Making Disciples Is More Important Than Making Members

Making Disciples is More Important than Making Members

Luke 9:57-62

Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

Luke 9:57 As they were going on the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow

You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the

birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59

And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and

bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead;

but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also

said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at my

home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and

looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

In the 1990s, I read a fabulous book titled “Teaching the Elephants to Dance.” I used

this book in my leadership seminars for a couple of reasons. First, the title is cool and

will grab your attention. You’re probably wondering what such a book could be about?

It is a book about leadership and how to move organizations that are stuck. The book

was written for businesses, but it applies to volunteer organizations and frankly any

organization. The church is no exception, for it is a volunteer organization. I know that

might sound strange to some of you but think about it, people that are doing the work

of Christ in churches are volunteers.

So, what was in this book that was so important. The organization I was holding

leadership seminars for was a nonprofit volunteer organization in Pennsylvania. The

organization had become stagnant and was losing membership at 3.5% per year. The

problem with the leadership of the organization was that they did not recognize that

this was happening even though it started in 1958. In 1958, all volunteer organizations,

including the church, started to see a drop in their membership and participation. The

trend of 3.5% continued all the way through the 1990s. Now I can’t tell you what’s

going on in the 21st century because I’ve had no reason to do that research. However,

in 2008, when I was putting together my data for my Doctor of Ministry degree, I

noticed that membership was still dropping in almost all the churches in the United

Methodist Church in the Susquehanna conference.

So, what did the book actually talk about, and how do we apply it to what Jesus said in

Luke chapter 9 verses 57 to 62? The author explained how elephants are taught to

dance. What that means is when an elephant is born they tie one of its legs to a pole so

that when the elephant goes to move it can only go so far. After some time, when the

elephant is shackled to the pole, it won’t move. After a bit of time, the elephant will not

move unless a trainer tugs on the elephant. All this training is done so that when the

elephants are brought into the big top in a circus, they will stand where the trainer puts

them. This is also a metaphor for businesses and volunteer organizations that like to

avoid change at any cost.

The evolution of the church from what it was in the 1940s and 50s to what it is today

has to change. However, that evolution did not occur in most cases. In the area of

Pennsylvania that I live in, the independent churches that do not have a legacy and are

not stuck in the same old ways that don’t work are growing like gang busters. The

establishment church is what we call the mainline churches, are not doing so well. Those

churches are still doing things the same old way. That has to stop unless those churches

want to disappear.

One of the pushes in my area was to bring in new members. There was no concern

whether we were bringing in new disciples for Jesus Christ, but rather the church

hierarchy wanted numbers. The problem is when you just bring in numbers of people,

and you do not make them disciples, all you’ve done is created a number of members.

These members will be apathetic to the church, and you’ll see them perhaps when they

become members of the church or even when baptized in the church, but then you

won’t see them again.

When I was talking to the volunteer organization in the mid-90s, I asked is it better to

have members or better to have disciples. It took some discussion to get them to realize

that it’s more important to have faithful members who were dedicated to doing the