Originally posted March 9, 2008

I must admit that I suffer from a certain discontent, these days. I am in dire need of discipleship. I’m not just talking the half hearted, once a week for an hour, going through a lesson plan and activity sheets like a child in Sunday School type of discipleship either. I am in severe need of hearty admonition, teaching, and encouragement. I do not even know what all was entailed when Paul took Silas, Titus, or Timothy under his wing, but I am in need of a serious rabbi-teacher. Our culture places very little emphasis on the importance of one-on-one discipleship. I want to grow closer to God. I want to be more like Jesus. But I do not know how to do so. And how will I know if I am never instructed. I guess I’m searching for a Paul.

It is each generation’s responsibility to GOD to raise up the next generation. To fail that task is not only a failure to your generation, or the next generation, or the generation following that one, but the Almighty Himself. I have always known that, as it is clearly stated in the Bible all over the Old Testament. I never really grasped on to why until recently.

I was sitting on the couch at my parent’s home, preparing material for an upcoming speaking tour when I saw a special on the Discovery channel. It was about a series of elephant rampages that resulted in the loss of hundreds of rhinocerouses over the course of about 5 years. Teenage elephant males were introduced into an African wildlife preserve. There was an abundance of females and a hope that the young males would be able to mate and reproduce upon their maturation. However, there were no older male elephants to act as role models of proper elephant behavior. God had engineered these animals to have a hierarchy and an education system, much like our own. These young male elephants then began to enter elephant puberty earlier than expected due to a lack of older males. There was no establishment of dominance and the females hormones triggered their animal instincts. The increase in testosterone and complete lack of elder supervision resulted in premature ‘musting.’ Musting is when male elephants emit pheramones to attract female mates. The pheramones stream black down their faces and the females are able to recognize who’s ready to get busy with the reproductive process. However, since the Elephants were not yet full grown, mature elephant females were not interested. Kind of like a young boy having a crush on his middle school teacher. So these jacked up, horny animals went crazy with the rest of the wildlife, almost entirely ruining an eco system that was being preserved.

That is similar to how undiscipled young Christians can be. We are ignorant, uneducated, and ready to go. We are jacked up on our spiritual testosterone and ready to beat down the doors of the spiritual world, taking on all comers. But even though we feel ready to change the world for Jesus, we have no one to streamline and test our knowledge, expand our wisdom, and discuss difficult texts. It shouldn’t just be for those feeling called to seminary or Bible college to learn the scriptures. It should be happening with our teenagers, young adults, and newly reborn Christians. Our church needs mentored and it should be up to the elders to see to it that it happens. Now, I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen anywhere,but I am saying that in the places I have been, it is most certainly not evident.

What can, will, or is already happening as a result is a large number of young radical Christians who are wide eyed about life with Christ who are only learning or being refined by their own studies. There is no accountability, no direction, no point of reference to check with. In exchange, there is some pretty loose doctorine floating around, there elements of faith being forgotten about, there are young Christians carrying their words as weapons to defend and attack with what they believe. Our preserved way of life, and ultimately love, are being lost among the doctorines and dogmas of the “rules” of being a Christian.

I don’t want to be a wild radical who is hurting people with words. I want to be more like Jesus; gentle, kind hearted, patient, loving. And how can I learn without a teacher? Where are the pastors and overseers who are personally discipling the young church?

This isn’t a new problem. Discipleship is a piece of spiritual growth that has been falling by the wayside for several generations. The results are becoming more and more prevalent as each day passes. Our parents were failed by our grandparents, and their parents failed them as well. The result is a multi-generational gap of legitimate discipleship and apprenticeship. We have effectively removed one on one, mentor to student discipleship and replaced it with the Christian college industry, where paper doscuments are issued and life lessons are still learned from hard knocks.

As it says in the Message, Romans 10:14-17, “But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims, ‘A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!’ But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.”

We need discipline. We need instruction. We need humbled. We need to not fail our children.

Take interest in someone on a one on one basis. Give them the time of day. Show them Christ’s very simple and very beautiful love. Be proactive with your faith mentoring.