “other gospels” and theologies about which apostle Paul warned in Galatians 1:6-9.
We are at a critical point in church history. The church is experiencing a great “falling away” due to the lure of other philosophies. Why? Philosophies of men have an intensely seductive pull. To generally considerate and cooperative people in society, bowing to “the culture” to appease others seems right. Feelings and emotions seem better accommodated when adapted to fit the cultural contours.
This trend confirms why evangelicalism alone is not enough. Gathering “the masses” to experience “church” and answer an “altar call” is insufficient for enduring, long-term spiritual formation. Some people may come to Christ as individuals and receive eternal life through the evangelical outreach. But the transformation can be short-lived. The spiritually weak are drawn to the unrelenting grip of secular culture—and frankly, secular culture is where the doctrines of demons hold sway.
Spiritual maturity is therefore desperately needed. Trouble is, the focus on evangelicalism as the church’s primary mission, to the exclusion of focused efforts to promote relationships, actually generates impotency and provides an opportunity for other doctrines to be embraced. Evangelical efforts are tactics designed to outreach and “birth” more into God’s kingdom. However, the church’s strategy must be active discipleship to preserve, grow and pass forward true spiritual maturity.
Consider this analogy: After giving birth to a child you’ve longed for and greatly anticipated bringing into your family, would you leave it alone and to its own devices to somehow figure out how to take care of itself and live? Of course not! A lovingly desired new child is always provided a great degree of nurturing and care. In the same way, when we help “birth” people into God’s kingdom, we can’t leave it to them to just figure out how to best serve God; we must nurture them into the kingdom by relationally modeling it before them.
At a minimum, this is the level of care required to bring Christ-followers into spiritual maturity. If we don’t, the door opens for Christian “newborns” to embrace other theories, theologies and mindsets. These other doctrines will then rule instead of the perfect pattern and example of Jesus ruling their lives! Embrace of the gospel demands discipleship.
Discipleship has never been an “option.” It has always been a command. When the pattern of disciple-making/discipleship is not followed, a generation of spiritual “orphans” arises. Regrettably, some of the orphans will still identify themselves within the kingdom family (while living and believing in ways antithetical), and many will choose “deconstruction” of their Christian beliefs that typically leads them to renounce their commitment to Jesus altogether. A generation of orphans could be averted by taking the additional simple steps to connect all new Jesus followers into discipleship relationships. Committing to following Jesus, then becoming like Jesus (full embrace of His character and likeness) is not onerous; it is a very worthy goal!
When worldly stresses and temptations afflict us, and there is no commitment to discipleship, it is easy to deny the cross/gospel and choose to seek the culture’s offers of comfort and convenience. In this hour, however, disciples committed to discipleship relationships are a vital currency of the kingdom. The kingdom thrives on people who have patterned their lives on trusting Jesus and rejecting the seduction and pull of culture.
Disciples of Jesus must reject CRT, “Deconstruction,” the “mobs” demanding we bow to culture and all doctrines of demons. We must then teach others to do the same. Our standard-bearer is Jesus, and our face is “set like a flint” on Him. This level of determined focus is possible only via an energetic commitment to discipleship and the full embrace of discipleship relationships.
To stem the cultural tide enshrining doctrines of demons like CRT, “deconstruction,” “progressive Christianity,” New Age ideas, etc., let’s rely on Jesus’ strategy—Let’s commit to Jesus’ “great command” and finally embrace His pattern of disciple making! {eoa}
Kevin McGary, president of Every Black Life Matters, is an entrepreneur, author and keynote speaker. In the arena of civic engagement, Kevin serves as chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of California, and is an executive with the Douglass Leadership Institute and the Northstar Leadership PAC.
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