Here’s the video of a ten-minute conversation about the importance of discipleship and living The Invested Life that I recently had with a pastor and friend in California. I hope you’ll take some time to watch it, think about it, and share it with others. And I’d really love your thoughts on it. You can either post your comments on our Epicenter Team page on Facebook, or send me a quick note on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg.

Executive summary: Every Christian needs to be able to answer two simple questions: 1) Who is investing in you? and 2) In whom are you investing?

How would you answer those questions? In the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to go and “make disciples of all nations,” beginning with our own nation. Sadly, the American Church is experiencing an epic failure of discipleship. Most older believers are not spiritually investing in the lives of younger believers. Indeed, many pastors are not modeling ministries based on 2 Timothy 2:2, in which Paul — and older, wiser pastor and church planter — told Timothy, a young pastor, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” By and large we’re failing to model and transmit Biblical truth and Christ-like character and a passion for evangelism, personal, in-depth discipleship, and church planting to the next generations. Thus the American Church is weak and in desperate need of revival and our nation is increasingly at risk not simply of decline but outright collapse or implosion.

In many ways, my recent book that I co-wrote with Dr. T.E. Koshy — The Invested Life: Making Disciples of All Nations One Person At A Time – is a corollary or a companion to Implosion. Put it another way, Implosion describes the sickness. The Invested Life describes the cure.

• Are we seeing a new focus on making disciples? New books by Rosenberg, Chan, Platt & Shahin are calling Church to discipleship
• To see the webcast of the eulogy I gave at Dr. Koshy’s funeral this past weekend describing his heart for discipleship, how he discipled me, and why we wrote this book together, please click here.
• To watch the full interview Pastor Ray Bentley did with me on discipleship, the Israeli elections, the future of the Middle East, etc, please click here