The Importance of Discipleship and Evangelism

For my last post on Carson's sermon about trends in the church I focus on His 5th point

5. There is a trend in our churches to emphasize discipleship over the gospel.

Carson emphasized teaching the whole council of God centering on Christ crucified as the power of the gospel and salvation. If we see the gospel as what "saves" us and if we see discipleship as the actual place where real transformation takes place, it is not a biblical approach. Carson said this trend has a tendency to lead us to see discipleship as legalism; as what pleases God.

We must take the more correct Biblical approach and see evangelism and discipleship as a lifelong process. For years the SBC had the opposite negative approach, lets get as many prayers and baptisms as possible so we have a large membership, but lets forget about them after that. In response many churches have pushed the other way, with discipleship classes, new Christian classes, small groups, accountability groups, etc. What we must do is focus on evangelism, by sharing the love of Christ with our neighbors, and continually helping them grow in their relationship with Christ, while continually loving and serving others.