Jesus; Lord or Savior

This article from April, 1974 had wider implications than it seems on the surface. Ken's premise is that people need to take their conversion seriously. All too often conversion is the end result in Evangelicalism. Ken rightly states that we must take the Lordship of Jesus seriously. The end result is meant to be the creation of disciples, not merely converts. In 1971-1973, I was a member of a Bible Study that met on the Amphibious Base in Coronado. At one point a Commander joined the study. I asked him, "When did you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?" He said, "Oh, don't misunderstand. I have not accept Him as my Lord. I have just accepted Him as my Savior." My understanding is much like Ken's in the article, Lord and Savior are part of the same package. The article is a good discussion of this issue. It is also somewhat innocuous.


The problem lay in what disciplers would become. Most observers of the church -- and many ex members -- believe that we had a problem with some people having too much authority. The idea of some people being trained in discipleship is actually an accepted part of Evangelical practice. However, in our venue, discipleship could take on more than merely indoctrination into living the Christian Life. It was not just the Eldership that may have stepped over the line. It also happened sometimes in this area of discipleship. Of course, some may remember the "Shepherding" Movement under Bob Mumford. The idea was that everyone had someone over them to shepherd them. It was almost like a military movement. Some of our discipleship looked a lot like this.


Having pointed this out, I don't believe that this became an overwhelming issue. The Eldership and Ken were aware of the problems. We attempted to "self correct" the problem before it became endemic.