Spiritual discipline or development, that is – discipleship, is crucial to a growing faith, a maturing relationship with the living Lord and a lifestyle of being the salt of the earth and a light to the world. Christian parents and the church have the primary responsibilities of teaching and modeling discipleship. I had the benefit of both during my formative years and sought to bequeath the same to our children.
In the book, Transformational Discipleship, the authors describe a “discipleship deficiency” that is plaguing the church today. I agree with their assessment. The results of a recent survey by LifeWay Research of Protestant churchgoers also confirmed this descriptor. Among the results were: (1) 19 percent read the Bible daily compared to 68 percent of pet owners who exercised their pets daily; (2) 48 percent pray daily compared to 49 percent of Americans who floss daily; and (3) 55 percent had not memorized a Bible verse in the past 6 months.
Included in his new book, A Legacy of Faith, Dr. Eugene Enlow, Pastor Emeritus of Louisville’s Beechmont Baptist Church, is a chapter on “Why the Church Still Matters.” He characterized this discipleship deficiency as an imbalance that stems from a dearth of sound teaching as well as church members’ lack of acknowledgment of the need for spiritual instruction. Enlow reminds us of the old six-point accountability system by which we checked whether or not we were on time and had studied the Sunday School lesson, had brought our bible and an offering, and were attending the worship service. When that system was abandoned, nothing replaced it to instill a sense of obligation, responsibility and commitment, thus, discipleship deficiency.
Henry Blackaby stated his assessment of the discipleship deficiency this way: “The heart of the Great Commission and discipleship is to teach them to practice everything I have commanded you … and if we want to have a resurgence in the Great Commission, there’s got to be a refocusing on the priorities of Christ for discipleship.”
At the heart of discipleship is financial stewardship about which Jesus had more to say than any other discipline. The mission of the KBF is to teach disciples of Jesus Christ how to obey the biblical mandates of financial stewardship, particularly estate stewardship. Please give us the privilege of assisting you in discipleship sufficiency through your estate plan.
The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.
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