Every church has outliers—people who don’t quite fit the mold. I’m not talking about unbelievers who try out church for a while but then leave because they don’t actually love Jesus. I’m talking about zealous Christians, passionate believers, people who would much rather feed the poor than listen to yet another sermon.

For years, I’ve been troubled by how many churches spend money—God’s money, as we call it. When I’m in church, I often look around at all the sound equipment, chandeliers, carpets, decorations, and everything else that’s “necessary” to pull off a church service week after week. I’m not a troublemaker, so I usually keep my mouth shut. But I’ve often wondered: Is all this stuff necessary for discipleship? Are there other ways that we could spend our money that would more effectively further the kingdom of God? If we pulled way back on our church expenses, would we be able to send more missionaries overseas? Or rescue little girls from sex-trafficking? Or help the poor around us?

That title makes me think of a killer Pearl Jam song from the mid-nineties. Or was it the late nineties? Can’t remember. That era of my life is a blur for various chemical reasons. 

Before we dive in, I want to thank you all for offering helpful feedback during this series. Through Tweets and DM’s, comments and texts, emails and phone calls, my thinking has been tremendously shaped by people interacting with my posts.

I guess this could be subtitled “part 4” of my current series. But since I’m shifting gears a bit, I decided to let it sit as a stand alone, yet related, blog. After reading my first post in the series, my friend Derwin Gray Tweeted me a message saying that the flood of Millennials leaving the church is largely a white problem.

In my last post, I pointed out that millennials (18-29 year olds) are fleeing the church. Again, it’s not that I’ve based this on a few anecdotal stories. It’s not that I’ve read one or two surveys that have argued this. The evidence is overwhelming,

There’s no dispute. There are no conflicting reports. They all independently show—and anecdotal evidence confirms—that millennials who grew up in the church are leaving the church in droves According to Rainer Research, 70% of youth, who were active in youth group, leave the church by the time they’re 22 years old. 

I want to talk about why millennials are fleeing the church in droves. But first, let’s circle back around to a question I raised at the end of a blog last week. Regarding discipleship, I said: “I wonder if we’ve elevated certain pet aspects of personal morality over communal and social action.”

Defining discipleship can be tricky. We say we want to “become more like Jesus” but we interpret Jesus through a cultural lens of American Christian values.

I’m writing a book on discipleship that’s tentatively titled “The State of Discipleship in the Church.” (I'm sure I'll find a much sexier title than that, but it's what we've got for now.) So I’ve been knee-deep in all the discipleship books and statistical surveys as I try to get my arms and heart around the topic. 

One of projects I’m working on is a book about the state of discipleship in the American evangelical church. What is discipleship? Are we making disciples? What is working? What isn’t working? How do we know if it’s working?

One of the most heated debates in churches these days is how to school your kids. Public schoolers argue on missional grounds that kids can’t reach the world unless they’re in the world. Christian schoolers respond that kids can’t be ready for the world unless they’re equipped with a Christian worldview. 

I’ve spent the last month working through two brilliant books by Christian philosopher, James K. A. Smith: Desiring the Kingdomand Imagining the Kingdom. After reading these books, the Center for Pastoral Theologians,