By Arnie Cole, CEO
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19).
For the life of me, I can’t figure something out. At age 47, Jesus Christ rescued me from my miserable life of sin and radically changed me. Now, I love every part of being a Christ Follower, so why do I still have so much trouble helping someone else find Him?
I’ve been thinking about this continuously over the last year. What I am finding out is we, as a body of believers, don't personally like to help other people grow spiritually and find Jesus.
Therefore, in 2024, you and I need to face and do something about the two parts of this problem.
PART 1 OF THE PROBLEM
As researchers studying spiritual development, we have found a significant amount of evidence that 3 out of every 4 mature Christ Followers living in the U.S. have an overwhelming problem discipling anyone else. So let’s be real—many of us who know and love Jesus the very most have a problem. Sure, we engage our Bible almost every day. Yes, we see and work at letting Jesus radically transform us. But when it comes to “mentoring,” “discipling” or “helping” someone else grow spiritually on a routine basis, it must be pretty
much impossible since so few of us are doing it.
PART 2 OF THE PROBLEM
We have a significant amount of proof that our churches aren’t helping turn us into disciple makers. I think it relates directly to the greatest tragedy in America today—when the pastor of your church says, “I will see you all next week.”
This mindset of weekly church has been happening so long there is almost no way we could be aware of it. Through no fault of your own, or really your pastor’s, we are conditioned to know that church is on Sunday and possibly one other night during the week. Today, however, this phenomenon is one of the most damaging things to our individual spiritual health and that of the church. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say this weekly mindset is destroying the church in America more than all other factors combined.
Basically, from the hardware store to the grocery store, to the banker to the pornographer, just about everybody else—good or bad—has a “see you as soon as you need us” availability. They have all pretty much learned how to customize and fit into your needs and lifestyle day or night. The church has not.
Or how about this—most of us can remember when there were only three channels on TV for our viewing needs and three options at church for our spiritual needs: Sunday morning,
Sunday night and Wednesday night. Our TVs now include over 189 channels. No other part of our lives are as compartmentalized as the local church with its fixed programmatic solutions to spiritual life. It could be so different with digital technology. I know we can multiply the pastor’s input and availability for the daily needs of the church.
Free to you and your church, the technology in our apps and platforms is scientifically
proven. If you engage the Bible (Read what the Bible has to say, Reflect on it and Respond it into your life four or more days a week) your life will radically transform. We have now discovered if you add one more step—Reveal—it will make all of the difference in your life and in someone else’s.
By revealing, you drive what God is teaching you deeper into your own spiritual life. It makes you stronger and more spiritually fit. For the person you’re revealing to—they are going to hear about Jesus as real life—not something hard to grasp that may seem limited to a special building or book. The key thing you’ll find is that revealing is meant to be easy and
relatable to those who know Jesus or need to be introduced to Him.
We call this new read, reflect, respond and reveal process Scripture Absorption.
We launched the new Scripture Absorption platforms and app just before Christmas. It is the foundation of our newest GOtandem Spiritual Fitness app and the daily spiritual
fitness workouts it offers.
How can it help your pastor and church? Your pastor can insert frequent or daily prayers. The pastor or small group leaders could provide spiritual encouragement or Bible teaching to the people of the church every few days or daily, too. They can also use as much or as little of Back to the Bible’s content library as desired. It suddenly allows the church to have daily spiritual input into lives—for free. Will you help me meet your pastor and begin a discussion? Please let me know in the comments section below. Also, let me know what you think about Reveal.
PS: Be sure to check out all of the great Bible teaching content at www.backtothebible.org or, from your mobile device, click this link GOtandem from the App Store or Google Play and download our Daily Spiritual Fitness App.