Six months of blog-writing offers many lessons, yet this tautology has become a refrain: Provocative writing provokes.

It’s extremely challenging to highlight misunderstandings without casting blame at some wing of Protestant Christianity. And it’s impossible to deliver hard-hitting prose without certain readers assuming motives (or even supplying them on websites not our own).

Why can’t it simply be enough to write, “I’ve seen an evil under the sun”? After all, the heart’s wickedness knows no bounds. What’s more, “our Adversary is rich in expedients,” as John Newton once wrote. Paul said it this way — “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man” (1 Cor. 10:13). In other words, within the Christian experience, temptation can be a universal phenomenon without it being the fault of a particular religious leader, or the conspiracy of a certain religious movement.

One such evil is this—Christians prefer to skip the long, hard road of daily discipleship for the quick and seemingly cathartic jolt of a singularly transformational experience. I call it Defibrillator Discipleship. I’m referring, of course, to the Hollywood meme wherein emergency medical personnel jolt a dying patient back to life through the miracle of electricity. And like Hollywood defibrillators, spiritual ones are just as imaginary.

True enough, God sometimes jolts with a powerful sermon, a revolutionary idea, or an intense ministry opportunity. These moments, however, become problematic when we reach for them instead of normal, daily growth. I’ll list two examples that are particular struggles for me.

First, when confronted with a difficult situation, it’s so much easier to call a confidant than it is to struggle through Bible study and prayer. I conveniently forget that God designs these trials so that the answer is not readily available. The second taps an insecurity I’ve heard other pastors share—we allow people to cling to our personalities rather than to Christ. Jesus said that the most profound expression of love is to feed the flock, not to build a following (John 21:15).

Beware of defibrillator discipleship in all its deceptive forms.

Perhaps the best antidote to defibrillator discipleship is a biblical understanding of how sanctification truly works.

Sanctification Comes from Daily Nourishment

Peter says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that you may grow up to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). A steady, day-by-day, appetite for God’s word results in steady growth. What if your six-month-old suddenly stopped growing, but eight months later came striding into the living room with a tattered onesie Incredible Hulk style? Not normal! Yet, sometimes we hope to grow with sudden leaps.

Jesus demands daily following (Luke 9:23). The Berean Christians demonstrated nobility by examining the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11). The apostles taught “every day” (Acts 5:42). The writer of Hebrews commands that we “exhort one another every day” (3:13). Daily nourishment, is the true story of sanctification, not merely a week of strong preaching from time to time.

God Alone Sanctifies

The Corinthians bickered over which Christian leader they preferred, and Paul demonstrates the sheer triviality of it all with, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7). Paul also prays, “may the God of peace sanctify you completely” (1 Thess. 5:23). Jesus says, “apart from me, you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). I realize, of course, that I’m walking dangerously close to traditional theological battlegrounds. God’s exclusive role in sanctification by no means reduces man’s responsibility to pursue righteousness (1 Tim. 6:11), but it does promote humility when change occurs.

God Sanctifies Through His Word

Jesus prays, “Sanctify them by your truth, your Word is truth” (John 17:17). Revisiting Peter’s comments, the sincere milk of the word grows the believer (1 Peter 2:2). Paul confirms, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). And herein lies the most challenging concept confronting defibrillator discipleship: neither personalities, programs, nor methods promote change. God alone sanctifies through His Word. Paul’s methods often fly in the face of our ministerial conceptions: he deliberately toned down his public delivery so that Corinthian faith “might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:4-5).

Transformation Takes Time

Paul uses the verb “transform” twice (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), each time in the present tense. Transformation, in other words, is an ongoing process not accomplished in fits and starts. A week at a Christian camp may ground a young believer, but it does not make for maturity. If the Apostle Paul took 14 years to prepare for gospel ministry and if the disciples spent 3 years following Jesus, we have to expect maturation to take time.

What are some signs we’ve been intoxicated by defibrillator discipleship? Allow me to list a few possibilities (some in this list are secretly self-diagnosis):

  • Expositional preaching becomes dull in the face of a worship experience.
  • We wish that our pastor preached more like our favorite evangelist or preferred radio personality.
  • Pastors assume that believers are mature simply because they involve themselves in church programs, verbally support the pastor’s agenda, or give to the material needs of the church.
  • We substitute real Christ-likeness for a public display of resolute commitment.
  • Ancillary organizations (Christian camps, colleges, youth programs, etc.) trump our commitment to the local church.
  • We assume that because we’re busy in ministry, we’re growing in grace.