Today in much of the post-modern era church, the ethic of Utilitarianism is alive, well, and growing in unconscious popularity. Mills and Bentham I’m sure would feel right at home in many of these churches, as they may be comforted by the “using” for the “greater good” that they would find there.
You see, no longer should the Shepherd leave the many to seek out the few. No, the church should now be focused on ascribing the value of the individual based upon their merits in contributing to the overall utility. Basically meaning that you are only worth as much as you are able to contribute to the mission of the church in which you are involved. The church, in its activities, will only focus its energies on developing the individual Christian inasmuch as it believes it will benefit the greater good for the greatest number of people in the community of that church.
This sounds very good to most, when really it shouldn’t. It’s the unconscious effect of the ethic of Utilitarianism, which indeed sounds appealing until you consider the consequences. The consequences of forgetting that the command in Matthew 28:19-20 wasn’t just to “go”, but was to go and “make disciples”. Most of the energies of such churches are focused instead on another “d” word–”decisions” for Christ. Once that “decision” is made, the greater good has been fulfilled. As a new Christian you can be certain that opportunities for discipleship, evangelism training (so that you in turn have a biblical context from which to go and make disciples of those whom God has placed in your life), and even learn of simple steps to get you started on your spiritual journey will be few if not nonexistent.
Never mind Jesus’ parable of the seed ( Luke 8:7-8 ) that fell on the rocks and withered due to lack of moisture (spiritual nourishment) or was choked out by thorns (ideologies of the world). No, such seeds are suppose to go out and invite their friends to join them in their rocky or thorny soil so the church can “reach” more people.
Must we be reminded that only those who stand firm until the end will be the ones who see Christ ( Mark 4:13 )? You see, if you aren’t making disciples, then you really aren’t reaching anyone. Instead you are “reaching” people with a message that doesn’t even get them started on the journey, and which leaves them to be choked out by the thorns of life just as soon as they think they were starting to make their way.
So next time you are asked to take part in helping someone make a “decision” for Christ, listen intently to hear if there is any follow-up. Ask yourself (or ask them if they even make themselves available to you) “what’s the next step after I invite my friend to church and they make this decision?”. If you hear no answer, then your church isn’t interested in making disciples, but is instead (mostly due to their ignorance) intent on growing something built on sand.
Don’t so quickly abandon the Gospel for what seems exciting and satisfying. Instead remember that Christ spent most of his ministry time pouring his life into only 12 men, which in turn were directly/indirectly responsible for us hearing the message that their Christ died so that those who would believe in him would be saved.