THINGS TO COME An Interview with Marty Baker
THE SHAPE OF
From your role as a lead pastor, what are some of the major changes you have seen in your lifetime in how local churches approach discipleship ministries?
In my 22 years as lead pastor at Ste- vens Creek Church of God, I have seen a gradual shift in our discipleship from a Sunday school focus to a small-group focus and now to a hybrid that includes a small-group approach along with oppor- tunities of service. This new generation wants to be involved in doing the minis- try, not just being on the receiving end of someone else’s ministry. As a result of this shift, we see spiritual growth and disciple- ship occurring as people serve.
What promise do you see within those shifts? And what perils? When people serve, they take on ownership of the ministry. At this point, they can say, “This is my church.” They feel responsible to serve Christ in a way that brings honor to God. This simply means that they bear the responsibility to become “self-feeders.” At times in my past, I have seen myself as the spiritual chef preparing the spiritual meals for my congregation. As a result, too many of the people failed to develop a personal spiri- tual growth plan. Discipleship became a Sunday and Wednesday exercise instead of an everyday adventure.
20 EVANGEL | November 2010
The problem with this type of disciple- ship strategy is that people become stag- nant in their development. They look at the church only as a place created to meet their needs and not as a place for seekers to find Christ. The Church must do both. Our services must be more than a blessing buffet for lazy believers. The services must be Spirit-filled in our worship expression, but at the same time our churches must encourage people to use all of the spiritual gifts in the congregation to serve Christ and His church.
In the 1980s, we had a revival of the “Word.” People studied the Bible like never before. We sang the Scriptures in our worship choruses. We created banners with Bible verses on them. The emphasis on the Bible was incredible, but many people became hearers, not doers of the Word. The Word of God is active and, like- wise, true disciples must be actively living out the principle of God’s Word. Our dis- cipleship process created sedentary saints. This new generation is calling us to get off our spiritual sofa, roll up our sleeves, and do the work of the ministry. It is in the doing that they grow and mature.
At Stevens Creek, how do you approach the training of new believers in the faith of the church? What does your process for discipleship look like? At Stevens Creek, is Christian educa-
tion approached primarily through Sunday school/discipleship classes . . . or small groups . . . or something alto- gether different?
The discipleship strategy at Stevens Creek focuses on a growth track. We see spiritual development as a process. We have not arrived, but we are becoming the people God created us to be. Our focus is to turn people into fully devoted followers of Christ. This begins with creating a spiri- tual environment that encourages lost people to come to church. We must be open to outsiders. As these pre-Christians come through our doors, we work to com- municate the message of Christ in a way they can understand.
Once a person accepts Christ as their personal Savior, we ask them to take the next step and be baptized in water. We provide a baptism class that explains what it means to go public with your faith. Last year we baptized over 150 people through this process. At the baptism class we encourage people to join the church. To become a member, they must attend a class on a Sunday afternoon. This class helps them understand what we believe and how they can take their next step. At the conclusion of the class we encourage new members to do two things: (1) join a small group and (2) sign up to volunteer in one of our ministries. We believe that life change takes place best in
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