Balanced Discipleship: The Ancient Call of the Great Commission to the Church Today

By Justin Campbell

The data is in … more and more people are leaving the church.  We've worked hard at creating better programs, better music, and better sermons, but it's not enough. This is in stark contrast to the global church that is growing exponentially. What are they doing differently? What can we learn? In Matthew 28 Jesus does not ask us to go into the world and make great church services, he tells us to go into the world and make disciples. Campbell takes a deep dive into the Great Commission, exploring Jesus' balanced model of discipleship, and giving us practical tools to apply to our local church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Mar 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666755824

Justin Campbell

Justin Campbell is an Australian based Pastor, and Church Planter with over 20 years of ministry experience. He is a missional church leader, called to encourage faith communities to live out their calling to be disciple-makers in holistic and tangible ways. 

Book preview

SECTION 1: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE EARLY CHURCH?

CHAPTER 1: A PUZZLING PROBLEM

The gospel is like a seed planted within a community. We pray that seed grows into a tree, its roots deep in fertile soil. So that one day, the tree will produce its own fruit and spread more seed. The process continuing through generations. However, there are a few questions to consider: Can these trees die? Can the gospel be lost not just to an individual but to an entire community? Even more so, can the Christian faith be lost to an entire region of the world?

ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME?

It all starts at Pentecost when Jews and God fearers from all over the world came to Jerusalem. Peter gave a sermon in which many were converted then went back home, moving outward from Jerusalem. Now, there’s a common saying that all roads lead to Rome, which at the time displayed the control and safety Rome exhibited for those traveling through the empire. From Jerusalem down the ancient Persian Royal Road that ran from southwestern Iran through Babylon and onto northern Mesopotamia.¹ This is how the gospel spread.

The Bünting Clover Leaf

Drawn by German theologian Heinrich Bünting (

1545

–

1606

), in his book Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae (Travel book of Holy Scripture) in

1581.

(Public domain image.)

And the word Christian? The phrase Christian was coined in Antioch (Acts 11:26), which sits on the Orontes River. Antioch was a city where ancient trade routes connected. They ran from the Mediterranean to Persia and onto central Asia. In the Middle Ages the Silk Road formed, running from Syria into northern Persia and onto modern-day Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The road continued, further crossing the Oxus River, or the Amu Darya, reaching Bukhara and Samarkand, ultimately, ending in China.²

Why is this important? Well, these were the roads that allowed the gospel seed to be spread through many towns and cities across the East.

Even after the Arab conquests that lasted from 633–750 there were vibrant Christian communities in the East. By the 800s the Christian church was truly cemented in central Asia, China, and India.³ As late as the eleventh century, Asia was called home by at least a third of all Christians in the world.

The church was vibrant in Northern Africa, with major cities of the time, like Carthage in Tunisia, being filled with churches. The early church father Tertullian (ca. 160–240) wrote to the Roman governor, stating,

The Christians of Carthage that just yesterday were few in number now, have filled every place among you—cities, islands, fortresses, towns, market-places, tribes, companies, palaces, senate, forum: we have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods. (Apologeticus, written at Carthage, ca.

197

)

By 1250 the church’s reach extended from Constantinople to Samarkand (southeastern Uzbekistan, on the Silk Road), heading south through Africa, almost reaching the equator, and stretching from Alexandria to the desert of Ogaden in modern-day Ethiopia.⁴

If you’ve traveled to Europe it’s no doubt you’ve seen the countless number of beautiful churches, which give testimony to this expansion. Yet through the early church more Christians journeyed east into modern-day Iraq and Iran, where even more beautiful and enduring churches were formed.

Through the thirteenth century, Mesopotamia and Iraq retained their vibrant Christian culture with deep spirituality, scholarly works, and multitudes of churches and monasteries. During the Middle Ages, Iraq was as much a Christian heartland as France, Germany, or even Ireland.⁵

The first Christian kingdom was called Osroene. Its capital, Edessa, was located in modern-day Turkey. Their king converted to Christianity around the year 200, which was over a hundred years before Constantine’s conversion. This Christian kingdom reached its height under the Bagratid rulers. The royal capital of Ani became one of the great cities of the Christian faith. Today, there are numerous ruins of cathedrals, churches, basilicas, and monasteries, giving it the nickname the city of 1,001 churches.⁶

The health and vibrancy of the church can also be seen outside of Europe in Ethiopia. The beginning of the Ethiopian church can be found in Acts 8:26–40, after Philip encountered the Ethiopian eunuch. By 340 the center of the Ethiopian kingdom was Aksum. For the next three centuries the Bible and liturgy were translated into the local dialect of Ge'ez. From the late fifth century, a version of monastic Christianity had become very popular. So much so that when European explorers arrived in the seventeenth century, they were astonished at the Christian devotion.⁷

In the East, Babylon was succeeded by the twin cities of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. It was the largest city in the world during the 400s. By 550, Cosmas the Monk, a Greek merchant, stated,

And so likewise among the Bactrians and Huns and Persians, and the rest of the Indeans, Persarmenians, and Medes and Elamites, and throughout the whole land of Persia there is no limit to the number of churches with bishops and very large communities of Christian people, as well as many martyrs and monks also living as hermits.⁸

We have the story of the three pious monks who in 1503 were sent by their bishop to India, the islands around Java, modern-day Indonesia, and China. Scholars even believe that while the Christian faith was never a dominant religion in Southeast Asia, it was extremely possibly that Nestorian Christians went to Burma, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Korea. In the Far East they had few issues with other faith traditions.⁹

History shows us a thriving church in the Middle East, Northern Africa, and even the Far East. Yet, what happened? I have a friend living in Northern Africa, not far from Carthage. He mentioned that in his city of about one hundred thousand there would be about ten Christians, including expats. This is a far cry from the bustling early church.

What happened to these plants, why did they die, what happened to their seeds? What happened to the church in these parts of the world, why do we consider large parts of these countries as unreached people groups?

There’s no way around it, the church in the West is unhealthy. For the vast majority of people in the United States (US), the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand there’s a transitioning in worldview. It’s a postmodern individualist relativism mixed with humanism, which means each person decides their own relative truth as long as it doesn’t affect other people negatively.

This throws societies into a state of confusion as they try to search for the truth but are unable to do so because everyone has their own version of truth. However, we can’t have a conversation about this until we take a step back and analyze how we can do church better.

THE DECLINE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST

In 2021 the Australian Census gave us some insight into the church’s cultural relevance within Australian society. It is the first time less than half the Australian population identified themselves as Christians with only 43.9 percent of the population marking the Christian box.¹⁰ Keep in mind it’s not the last census but the last ten that have shown a concerning trend.

The number of people who identify as Christian has declined by about 17 percent in the last ten years. Conversely, the number of people who identify as nonreligious has risen by about 17 percent, meaning people are not converting to another faith but are simply turning away from theirs.¹¹

This decline is maximized when we relate it to age. The 2016 Australian census demonstrates more than 33 percent of twenty-five- to thirty-four-year-olds say they have no religion, compared with 19 percent of those aged 65–74.¹² This shows that younger generations are leaving the church, especially when they get to the age of independence.

Regular church attendance has also been declining over the past few decades and has more than halved in the last forty years. According to McCrindle Research, fewer than one in seven Australians who marked Christianity on their census forms regularly attend church.¹³

It’s a similar story in Britain. The largest denomination, the Church of England, is in the midst of rapid change, with a decline of 2 percent per year, or about 850,000 people, who no longer affiliate themselves. This prompted the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, to warn its members that they are

a generation away from extinction.¹⁴

In Canada, 80 percent of the population claim to believe in God yet only 13 percent attend church on any given Sunday. This shows us that Canadians haven’t given up on God per se, but have given up on the church.¹⁵

If we turn our gaze to the US, the Southern Baptist denomination released a report during their 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM). Their denomination lost one million members in the last ten years.¹⁶ A frightening number because over the years the evangelical church has been claiming that the overall decline in church attendance was due to liberal denominations. As they like to say, If we stay true to the Bible then our numbers will stay healthy.

We should stick with sound biblical teaching, but what does it mean when so many are leaving the church even though the truth is still preached?

Pew Research Center in the US conducted a survey in 2018/19 and found that

65

% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, [this is] down

12

percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular, now stands at

26

%, up from

17

% in

2009

.¹⁷

In raw numbers, over the last decade we can see an increase of approximately thirty million people who do not identify as Christian, along with a major drop in church attendance.

In

2019

, approximately

3,000

Protestant churches were started in the U.S., but

4,500

Protestant churches closed, according to estimates from Nashville-based Lifeway Research.¹⁸

This decline spans across all demographics: Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, men and women alike, in all regions of the United States. From college graduates to those with lower levels of education and across generations. And this is only getting more profound with young generations. According to the Arizona Christian University Cultural Research Center only 2 percent of Americans aged eighteen to twenty-nine have what they describe as a biblical worldview.¹⁹

It’s official, the church is declining, but why?

McCrindle Research asked irregular and non-church-going Australians that question. The research indicates that

•

47

% don’t go because "it’s irrelevant to my life"

•

26

% don’t go because they "don’t accept how it’s taught"

•

24

% don’t go because of the "outdated style"

•

22

% have "issues with the clergy/ministers"

•

19

% simply "don’t believe the Bible"

•

18

% are just "too busy to attend."²⁰

Obviously, this decline is not true for all churches. Some do very well. In Sydney, Australia, no church has had greater numerical success than Hillsong Church, but even pastor Brian Houston believes the global church needs to change. Houston wrote an open letter in reference to the Australian 2016 census, saying,

Are we witnessing the demise of Christianity and the church in our country? I don’t believe so. Despite these census statistics there are life-giving churches all over the country that are growing, youthful, and clearly meeting the very real needs of people. The gospel message is timeless and should not be tampered with; but for the church, the methods simply must change to keep pace with society’s desperate cry for authenticity and a deeper meaning in life. The Christian message is one of love and acceptance, and must replace the sense of hatred, fear, and cynicism that the world is experiencing at the moment. . . . No matter what the denomination or name above our doors, the Australian church that believes in Jesus Christ, must show more commitment to the real issues. We must help people to find a sense of belonging, meet physical and spiritual needs, and speak life-giving messages that connect with people’s everyday lives.²¹

Houston is right when he says the methods must change to meet societal needs for authenticity and meaning. What he suggests can be achieved through almost any form of church no matter the liturgy. The church should reflect the culture of its local community, becoming students seeking to contextualize the never-changing message of the gospel. In doing so, we may be better equipped to reach those neighborhoods in which we serve.

While the church in the West is in decline, the Global South looks a little different. Let’s shift our gaze to the Global South and see how they’re different.

THE RISE OF THE CHURCH IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

There has been a global shift in the Christian church; one which shows the church growing rapidly in the Global South. Philip Jenkins explains,

The center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. . . . If we want to visualize a typical contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela.²²

The Pew Research Center complied a report on the global church and its size across the world. They reported that today the Global South is home to approximately 1.3 billion Christians, making up 61 percent of all Christians globally.²³ This has been an enormous shift in the Christian landscape. Africa is a perfect demonstration of the change over the last hundred years:

In

1900

, Africa had an estimated

8

,

756

,

000

Christians primarily in Ethiopia and South Africa. Making