Discussion On The Dichotomy Between Active And Passive Christians

The dichotomy I see most prevalent in the church today is between active disciples and passive Christians. We know that the Bible teaches that all Christians are disciples and all disciples are Christians. However, vast numbers of people quickly identify themselves as Christians but are slower to recognize themselves as disciples. Once while speaking about discipleship, I asked the audience of 100+ long time Christians/church-goers to raise their hand if they considered themselves Christians. Immediately every hand shot up. I then asked for those who considered themselves disciples of Christ to raise their hands. A few raised their hands while others first looked around the room before slowly raising their hands. Many kept their hands in their laps. Obviously some of this is due to a confusion over the terms, but I believe it reveals a gap in the church's teaching on what it means to follow Christ and thus to become a disciple and Christian.

I've heard many invitations to become a Christian and subsequent teaching about what a Christian is that leave out the Biblical mandate to be a disciple. (As a side note, I must clarify that I am referring to those who identify themselves as Christians and may even 'look' Christian but who lack the depth of commitment that comes from being a deny-yourself-daily disciple of Jesus) That being said, I must say that there has been a turn around in the church and a re-focusing on Jesus' call to be disciples. What the church is now discovering is that there are specific things that the church needs to restructure before it can build a culture of discipleship instead of consumer-driven Christians looking to be