Bridge.

In 1998, the Choluteca Bridge in Honduras was completed by a Japanese company. Its incredible design was meant to withstand hurricanes. And it did withstand the very next hurricane that hit the country. But today, that 36 million dollar bridge is no longer useful. When it was built, it spanned the Choluteca River. Today, after the hurricane, it spans a patch of dry land because the Choluteca River shifted its course. The bridge is now called the Bridge to Nowhere. The bridge was fine; but the course of the waterway shifted.

This is a great picture for the Christian church in America. In decades past, you only needed to put up a shingle for your church’s denomination and the faithful would flock for weekend services and midweek activities. But today, the river has shifted and the American Christian church stands strong but is not functioning as a bridge to the people of this world. We are still expecting that people will flock to the church if we have the right program or the right band or the right marketing scheme.

It’s time for the church to wake from slumber and recognize how to address our culture. Jesus gives us that ancient direction: “Go and make disciples!” (Matthew 28:19). In the past we simply needed to build an appropriate church building and they would come to its pews. But today, after years and years of inactive evangelists, we now are back to the base command for discipleship making. We are to go and make disciples but we may not be sure how this will happen.

In the past, the disciple making tool was a building and we could personally stand to the side and watch it work. But today, Jesus calls us to be the personal connection to the person. In the past, we let the “expert” pastor speak the Word of God at the appropriate time and in the appropriate place. But today, God calls us each to know the hope that we have and be willing to share it with another person whom God has connected with us.

The book, Joining Jesus on His Mission, gives us the biblical insight that discipleship making is much easier than we once thought. The Gospels are replete with insights on how this happens. Jesus did this by taking the Word of God and made it live. The Word is the tool and not a building.

He lived out kindness and the expression of God’s truth. He touched tortured lives and vanquished hearts. He engaged the lonely and the arrogant. In the end, as the Word of God incarnate, His connection with those disciples who were engaged with Him everyday, made such a stout impact that they were willing to duplicate the process.

In essence, they lived out the Word of God in the lives of other humans. Initially these were the downtrodden and the abused. But the ranks of disciples expanded beyond the defeated sector of humanity. It even touched the ranks of leaders like Nicodemus.

You already have the greatest tool for discipleship making: you have the Word of God. Let the Word of God instill confidence in you by the power of the Holy Spirit. And then be willing, at the appropriate time, to gently and lovingly share this life-giving Word with that person God has assigned to you.