Being Who God Calls Us to Be- Are you up for it?

The idea presented in this video by Darrin Patrick is on that needs to be heard by many people in our churches today. Over the years churches have risen and died because of a lacking in discipleship. Granted there are always a couple of people here and there that take discipleship of younger generations seriously, but that number gets fewer and fewer as time rolls on. I can remember in my own childhood, after I publicly professed my salvation that I had a severe sense of being lost. In my mind I was saying, "I'm saved, now what do I do?" but the answer never seem to come. See, there were a wealth of great men in my church, many that came through later on, but there at the very start I had no one who told where to go from there. As a result, my spiritual life was stunted. I searched for a role model in other areas, like my older brother and his friends, and then people older than me in school. Time and time again they all failed me, and it led me down a path opposite of where God has called me, ending with me feeling completely lost in life. I won't continue to harp on my own experiences, but as always feel free to ask if you would like further detail.

Luckily, I was fortunate to find strong Christian leadership, but the problem is that many people have not or will not find that if trends continue. That is why one of my biggest passions in life is discipleship. Without that we end up with generations of men and women who have no idea how to carry on their faith, or as the video said, have no interest in doing so. As Darrin Patrick discusses in the video, we need leaders and pastors in the church who are up to the task of being an adult, not ones who are trying to prolong their adolescence. It is far from "lightly" that I say this... We need strong leadership from generation to generation, to teach, lead, and bring up the younger generations in the truth of God's word, so they may learn how to be the men and women God calls them to be. We are to follow the example of Christ, bringing people up in his teachings.

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."- (Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV)

I echo the final words of the video, this comes from me just as much as it came from Darrin Patrick in the video, "I don't want anyone to have a bigger dream for my church, and my city, than I do."

If we fail to do this, our churches will stand only as a testament to what they once were.