Interview with Ajith Fenando

Ajith Fernando is the teaching director of Youth for Christ
in Sri Lanka.Alongside his wife, he ministers mainly to
the urban poor. Discipleshipis a mainstay of Ajith’s
ministry. (Personal note: Ajith’scommentary on
the book of Acts in the NIV Application series has been
a great encouragement to me.)

The following interview centers around Discipling in 
a Multicultural World.  The interview was conducted
 by David George Moore. Some of Dave’s teaching videos
 can be found at www.mooreengaging.com.

Moore: Would you first tell us how your country is
doing in light of the
 Easter day massacres?

Fernando: In addition to the many who died,
many others have beenaffected. Many, especially
 in the tourist industry, are without jobs’ as
 tourists have stopped coming to Sri Lanka.
Some have been blinded,maimed, or paralyzed.
A youth in the Youth for Christ soccer ministry
has lost a leg. The sister of one of our staff members
has severe braininjuries. The challenge of caring for those
 affected is as acute as ever.

Sadly, extremists from the majority community seized the
angerfollowing the massacres to push their agenda that is
 hostile to all minorities in Sri Lanka, not only Muslims.
There is a lot of confusionamong the people and national
leaders in response to the bombings,even though Christians
(who were most affected) bore good witness to Christ by
 generally not acting in vengeful ways.

Moore: What were the motivating factors that led you to
write this book?

Fernando: I have become very worried recently about
 the lack of a
culture of care for people within the church. People often come
 to churchas consumers to receive blessings from the service,
 but many do nothave anyone to help them personally as they
 seek to follow Christ.

This is a problem for Christian leaders and workers as
well as many don’t have leaders who care for their lives.
Discipling helps create an atmosphere where people can
 be personally helped in their walks with God. This, in turn,
helps them avoid a substandard Christian experience.
 If Christians have others they can go to when they face a
challenge, theycan be helped to weather the storm.
I know many people whose failure to live up to the
potential they once showed was triggered by an unwise
response to a challenge they faced!

Moore: A good friend recently told me that a man came
to him so he could be discipled. My friend has a “parachurch”
ministry. It was the pastor of a church who told this man that
the church does not reallyhave a discipleship ministry. Dallas
Willard used to say that he rarely saw churches committed to
 discipleship. Is the lack of interest in
discipleship a distinctly American problem or is it a much broader
 problem throughout the world?

Fernando: It is a problem all over the world. Everyone seems
 to talkabout the need for it, but few are willing to carve time out
of their busyschedules for the vital work of discipling. Even in
parachurch ministries with a history of emphasis on discipling,
 it is easy to gradually give lessand less time for discipling.
Moore: What are a few things that you have found most gratifying
 and most challenging in your own discipleship relationships?

Fernando: I have made a lot of mistakes along the way and
 have seen
 many failures in my discipling ministry. This has been painful.
 But I have learned a lot from these disappointments. In fact,
 I think that because of our personal weaknesses, it is important
 for those we disciple to be exposed to the influence of others also,
to fill up what is lacking in our input into their lives. The joy has
been seeing many people I’ve invested in thrive in both ministry
and so-called secular work. There are  few joys in ministry that
are greater than that of sitting at the feet of people you have
discipled and learning from them.

Moore: How can American churches better address the rabid
individualism that makes discipleship seem unimportant?

Fernando: One of the most counter-cultural aspects of Christianity
 today is its understanding of commitment within the body of
Christ. We are living in a fast-paced society characterized by
 disposable relationships, so people join groups and churches
as consumers and transfer to other groups and churches if they
offer a more attractive program. Many Christians don’t approach
the church with a biblicalattitude that says, “This is the family to
which I will belong, come what may,” or “I am part of a body to
which I am so linked that my actions and attitudes impact others
within the group.” Such biblical attitudes breed commitment
within churches.

If Christians rediscovered the idea of deep commitment to each other
with all the inconvenience it brings, they would be actively
concerned for the welfare of others within the group. Discipling
would be the natural outflow of such concern. How can we recover
 that commitment? I believe the key is for the leaders to be genuinely
committed to their people. If they show such concern for individuals,
 they help forge a culture which begets a similar concern. When
 the leaders die for the people, the people will die for the church.
 If the leaders are not discipling, it is unlikely that the people
will do it.

Moore: What are a few things you hope your readers gain from your
 book?

Fernando: 1. I hope it will nurture a culture of caring within the
church—where both mature and newer Christians seek the assistance
of other Christians to help them grow, and where mature Christians take
on the responsibility of caring for less mature Christians.

2. I hope that readers will discover the blessing and thrill of investing
3.  in others and will pay the price needed to help them grow.
4. Most people who need the Savior today, both in western and 
5. non-western cultures, find many Christian values quite alien to
6.  their thinking. I hope this book will help equip Christians for the 
7. cultural challenge of communicating Christian values to such people.
8. I hope that readers will be encouraged not to let the influence of celebrity culture, with its faulty overvaluing of fame and public ministry, cause them to neglect the great work of personal ministry, of battling for the souls of people.