What are we missing here

Well there has been a little more content here as of late. But that does not say much. I am still very delinquent when it comes to journalling. I have a lot that I want to get down and I know how helpful it can be. However, I am so easily distracted. I always get side-tracked with something.

So what to start with today. Maybe I will start with a topic we covered in our SIL this past Tuesday. The way the presenter (Adrian) mentioned it was as accountability amongst Christian leaders. though our conversation quickly moved beyond just leaders.

We talked about how leaders stay accountable to each other, what kind of groups they were in, or should be in. Also we talked about how a church is to be accountable, especially when it is a non-denominational one. Then this moved into more of a discussion on discipleship.

We discussed how, for the most part the Church in America, has dropped the ball. How do we do discipleship and how should we? There is a great need to develop good discipleship programs and reform what we are doing. And we said that accountability needs to be a part of discipleship and not a separate thing.

It is easy to be in a group, and yet not be honest. Often when we are in an accountability group we only see the guys during that meeting. That is a problem with many of the groups (i.e. small groups, growth groups, life-stage group, accountability) that we are in. We don't real do life together. We are stretched too thin with all that we are doing and with all the people we are in contact with. With modern convieniences we are able to stay in touch with family and friends all over the country and world. We can reconnect with college friends, high school friends and even old neighbors. But when do we go deep with people. Where is that place we open ourselves up.

Even when we do move into talking about discipleship we still run into that same problem. Then relationship tends not to have enough depth. We meet with that person on a bi-weekly or maybe weekly basis, but what else. Jesus lived with his disciples. They saw how he interacted in the real world. How he confronted people and responded to them. They saw him pray, preach, and care for people. I heard that in China, often new believers live with a family for the first year or so, so that they can be grounded in their walk.

This idea of being involved deeply in someone's life, discipling them benefits more than just the one being discipled. It causes you, the one doing the discipling to check yourself and be conscience of what you are doing and not doing. You are aware that someone is watching you, and that helps you. And you are more aware of what you are learning in the Bible, cause you are sharing that. The Great Commission says, "teach all that I have taught you." If we are not learning then how do we teach? If we are not being given, then how to we give? We have got to be about discipling, and it has to go much more deeply than just checking in with someone to see if they are or are not doing some thing. Discipleship is what we need, not accountability.

We all need to be in at least 3 relationships. We need to be connected to someone further along in their walk that is discipling us. Then we need to be in a relationship with someone our equal, to be accountable to and to bounce ideas off of. Then we need someone we are discipling, someone that needs to be brought along in their walk. There needs to be a relationship with someone above, below, and beside us.

But how do we as a church foster this and encourage this too happen. Do we have lists of people willing and capable to disciple others? If someone comes to us and asks for this are we ready? We need to be. And then we need to realize most people won't ask for this, so we let them know of their need and place them in those relationships. Sheep need a shepherd