No Child of God Left Behind

You are probably familiar with the education initiative that President Bush helped enact for public schools: No Child Left Behind. The premise of the initiative was that too many children were falling through the cracks of our schools and were not being prepared to contribute to life in American society. Whether or not the program is working is a topic for another post. Bush's assessment of the state of public education was correct.
In my small group this past week, we studied a passage of Scripture that reminded me of the sad state of affairs in many Southern Baptist Churches, the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Colossian Church. Paul wrote in Colossians 1.25-29:

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you
the word of God in its fullness--the mystery that has been kept hidden for
ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God
has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this
mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him,
admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present
everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his
energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Paul's goal for the Colossian church was to admonish and to teach the whole counsel of God so that everyone would be presented perfect (spiritually mature) in Christ. In other words, Paul was adamant that no one would be left behind in his effort to disciple the Christians in this church. By implication (from this text and a host of others) we can conclude that God desires every Christian in every church to grow into spiritual maturity. At a time when approximately 50% of Southern Baptists do not even attend corporate worship on a weekly basis (the numbers don't lie - attendance in worship is usually around half the total membership on any given Sunday across our convention), it is obvious that we are a long way from accomplishing the goal Paul elucidated in this passage of Scripture.

If that is God's desire that every Christian should grow in to spiritual maturity, then it should be the desire of every church. That includes CrossRoad Church. That is why CrossRoad Church took the radical step of requiring every member to participate in a discipleship program when we launched as a church in September of 2005. We want every member to grow into spiritually strong, mature disciples of Jesus Christ. Spiritual growth does not happen by osmosis. It happens as the Spirit works through the Word of God when it is preached, taught, studied, and applied. You will not grow if you are not studying the Word of God, hence the requirement for membership. We want all of our members to be growing Christians.

I have counseled a few prospective members that initially were a little intimidated by CrossRoad's membership expectations. "Aren't your requirements a bit extreme?" We don't think they are. First, we do not have a Sunday evening corporate gathering, because we do not want to overwhelm our members with "meetings." Second, what is extreme about expecting all of our members to grow in Christ's likeness? If you do not want to grow, our church probably is not the best fit for you. "What if I don't have time to participate in a discipleship program?" If you do not have time to grow in Christ, practice the spiritual disciplines, and meet with your brothers and sisters in Christ then you are too busy. We understand, however, that sometimes our schedules providentially hinder us from participating in the discipleship programs of the church. That is why all of our pastors are available for one-on-one discipleship. If you cannot attend at one of the set times we have established, we will rearrange our schedule to fit yours! "Can't I grow sufficiently in your corporate worship service?" That is a great question. As much as I would like to think that my preaching satisfies all of your spiritual needs each Sunday morning, I know that that is not the case. We all need to participate in a small group environment in which we will be able to ask questions about specific issues. Those opportunities just are not provided in a large group setting such as corporate worship. Additionally, you will never get to know your fellow church members well enough to encourage them and receive encouragement from them if your only exposure to the church is on Sunday mornings.

So now you know one of the reasons why CrossRoad Church approaches membership the way it does. Our goal is "No Child of God Left Behind."

What do you think? Did I miss something? Still disagree with our approach? We have several members that have been involved in discipleship groups for close to a year now. We would love to hear what YOU think about our efforts to help you grow in Christ's likeness. I look forward to the discussion.

Chris