More Caught Than Taught

On Monday I re-established a spiritual discipline that kind of went by the wayside in the latter part of 2008. (Over-busy scheduling, then my wife's extended illness...Explanations, not excuses.) Once a month I had tried to get away for the better part of a day; just me, a Bible, pen and paper, and God. I try to spend the time as receptively as possible, inviting God to direct my heart and mind. It was great to get back into this rhythm, especially with a new year upcoming. I seek to ask, "God, what are you doing? Where do you want my attention directed? Where should my focus go in 2009?"

God is faithful. In spite of my endless distractions and in spite of the constant, insidious infiltration of my personal agenda, God manages to get through, if I just listen. Two areas at attention bubbled to the surface, and I'm pretty sure God wants me to watch and see what He is doing in each, and to be obedient to the ways God wants me to contribute. The first area is that of mentoring. I'll address the second area in my next post; probably Saturday or Sunday.

If you have a relationship with Jesus, do you remember the key components that helped the relationship to start and to grow? Do you remember the details of the sermon that caused you to make a commitment to Christ? Can you recall the detailed curriculum of a newcomer's class you attended? Can you quote from whatever inspirational book you read? Possibly. I imagine, though, that when most Jesus-followers are asked to identify key components of their faith development, they'll point to people. Most of us become Jesus-followers by watching and relating to others who are Jesus followers. It's a cliche, but it's true - Christianity is more caught than taught.

As we work to connect people to Jesus, then, perhaps we shouldn't work only on invitational worship services, good preaching, personal evangelism techniques, church information booths, brochures, video presentations, etc. etc. Perhaps we need to pour some energy into identifying and equipping those Jesus-followers amongst us who can best serve as mentors of discipleship. At our church we're going to start identifying our best faith mentors this month. Many of you likely are involved in churches where intentional mentoring is a central component to disciple-making. Give us all some details and direction on that.

People don't need slick techniques to come to Christ. They need honest, humble, passionate examples of Jesus-followers to come to Christ. That's what I think. How about you? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.