Dropouts and disciples
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
— John 6:66-68, ESV
Last year, the number of church members who do not attend church services or offer other signs of spiritual life reached 65%. Southern Baptists are among the worst, as on any given Sunday 75% of our members cannot be accounted for.
During last century’s heyday of Billy Graham Crusades and local church revivals, 90% of persons making so-called professions of faith never followed up with baptism and membership in a local church.
The word “disciples” in John 6 is used about as loosely as the term “Christian” in our age. Titles and testimonies too often do not tally up. Thousands of people were following Jesus during His next to last Passover pilgrimage, but it became clear that their faith was superficial for selfish reasons. Once Jesus laid
out the gospel plain and clear, claiming absolute lordship and demanding real repentance and faith, the crowd began to drop out, for a variety of reasons.
Dropouts find the gospel is too “hard.” Not everyone is a United States Marine. The higher you try to climb on the educational ladder, the easier it is to quit before completion. And while there is no shame in not being a soldier or obtaining a Ph.D., it is a curse to put your hand to the gospel plow and then turn back.
Dropouts find the gospel is “offense(-ive).” The Greek word is “scandalon,” from whence we get our English word “scandal.” A scandal is an harmful, embarrassing, scandalous situation caused by someone’s sin. The cross of Christ is the greatest scandal in the history of the world, perpetrated by all of the sinners in the world against the Savior of God’s people.
Dropouts discover that the gospel is impossible for the “flesh” to “believe.” This prompted Jesus to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted by the Father.” There can be no faith in man apart from the grace of God.
Disciples, on the other hand, call on the name of the “Lord,” and mean it. Though the Bible tells us in both Covenants, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (ref. Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13), many who have said it throughout history never really meant it. At the end of the day, and at the end of every person’s life, what you say means nothing if not backed up by what you do or what you’ve done with your life. A disciple by definition is disciplined to take actions based on the doctrines of their mentor. In the case of Christianity, Christ has commanded many spiritual disciplines. He commands baptism, responsible church membership, holiness of life, generosity of spirit, witness of lips and life, and agape love. Disciples are never perfect in this life but always persistent, in keeping with the key doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.
Disciples hunger for “the word” of God, hear it and heed it. Those first 11 had a wonderful advantage, hearing the word of God from the Word of God face to face. They would stumble and fall but they would never fail to get back up and follow. They treasured God’s word above bread, above healing, above money, and just about any other thing. A body that refuses to eat is either sick or dead. So is a socalled disciple who has no desire for the Bible or biblical truth.
Disciples “believe” that Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be “the Holy One of God,” and live their lives accordingly. Jesus’ signs and the sayings send forth the message of the deity of Christ.
If Jesus is God, and He is, He made you. If Jesus is Lord, and He should be, He saved you. If you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, your life will show it, consistently and persistently. Disciples do not drop out. They drop everything else to be disciples. Find a church full of them and stick with them. Be a disciple, not a dropout.—Chuck DeVane is the pastor of Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs. He is a graduate of Valdosta State University, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has served churches in Arkansas and Georgia, and preached the gospel across the United States and other countries. Email him at pastorchuck@lakehamiltonbaptistchurch.org.