Genesis Alliance Blog

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Today we would like to introduce our first blog post.  Genesis Alliance is not an academic pursuit, but a kingdom one.  We will be inviting various church planters, leaders, and missionaries to write on our blog about church planting, disciple making, and more.  Our first post is written by Wilmer Rivera, who has just planted a Hispanic church in Highpointe Church of Christ, in Mckinney, TX.  Wilmer is currently finishing a masters degree in leadership and is a full time disciple maker and church planter.

Why the Church in the USA Needs to Start thinking about Evangelism More Intentionally

I believe the church needs to start thinking about evangelism and discipleship seriously, because people are not gravitating to a church building. I hear people say, “I invite people to church but they don’t come.”  However, Jesus told us specifically to “Go”, but we have made it more into “come”, and we expect people to assimilate quickly into an organized worship service with songs and more that we have set up,  believing that that will serve every person, that every person will like it and be able to make it at 10:15am.  I think we have missed the ball and we need to act quickly. People are more about relationship, and so we need to initiate evangelism and discipleship because that is how people relate best.  They relate better when they are in their comfort zone, when they are contacted and spoken to in their areas where they feel more comfortable. We need to do discipleship at homes and with people in their context, because people are not coming to our church, or not coming enough for it to make a major difference.  Discipleship in people’s homes makes it easy for people to hear and accept the Gospel.

When people are reached with the intention of making “disciples” (meaning that they are reached and taught through Bible studies that allwo them ask and participate), then they learn better and stick longer. Discipleship is about connecting them to God through His Word, letting them share what they understand, and asking them to obey what they understand. Many people don’t open their Bibles, so these Bible studies promote knowledge where many Christians are lacking. Many Christians can’t refute or stand for their faith to others or explain their reasoning. They’re going to church because it’s the “right thing to do”, but they’re not living it out.  Home Bible studies let people know God, fall in love with him, and form obedient disciples, not just lukewarm Christians. We must form real Christians that not only know about the Bible and God, but have a desire to share with others and to follow it fully.

I want to say that people, even being in the church for a long time, can still be lacking in transformation. Discipleship is the process of people becoming the seed that bears fruit (Mark 4:20) and that thus reach their potential and calling in Christ. They become transformed, and thus give much fruit. Discipleship facilitates the growth process that Christ has commanded us to spark (1 Cor. 3:7).  If we don’t disciple, we will only have lukewarm Christians that are limited to what happens Sunday morning. If we form disciples, though, we will have people that will live on fire and that can transform neighborhoods, communities, cities and more. Discipleship is the only way that can really make a difference. When people are discipled, then they’re more likely to want to join a church, but the intentionality of teaching poeple the word in their context must be there from the beginning.  What do you think?  Let me know in the comments below.

Wilmer Rivera