No matter how much one dribbles and passes, no matter how
many fancy cross-overs or flailing shots one might take, if the ball doesn’t go
in the basket then the game of basketball is hard to win. Drawing on this analogy, we might say
the same thing about Christianity.
Surely, Christian faith is not a game,
but bear with me.
Jesus taught that the whole idea of Christianity is to make disciples.[1] This, of course, means a lot of things
– the Great Commission alone explicitly lists baptizing, teaching, and obeying
the commandments of Jesus – yet sometimes I get the funny feeling that we, like
those in the cartoon, are missing the point. Worse yet, it seems that our Christian traditions haven’t
even made it clear to us what that point really is.
Catholics have a very strong tradition of catechesis, that is, teaching the faith. The average Catholic, by the time they
are confirmed, have endured a virtual fire-hose treatment of Catholic doctrine,
history, morality, etc. (now let it be understood that I’m writing as one who loves this stuff). Yet our Mass attendance alone (hovering
around 23%) suggests that our strategy has not produced vibrant, life-long
disciples. We might say that many
Catholics have been “catechized but
not evangelized.”
Eastern Orthodox have a strong liturgical and sacramental
tradition (the same could be said for Catholics). Yet the Eastern Orthodox Church also faces widespread
nominalism and a similar limp in church attendance. Eastern Orthodox theologian, Brad Nassif, has noted that
many Orthodox Christians have been “sacramentalized
but not evangelized.”
Evangelicals might look at this and say, “Well of course,
you’ve missed the whole point! It
is about making a personal decision to accept Christ as your Lord and
Savior.” And in one sense they are
right. Personal faith, for all
Christians, is both essential and indispensible. Christianity, one might say, is not a spectator
sport. Rather, faith is personal
and revolutionary. It changes
one’s life in real and tangible ways.
Pope Francis recently exhorted an audience at the Vatican, “A Christian
who is not a revolutionary today isn’t a Christian.”[2] Christian faith gives people “a heart
that loves, a heart that suffers, a heart that rejoices with others, a heart
full of tenderness for those who bear the wounds of life and feel like they are
on the periphery of society.” We
share this passion with our Evangelical brothers and sisters!
Yet many are surprised to hear that the Evangelical emphasis
on getting people to “make decisions” may also be falling short of the gospel’s
call of discipleship. While close
to 90% of Evangelical Christians have made personal commitments to Christ, only
20% continue to live a “revolutionary faith.”[3] Evangelical theologian, Scot McKnight,
makes this startling contention:
There is a minimal difference in
correlation between evangelical
children and teenagers who make a decision for Christ and who later become
genuine disciples, and Roman Catholics
who are baptized as infants and who as adults become faithful and devout
Catholic disciples.[4]
What?! Really?!
The emerging problem with the Evangelical tradition is not
so much that it makes faith personal.
This is something that we all need to do. Rather, the problem that is surfacing is that many
Evangelicals have reduced the gospel to “a statement about Jesus’ death and its
meaning, and a prayer with which people accept it.”[5] Evangelical theologian, Dallas Willard,
has called it “the gospel of sin management,” a view of salvation that takes
away your sin and destines you for heaven but has no connection to discipleship
and spiritual transformation. The
data suggests that this personal plan of salvation - when severed from
revolutionary story of Jesus Christ, the announcement of his kingdom, and a
life-long commitment to ongoing discipleship - is no more effective than the
Catholic or Orthodox practices of merely sacramentalizing
and catechizing.
So who exactly is the kid in the cartoon who is saying, “Why
has this been kept from us?” Looks
like the answer is . . . all of us. When it comes to Christian discipleship, we all have a lot
to learn about “getting the ball in the basket.”
