Don't apologize for speaking the truth

It seems many in the church today struggle speaking truth. Many seminaries and churches discount the truth of the Scriptures and spend enormous amounts of time trying to make it more politically correct for those who want it that way. The clear teachings of Scripture are ignored while we practice exegetical gymnastics with the texts so no one is offended. I've sometimes referred to such preaching as an easy-greasy gospel that goes down smooth, but in the end it is poison resulting in the spiritual death of those who believe it.

A friend of mine recently requested prayer as he was dealing with a difficult passage of Scripture in a recent worship service. Although he would have preferred avoiding preaching from that text the Lord would not let him do so. I know how he felt because I've been there. It's never a pleasant thing to preach from a text you know has the potential to upset people, but we've been mandated to preach the whole Gospel. This was one reason I always preached through an entire book of the Bible each year. I had to deal with the hard passages as well as the more comfortable ones.

Various studies have recently found that people are drawn to those churches that are not afraid to preach the truth. A study of formerly unchurched people found they sought churches that stood for something, that believed something and preached their beliefs. Another study of young people found the same thing. They were seeking something solid to build their lives upon. They were leaving those churches and denominations that had abandoned the truth of the Scriptures for those not afraid to preach truth. Those who claim they must water down the Scriptures or avoid the hard passages in order to reach people could not be more wrong.

A minister once accused me of targeting certain people because of my beliefs. I explained that I was not targeting them. In fact, I was demonstrating more love and concern for them than this minister because I was willing to warn them of the dangers they were facing due to the life choices they were making. I often hear that the church should show more compassion for people as Jesus did, but I noticed that Jesus always spoke truth to those He encountered. When He offered forgiveness to the woman caught in adultery He also told her to go and sin no more. When Peter rebuked Jesus for saying He was going to Jerusalem to be killed Jesus was quick to rebuke Peter in return for not understanding this was God's plan. When Jesus began to speak hard truths to those who followed Him we read that many turned away and followed after Him no more. Nowhere do we read that Jesus went running after them begging them to come back. Rather He turned to the twelve and asked if they also wanted to leave. Again, genuine compassion for others compels us to speak truth to them if we want to help them transform their lives.

I will be the first to admit that such truth must be spoken in love, and not all churches and ministers demonstrate much love through their teachings. The Scriptures were never meant to be used as a weapon to beat up on people. I once sat through a sermon in which the pastor ripped the people for over 30 minutes. I visited the church that day because I had heard from people I respected that this was a weekly occurance. He thought he was preaching the truth. In reality, he was being a jerk, and the church lost some very wonderful, hard-working Christian people. Speaking the truth isn't about beating up people with legalistic prooftexts and trying to pound them into submission.

Speaking the truth in love is done when we love people where they are in life, walk with them through their lives and answer their questions honestly and clearly without apology. If we have developed a relationship with them in which they trust us enough to ask why we believe the things we do they will be willing to listen. We can then point to the Scriptures as we explain why we believe what we do and trust the Holy Spirit to take that Gospel seed to begin a transforming work in their lives.

Can you defend what you believe?

One of the major reasons many people give for not sharing their Christian faith is that they fear people will ask questions they cannot answer. The truth is that many Christians cannot defend their faith against those with questions or those who ridicule religion and Christianity in particular. For years Christians have been content to attend worship services, sit quietly in their pews, sing a few songs, listen to people pray and hear a sermon meant to make them feel good. Relatively few have spent time studying the Scriptures for themselves and growing in their knowledge of what Christianity teaches. Many cannot adequately explain what they believe and even fewer can explain why they believe it.

In no other area of our lives are we so unconcerned about things we are connected to. If one is a salesperson that individual wants to learn everything possible about the items he or she is selling. These people also want to know as much as possible about the competition and their products. If one owns a company the same thing is true. As couples start their families they want to learn as much as possible about raising children. Even a new pet owner is likely to study about their pets, how to train them and the best ways of caring for them. It's only when we come to our faith and God we seem to not think it is important to learn as much as possible about our faith.

Every Christian should be a student of the Bible. This doesn't mean that every Christian needs to enroll in seminary, but it does mean that each of us have a responsibility to be growing in our faith. Sunday school, small group Bible study, online courses and independent study are just some of the ways this can happen. Unfortunately, we know that in many churches the Sunday school attendance is about one-half of the worship attendance, or less. Many churches do not offer small groups, and if people are not making use of Sunday school classes it's likely they are not doing online or independent studies either.

As a result, many people are not growing in their faith. They do not possess a Christian worldview, Their thinking and reasoning are secular in nature which not only impacts their lives but also the decisions made in the church. Many churches are held hostage by spiritually immature members.

Unfortunately, few churches address this problem. The old adage is true: You get what you expect. Few churches expect their new members to grow in the faith. We have accepted the argument that people are busy and do not have time to attend Bible studies and worship services, and if they can only attend one we want them in the worship service because that is the one we count.

It would be far better to let people know that becoming a Christian means growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and our church expects each member to pursue such growth. Classes should regularly be offered on evangelism, apologetics, and doctrines of the faith, and we should encourage people to attend these classes. Those who refuse should not be selected for leadership positions in the church. It's time to raise the bar on what is expected of a Christian. Jesus certainly has high expectations for those who would follow Him; the church should not lower those expectations.

Leaders don't like change either

In this space I write a lot about change and how it's necessary if the church is to remain relevant in its attempts to impact the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Most of us know from first-hand experience that many of our church members are not too fond of change. The reality is that those of us in leadership aren't that crazy about it much of the time either. I'm experiencing that first-hand right now.

As many of you have read, my computer crashed several days ago wiping out all my files. I thought I was backing up my files, but when I plugged my thumb drive into my laptop I found that it was corrupted. Virtually everything was gone. I ordered a new computer, and it finally arrived this past Monday. My old computer was an 8.1; the new one is Windows 10 which means that I have to learn a new operating system before I can even begin to rebuild my files. I'm spending more time on the "Helps" buttons than I am actually doing work.

I liked Windows 8.1. It was a solid system that I knew fairly well. I could maneuver around in it with few problems. Everything was just where I wanted it. It was comfortable.

There is nothing comfortable about this new computer. I don't like the way I have to move around to get to where I want to go. Why did Microsoft have to replace the good 8.1 system when I was so comfortable with it?

Does any of this sound familiar? I bet you heard the same kinds of arguments in your church the last time someone suggested doing something a little different. Even those of us in leadership enjoy the comfort of the known over the uncertainties that come with change. Under our old ways of doing things everyone knows their role in the church. The order of worship, the music we sing, the ways our churches are structured, and the types of messages we are used to hearing all contribute to a feeling of comfort.

But, what if the old ways of doing things aren't working in the church? What if the worship service needs some changes that would help new people connect to God in powerful ways? What if we need to change the times of our services to better reach people? What if organ music isn't the music most people today listen to? I could go on, but I would just make more people mad!

The fact is, everything our churches now do that allows each of us to feel comfortable was once a new idea that replaced something that wasn't working in our churches. I'm sure when those new ideas were suggested people were convinced it would spell the end of their church, but it didn't.

I will get used to Windows 10 just like I adjusted to 8.1, 7, XP, and all the others. I'm so old my first computer class taught us how to use MS-DOS so I've made a lot of adjustments over the years as the computer systems have changed. Within a few weeks I'll be moving around on this new computer just like I did on the old one, and from what I've heard about 10 I'll enjoy using it just fine.

As leaders in our churches we need to embrace change before we can ask those we serve to. We cannot afford to prefer comfort over being able to impact our communities nor can we prefer comfort over dealing with others who will oppose necessary changes.

Where there is a will...

Since my desktop crashed I've been using a laptop while waiting on my new computer to arrive. There are many things I dislike about this laptop, but the one biggest complaint I have is that my cursor keeps jumping around on the screen while I'm trying to type. I've tried the fixes suggested by people online, but none of them has helped. It has taken at least three times longer to type anything because I have to keep watching the screen to make sure I'm typing where I'm supposed to. It's almost been enough to make a cursor out of me!

A few minutes ago I thought of something I should have realized from day 1. My computer keyboard works just fine. I plugged it into the laptop, and now I'm typing without any problems at all! At my age I guess I should expect to be a little slow on the uptake.

I was about to give up trying to write anything until I got my new computer set up, but it isn't expected to be delivered for several more days. I was determined to not let the problems with the laptop stop me from doing what I wanted to do, and finally a solution presented itself.

This is an important lesson for anyone in ministry. It doesn't take long in ministry to realize that most things are not going to go as you want. We have an enemy that will try to put roadblocks in front of us to bring our work to a halt or at least slow it down. The key is to not allow that to happen. Just keep plugging away. Stay determined. If your first attempt doesn't work, try something new. Eventually a solution will present itself. Often, it will seem so simple that you'll wonder why you didn't think of it earlier. Don't worry about it. You have the solution now so make the best of it.

A church wanted to build on to their facility but needed additional land for their septic system. For two years they tried to buy a small corner of a field adjacent to the church, but the owner would not sell it. It appeared the church would not be able to go forward until someone asked if the landowner would lease them the land for their septic system. When approached he readily agreed to a very small fee for a 99 year lease. The septic system was moved, and the new addition was built.

If God has given you a vision for ministry do not let temporary roadblocks derail you. If you have a will to succeed God will provide the way.

What do you need to do differently?

I was meeting with a pastor search committee  from a small church. I asked the usual question I normally asked these committees, "What do you need from your next pastor?" I received the usual answer I had come to expect, "We want a pastor who can help grow our church."  I had never responded this way before to another church, but I responded, "So, in other words, you want a pastor who will come here and change everything you are doing. You do understand that if you could grow by doing what you've been doing you would already be growing, so if you want to grow you'll have to change many of the things you've been doing." The chairperson smiled and said they might want to think about that again.

This is a common issue in many smaller churches. They sincerely do want to grow, but they want to grow without changing anything they've been doing for the past 50 years. It isn't possible. Our world is not the same as it was 50 years ago. It's not even the same as it was 5 years ago. Unchurched people are not going to leave their homes to attend a revival meeting, and they sure don't want a couple of people from the church showing up at their front door while they are trying to eat dinner or watch their favorite program on TV.

Trying to get unchurched people to come into the church through the front door isn't likely to happen. However, it is possible to reach some people through the side-doors of the church. Inviting people to events held at the church that are not religious in nature is one way to demonstrate that your church is not only a safe place to be, it is also a place that can offer people ways to improve their lives.

If I was pastoring a church again one of the first things I would want to do was to offer Financial Peace University to the community. This is a nine-week program developed by Dave Ramsey's organization designed to help get people out of debt and improve their financial situation. It is based on biblical principles of finance, which it does not hide, but it does not push religion or Christianity on anyone. In every community there are large numbers of people struggling financially. They are deep in debt, they have little to nothing saved for retirement and are barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. These are people who might be very receptive to getting information about how to improve their financial well-being.

Affinity groups could meet at the church in the various rooms that sit unused all week long. Maybe a bass fishing group could meet in one room while a quilting group meets in another. As these groups develop relationships with one another, including with some members of the church, the people can begin to feel that this is a safe place to be. If they do decide to come to a worship service, chances are now that they will know someone.

Of course, there are many other things your church might need to do to be more inviting to people. It may need to look at the music used during the worship service. (Yes, I said it!) It might need to improve its hospitality to outsiders. For 14 years I attended a different church almost every week as a part of my ministry, and I can tell you most churches need hospitality training. You may think you are the friendliest church in town, but you probably aren't, at least to nonmembers who might attend your church. You may want to bring in an outside consultant to help you discover the walls your church has built up over the years that are keeping people out, and most churches have at least a few such walls.

If your church isn't willing to change anything, that's fine. Just stop kidding yourself saying that you want your church to grow, because you don't. You want it to remain comfortable for you

The joy of bivocational ministry

When I wrote my first book I wanted to title it The Joy of Bivocational Ministry. That was when I learned that the publishers give the title they want to your work. I plead my case with my editor, but as a first time writer I had little pull. However, he did agree to let my title be the sub-title of the book.

The reason I wanted that as the title was because many people have misconceptions about bivocational ministry. In fact, a fully-funded pastor friend of mine told me he could not see how there could possibly be any joy in doing bivocational ministry. I wanted that title not only to counter some of the misconceptions but also to encourage those in bivocational ministry. In fact, that was one of my primary purposes for writing the book.

Many in bivocational ministry do not feel appreciated by their fully-funded colleagues, their denominational leaders and sometimes even by people within their congregations. They feel called to this ministry, and they enjoy serving in this capacity, but they often wish their services were more appreciated. During my 20 years as a bivocational minister I felt all these things at times, but most of the time I felt excited and fulfilled about doing what God had called me to do. Yes, I felt joy in serving as a bivocational minister.

Some Sunday mornings as I would drive out to the church I would look around at the houses and farms I passed and thank God for giving me that part of the world in which to minister. I would think of the impact that small, rural church had for over a century on the lives of the people lived in that part of our county and thank God for allowing me to have a part of that legacy now.

There was a joy in knowing that I could serve that small church without worrying about financial issues raising my family. The average pastoral tenure of that church prior to my going there was 12 months. Most of the pastors were students at a seminary about an hour away, and when they graduated they left for churches that could provide for their families. I get that, but I had a good job that paid well before accepting the call to pastor that church. I didn't need to leave for financial reasons which allowed me to stay there as long as I did.

Because I was with that church as long as I was, it allowed me to get to know the people and develop relations with them. I've been away from that church since 2001, but some of my best friends today were members of that church back then. There is a joy in those types of relationships.

Finally, there was a joy in knowing I was doing what God had called me to do. I have no doubt He called me to bivocational ministry and to that church. Even when things weren't going as well as I would have liked, I had a joy knowing I was being obedient to God.

If you are in bivocational ministry, I hope you find joy in what you are doing. You are my hero. May God bless you and your family.

Turn off your social media in church

This past Sunday I visited a church I had only been to one other time. The worship was good, and the message was very solid. However, there was a major distraction. A husband and wife sat in the pew beside me, and their teen age daughter sat in front of them. The husband had his Bible on his phone, but kept switching from it to his calendar and to Facebook. Every once in a while he would show his wife something on FB. She sat there with an I-Pad and spent much of the sermon looking at some shopping site. The daughter spent the entire message on FB and texting. I had to wonder why they bothered to come to church

There is something seriously wrong with people who are so addicted to their social media and phones that they cannot shut them down for an hour or two to focus on God, worship, and His Word. Don't think the pastor cannot tell what you are doing while he's delivering the message. I've preached many times knowing that individuals were locked into their phones, and it wasn't to be reading the Scriptures. I can also tell you that it doesn't make the minister feel very good when that happens.

Most of the time when I am at any meeting at all I put my phone on vibrate. Unless I am expecting an important call or text I won't even look at it when it does go off if I am in a meeting. Sometimes I just leave the phone in the car. I'm not that important that people have to have contact with me 24/7. I doubt you are either.

Maybe I shouldn't have noticed this family on their phones during the service, but it was hard not to with them sitting beside and in front of me. I also can't help but wonder what an unsaved person would have thought if they had witnessed the same thing. Would they have been distracted from a message God wanted them to hear? Would they have wondered what is so wonderful about being a Christian and going to church if people are just going to be on their social media sites? You can do that at home on Sunday morning in your pajamas.

I also wondered about this family. They certainly showed a lack of respect for the pastor and the church. They showed a lack of respect for the Word of God being preached, and, even more importantly, they showed a lack of respect for God Himself. While I cannot judge their relationship with Christ, I can say with certainty that their lack of discipleship was obvious.

A friend of mine posted on FB yesterday about the decline of spirituality among Christians today. As I read that I immediately thought of this family.

If we are going to attend worship services let's give God the respect He deserves while we are there. Leave your phone in the car. If you are going to take it inside because your Bible is on it, at least avoid using it for social media and other activities until the service is over. It really shouldn't be that hard to do.

Bad weekend

This past weekend was not one of my best. While putting information about my upcoming auction June 18 online Friday I realized I had deleted all the pictures of the items I was selling from the computer. When I tried to recover them my computer shut down and refused to start back up. Saturday morning I called my IT person who checked it out all morning with the news that it was toast. Not only could he not get the computer to restart, he could not salvage my files from the hard drive. A little further checking revealed a broken chip on the motherboard that probably messed the hard drive up. There was nothing to do but order a new computer and say good-by to all my files and pictures. I had thought I was backing things up to a thumb drive, but when it was installed in my laptop it was corrupted. I did manage to save a few items from it, but not much.

This scenario is a lot like people's lives. They think they are doing the right thing until life crashes around them, and then they realize they were not adequately prepared for the storms that come into every life. I thought I had backed up my files. It wasn't until they were gone that I realized I had not. People think they are living their lives they way they should until they realize they are not. Sometimes, by then, it's too late to do anything about it. My laptop is a poor substitute for my desktop computer. Anything other than a relationship with Christ is a poor substitute for the real thing.

Jesus made it clear that storms would come into every life. Only those whose lives are built upon a solid foundation will survive when the storms come. That foundation is a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not membership in a church. It's not trying to follow certain rules. It's not being religious or "spiritual." Only when one has a relationship with Christ can one withstand the storms that will come into every life. The time to make sure you have that relationship is before the storms come.

You can be positive that I will make sure that I have backups of all my files on the new computer. You need to be positive that your relationship with Jesus Christ is what is needs to be. Otherwise, when things crash you may realize that you were not prepared.

The music battle continues

Last night I watched a few minutes of the CMA awards. I seldom watch award shows, and I would not have watched any of this one except for the fact that I couldn't find anything else I wanted to watch. After a couple of performances I told my wife if they weren't going to feature country music I was going to turn it over. I couldn't even wait until the next group was done. I turned the channel to watch a baseball game I wasn't interested in.

I grew up on country music. Real country music. Although I enjoy a wide variety of music styles today, if I want to hear country I want to hear real country, not this stuff today's singers sing pretending to be country. I heard three acts on the CMA, none of which I considered to be country.

However, I noticed something before turning the channel. As the cameras scanned the audience the young people were singing along with the singers. They knew the words of the songs, and they were connecting to the music. As I thought about that after turning the channel I realized this is the same thing many of our churches are dealing with today.

Like many church members today I grew up singing hymns out of the old hymnals. These were songs that often had theological depth and were very meaningful. The stories behind many of these songs also touch our hearts. As we sing these great hymns of the faith we are often flooded with thoughts that remind us of past blessings. For many of us, this is music by which one can worship God.

But, a large number of young people, those we claim we want to reach with the Gospel, do not share our memories and our connections to these hymns. These songs do not have the same meaning to them as they do to us Senior Saints. If they've been in church chances are they sing to words on a screen, not looking down at a book. A couple of years ago I took one of my grandsons to church with me. He had never seen a hymnbook and didn't know how to use one. He knew none of the songs we sang because the church he attends doesn't sing those songs.

After all these years, some churches are still fighting the "worship wars." I'm not sure our music styles don't divide us more today than theological differences. Larger churches can offer more than one worship service offering different music styles in each service. Smaller churches would struggle doing that. Many of them would not have the talent needed to have two quality services with different styles of music. More than that, many of them would not want contemporary music in their church because it "isn't real worship music."

Rick Warren wrote years ago that once a church determined it's music style it had determined it's audience. I don't think we should abandon the old hymns of the faith, but I also think it is wrong to ignore the reality that for many people newer styles of music will  enable them to worship far more effectively than the hymns. Are you willing to exclude these people from your church because they prefer a different style of music.

Let's end the worship wars. Decide what music style your church will offer and accept the results of that choice. If you choose to only sing hymns and refuse to allow other forms of worship music into your church, that's fine. Just don't complain that your church is getting greyer and smaller each year. That will be the natural consequence of that choice.

I may not like the new forms of country music, but a lot of people do. I wouldn't buy a CD from the few acts I saw singing at the CMA, but millions of people do. And...it's not about me. The country music industry is reaching out to a new audience with different tastes in country music. I wonder what that says about the church and our ongoing worship wars.

Are you looking for training for your bivocational ministers?

I had a conversation Monday with a denominational leader who had just finished reading one of my books on bivocational ministry. He wanted to know if I could lead a seminar for the bivocational ministers in his denomination? We talked about the ones I've led for numerous pastor groups in the past, and he requested more information on those seminars. As I was sending him that information it dawned on me that I have not said anything publicly about these in some time.

The one for which I receive the most requests is "The Healthy Small Church" which is based on my book by the same title. This seminar has been done for eight different denominations and several state conventions. After discussing some of the myths people believe about smaller churches we look at some of the benefits a small church offers. We then examine some of the potential problems that can exist in smaller churches and how to address them. The seminar ends by examining some initial steps a church can take to become healthier.

The second most requested seminar is "Bivocational Ministry for the 21st Century." Material for this one comes out of the several books I've written specifically on bivocational ministry and my own experiences as a bivocational pastor for 20 years. We look at the growing numbers of bivocational ministers across denominations and why that number is likely to continue to grow. We study some of the advantages and disadvantages of bivocational ministry and some of the challenges faced by all ministers today. I talk about how one can prepare for bivocational ministry. One of the most important aspects of this seminar is the time we look at how important it is that bivocational ministers maintain balance in their lives. I conclude this seminar by affirming the call to bivocational ministry in a person's life.

Another seminar that I am sometimes asked to present is "Transforming the Small Church from Maintenance-Minded to Missional." In this seminar we compare maintenance-minded churches to missional churches and how churches can move to a more missional perspective. We look at the life-cycle of churches and the eventual result of remaining maintenance-minded. A key component of this seminar examines how to introduce change to a church, and especially how to deal with the controllers that are in many churches regularly opposing change. We spend time looking at the importance of a church having a God-given vision and ways to begin to discern that vision if the church does not have one.

Other seminars I've led are "The Healthy Pastor" and "Finding Balance in Ministry."

These seminars have been presented to pastor groups from eight different denominations, several state conventions and even individual churches. I've led them for groups as small as 12 people and to groups that numbered in the hundreds. Many times during the breaks I've had pastors come to me and ask how I knew their churches so well. Bivocational ministers are my heroes, and I love working with them and adding value to their lives and ministries.

Each of these seminars are developed for a six hour presentation. I have also reduced them to a half-day presentation and even a one-hour workshop. Of course, the smaller time frames means we present less material. For that reason I prefer the all-day seminar, but these other options are available to fit your needs.

If you believe that one of these would benefit the bivocational ministers and small church leaders in your organizations, please contact me for more information. I would love to get your meeting on my calendar.

A major problem facing bivocational ministers

No blog post can address all the problems and challenges faced by bivocational ministers. However, I do want to address one issue that two bivocational ministers talked to me about last week. The first minister called me from Missouri to talk about a problem he was having in his church. The other met me at a coffee shop in my community while he and his wife visited here over the weekend. The issue was the lack of discipleship in their churches.

What was interesting to me was that both were from different denominations. One was serving in his first church while the other was a more seasoned pastor. Yet, they were dealing with the same issue. The coffee shop conversation covered more than just the discipleship issue, but it was one of the topics we addressed.

How does a bivocational minister disciple people in his or her church in addition to all the other responsibilities he or she has? It is a challenge, but it is one we must meet. The Great Commission includes both evangelism and discipleship, and we must not ignore either one.

It is also a task that is very difficult because many Christians do not want to be discipled. They want to be saved and involved in the life of the church, but they are not interested in being discipled. Sunday morning worship is enough for these individuals, and that is not enough to disciple anyone.

What I told the individuals who talked to me last week about this issue is the same thing I've told countless pastors in conferences I've led around the US and Canada. You have to ride the horses that want to run. Whipping a dead horse won't make it go any faster, and trying to disciple someone who doesn't want to be discipled won't work. You may only have a handful in your church that want to grow deeper in their relationship with God, and these are the folks you need to invest your time in. You love everyone; you pastor everyone, but you invest yourself in those who want to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Doing this might bring you grief. You will be accused of having favorites in the church, of having a clique that you spend all your time with while ignoring rest of the congregation. Hopefully, you won't be ignoring anyone, but it will seem like it to some when they see you spending more time with others than with them. If the ones complaining are among the controllers in the church it can bring even more grief. They are used to causing problems for the pastor, and if they are in the role of controller it's because the church allows them to be in that role.

If you do find yourself accused of ignoring some while spending more time with others, invite them to attend your next discipleship event. If you are using small groups make sure they know they are always welcome to participate. Chances are they won't, but the next time they complain about you not spending more time with them you can remind them they were invited to meet with you and the others who they feel are getting all your attention.

Many smaller churches have a poor track record of discipling their members. The revolving-door pastorate that occurs in many of these churches is one reason. Another is that many of those attending these churches are older and may feel they've already been discipled even if they haven't. If the church has had a number of bivocational pastors who didn't feel they had to time to disciple anyone it's possible there has been no real discipleship done in the church in years. That's why it's so important to be very intentional about offering discipleship opportunities to everyone in the church and then providing it for those who want it.