My Discipleship Journey: Was It Wrong? Was It Right?

I'm a pastor, church planter, and a voice in the lives of others seeking to follow Christ. I'm also a guy who wrestles with what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how to help others in their path of discipleship.

My faith journey is not unlike many others' in America. I grew up in a typical American family that experienced divorce, remarriage, and other set backs. I was not raised going to church. I began actively attending church in High School at the invitation of my best friend. A few months before graduation, I surrendered my life to Christ. The church I attended was around 200 in attendance and the pastor's messages could always be boiled down to two central themes: salvation and sanctification.

After I made my decision to follow Christ, I began to volunteer in simple ways for my church. It started with mowing the lawn. From there I was changing the marque sign, inserting such token phrases as: "there won't be a u-hal behind your hearse." Yes, I did misspell "u-haul" when it was on the sign. I eventually became the teacher for the youth meetings on Wednesday, the Sunday School teacher for the college-age, and the director for the children's church. Did I mention that I also helped in getting our bus ministry going and the men's fellowship. I was all in!

After those three years of faith development and volunteering, our new senior pastor encouraged me to go to Bible college, so I did. I had failed in my previous attempt(s) at college, but this time I seemed to have a purpose for attending. I devoted myself to my classes, especially my Bible classes, learning the inductive Bible study method as well as the challenges of different learning styles and personalities. I graduated in 3 1/2 years and then went on staff at the college working in campus ministries. A short two years later, I became a senior pastor for a 65 year old congregation.

After 3 years of pastoring this congregation, tensions where high. I was a young and idealistic kid (27 when I assumed the role) and they were a seasoned group who had seen their glory days pass them by (they had decreased by more than 100 people in the three years prior to my coming). It didn't end well. I was asked to step down, and I did.

Some six months after stepping down, my wife and I dove into starting a new congregation, in the pastor-circles we call it church planting. Over the past five years I've committed myself to this effort and helping others learn from my successes and failures.

As I look back on my faith journey, I am grateful for my home church in Clarksville, Tennessee. They laid the foundations of my beliefs. Bro. Lanham was a godly man whose messages of salvation and holy living have guided me through the years. I am also grateful for my time in Bible college. There my beliefs were challenged and expanded thanks to the instruction of Dr. Greg Robertson and Dr. Cliff Sanders (BTW 21 hrs with one prof is too many for anyone!). As hard as it was to accept the end to my first pastorate, I am grateful for the experience I had there too. It helped to mature me. And the last five years leading Grace Point Church has allowed me to grow and mature in ways that shape every relationship and conversation I have these days.

As I look back I often wonder if I've missed something in my 18 years of following Christ. In the books and blogs I read these days there is a sense of critique against the church for her failure to really disciple believers. I can't say that I entered into a formal discipleship outside of my time at Bible college. But not everyone will attend Bible college. I can't say I experienced a form of discipleship that is easily reproduced. What I can say is my discipleship has consisted of listening, observing, and practicing.

Now after 18 years I can say I am seeing others who are directly influenced by me. I am discipling them (mostly inadvertently or accidentally). A few months ago, I was listening to a young man and his wife who have walked with me for 9 years. They were sharing about an experience they had at a conference and were telling me what they had observed. I realized they had evaluated it in a way I would have. Did this make them my disciples?

Since then, I've been really wrestling with what it means to be a disciple and how to make disciples.

In my next post, I'll share about some correlations I'm observing with regards to discipleship. In the mean time I'd love to hear about your discipleship journey and what you think of mine. Is yours vastly different? Is yours remotely the same?

I look forward to hearing from you and sharing some of my other observations.