Continuing our raw and unvarnished The Church of America blog: Let’s drop the niceties and get brutally honest—The discipleship programs in the Church of America are a complete and utter failure. They’re weak, shallow, and completely unfit for preparing Believers to face the real battles raging in our culture today. The Church needs a wake-up call, and it needs it now. If we don’t recognize the dire state of our so-called discipleship, we’ll continue to raise generations of spiritually illiterate Christians who are completely unprepared to face the cultural onslaught headed our way.
Buckle up — It’s time to strip away the facade and get down to the hard truth.
The Altar Call Illusion: Stop Patting Yourself on the Back
Let’s start with one of the biggest illusions we’ve convinced ourselves of: the power of the altar call. We act like getting people to raise their hands and say a prayer is the pinnacle of conversion. But let’s be real—that’s just the beginning. Sure, someone can decide to believe in Jesus in a moment, like the thief on the cross. But here’s the thing: that thief was literally seconds away from death. He had no time for anything else. We’re not in that situation. If we’re still breathing, we’ve got work to do.
Yet, we lean on this thief on the cross example as if it absolves us from the responsibility of discipleship. We count the raised hands and pat ourselves on the back like we’ve won the big game. But where’s the follow-through? Where’s the commitment to actually making disciples, not just converts? Jesus didn’t say, “Go and make converts.” He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). That’s a command, not a suggestion.
What we’re doing now is like getting someone to sign up for a marathon and then leaving them to figure out how to train on their own. We wouldn’t do that in any other area of life, so why do we do it in the most important area—our faith? The altar call might be the starting line, but without discipleship, no one’s finishing the race.
Detox from Secular Ideologies: The Forgotten Battle
Here’s the cold, hard truth: The Church has utterly failed to detox Believers from the secular ideologies that permeate our culture. We live in a world where we are bombarded daily by anti-Biblical narratives—through media, academia, and nearly every other sphere of influence. And what’s the Church’s response? A shrug, a smile, and maybe a feel-good sermon that avoids anything remotely controversial.
Romans 12:2 is crystal clear: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” But how can we renew our minds when we’re still filled with the garbage of the world? Detoxing from these toxic ideologies isn’t just important; it’s essential for true discipleship. Without it, we’re no different from the world we claim to stand against.
However, the concept of “renewing your mind” has been dangerously watered down in the Church. It’s been reduced to nothing more than positive thinking, avoiding impure thoughts, or healing from personal traumas. And while those things are part of the equation, they’re not the whole answer. This leads us to a critical issue that is being completely ignored—one that is costing us the battle on the spiritual front.
The Battlefield of the Mind: A Strategic Perspective
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the military, specializing in information warfare, psychological warfare, and influence operations, I can tell you this: the battlefield of the mind is real, and it’s brutal. The enemy knows this all too well, and he’s been waging a relentless war on our minds through carefully crafted cultural narratives and ideologies that are fundamentally counter to the Kingdom of God. These aren’t just random ideas floating around—they’re intentional, well-crafted psychological operations designed to entrench themselves in society and steer it away from Biblical truth. And here’s the kicker: these strongholds must be demolished and eradicated by, guess who? Yup, that’s right—the Believer.
But let me ask you this—how can a Christian tear down these ideological strongholds if they don’t even know what they are, where they are, or what they look and sound like? They can’t. And the reason they can’t is because our discipleship programs don’t even begin to address this. Most pastors won’t touch these issues with a ten-foot pole, either because they’re too afraid of ruffling feathers or, worse, they’re completely ignorant of the strategic warfare being waged against us.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 tells us, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” This is a call to arms, not a suggestion. Yet, the Church’s current offensive strategy is weak, and we’re losing the battle. To win, we need to adopt a more strategic approach to renewing the mind—one that recognizes the true nature of this spiritual warfare.
The Urgency of Renewing the Mind: A Strategic Assault on Ideological Strongholds
When we talk about “renewing the mind,” we’re not just talking about thinking happy thoughts or avoiding temptation. We’re talking about a full-scale, strategic assault on the ideological strongholds that the enemy has established in our culture. These are the lies that have been fed to us through the media, academia, entertainment, and every other pillar of society. These strongholds must be demolished, and it’s the responsibility of every Believer to engage in this fight. But how can they, when they don’t even know the enemy they’re supposed to be fighting?
Let me give you an analogy from my military experience: Imagine sending a platoon of soldiers into enemy territory with no intel, no briefing, and no understanding of the terrain or the enemy’s tactics. It would be a massacre. That’s exactly what we’re doing in the Church right now. We’re sending Believers into a cultural warzone with nothing but a few feel-good messages and a vague sense of “God loves you.” That’s not discipleship—that’s negligence. In the military, that kind of leadership gets people killed. In the Church, it’s leading to the spiritual death of countless souls.
This negligence in discipleship points to a deeper problem, one that demands an immediate and robust response. If we are to truly engage in the spiritual warfare that Scripture calls us to, we must shift our approach to discipleship and prepare Believers for the battle that lies ahead.
The Need for Comprehensive Discipleship: Equipping Believers for Spiritual Warfare
Our discipleship programs should be the spiritual equivalent of basic training, intel briefings, and tactical exercises all rolled into one. We should be equipping Believers to recognize these ideological strongholds, understand their origins, and dismantle them with the truth of God’s Word. But instead, we’re stuck in a cycle of shallow teachings that barely scratch the surface. The Church needs to stop being afraid of confronting these issues and start training its people to be warriors in this spiritual battle.
Discipleship in America: Mr. Rogers and Christian Self-Help Nonsense
What passes for discipleship in America today is pathetic. It’s either lightweight, Mr. Rogers-level fluff that never challenges anyone, or it’s repackaged Christian self-help garbage that does nothing but make people feel good about themselves. We’re not raising warriors for Christ; we’re raising a generation of spiritual weaklings.
Look around at what’s being taught in our churches: You’ve got small group studies that are little more than social gatherings with a few Bible verses thrown in. You’ve got Sunday school classes that wouldn’t even prepare someone for a first-grade spelling test, let alone spiritual warfare. And then there’s the Christian self-help movement, which is nothing more than secular self-help with a cross slapped on it. It’s an embarrassment.
The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15 to “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” But how many Christians today can say they’re equipped to rightly divide the word of truth? Very few, because our discipleship programs aren’t designed to raise the intellectual and spiritual horsepower of Believers. They’re designed to keep people comfortable, entertained, and just engaged enough to keep showing up on Sundays.
The Military’s Model: What the Church Is Missing
Now, let me tell you something as someone who’s lived and breathed warfare for over two decades: most Christians don’t know the first thing about warfare, much less multi-domain warfare like Spiritual Warfare. And the Church is doing nothing to change that. In the military, we don’t just throw soldiers into battle after a few weeks of basic training. We have a tiered training continuum—boot camp, tech schools, leadership schools, advanced training, and more. It’s a progression that prepares warriors for every aspect of battle.
But what does the Church have? Nothing that even comes close. We throw new Believers into a few weeks of “discipleship” classes and then act like they’re ready to take on the world. It’s absurd. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” This is serious stuff. I lost my oldest daughter in this battle. Yet the Church treats discipleship like it’s a Sunday picnic.
If the Church truly understood what Spiritual Warfare is, we’d be training our people like the military trains its troops—intensely, progressively, and with a clear mission in mind. We’d be raising up warriors who are equipped to engage in every domain—spiritual, intellectual, cultural, and more. But instead, we’ve got a Church that’s asleep at the wheel, content with its shallow programs and happy to ignore the battle that’s raging around us.
Here’s a reality check: You wouldn’t send a soldier into battle with a pep talk and a pat on the back. You’d train them rigorously, prepare them for every scenario, and equip them with the tools they need to win. But that’s exactly what the Church is doing with its so-called discipleship programs. We’re sending people into a spiritual warzone with nothing but a few feel-good messages and a vague sense of “God loves you and made you special.” That’s not discipleship—that’s negligence. In the military, that kind of leadership gets people killed. In the Church, it’s costing us our children future, our nation, and countless human souls.
The Consequence of Disengagement
The result of this pathetic excuse for discipleship is a Church full of disengaged, disinterested, and uninformed Christians. They don’t know what’s going on outside the four walls of their house or local fellowship, and worse—they don’t seem to care. We’ve created a culture of complacency in the Church, where spiritual mediocrity is the norm and true discipleship is the exception.
James 1:22 warns us to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” But how can we be doers of the word when we’re not even equipped to understand it fully? How can we engage in the spiritual battle when we’ve been trained to avoid conflict at all costs?
The Call to Action
Enough is enough. The Church needs to wake up and fix this mess before it’s too late. We’re not here to just survive—we’re here to thrive, to lead, and to make a lasting impact. The time for weak discipleship is over. It’s time to train up warriors who are ready to engage and win.
Stay tuned for more as I dive deeper into how we can turn this ship around and start making real, meaningful change. The battle is real, and it’s time we started acting like it.
About the Author:
Matthew Mattera is a retired naval officer with specialized expertise in advanced communication systems and information warfare, where he offered strategic advisement to the highest echelons of military leadership, shaping pivotal policies and strategies. With a profound understanding of both the physical and spiritual dimensions of warfare, Matthew has faced and overcome significant personal adversity, including the heart-wrenching losses of six family members to suicide and self-harm, including his father and oldest daughter.
As a published author and public speaker, he adeptly merges his extensive professional background with his deeply personal experiences to bridge the often-overlooked gap between Information Warfare and Spiritual Warfare. Deeply passionate about his nation which he served and the Church’s critical role as stewards and influencers, Matthew is dedicated to guiding The Church in reclaiming its foundational role in shaping society.
By leveraging his in-depth knowledge of cognitive influence impacts from his military career, he highlights how the strategies and tactics used in information warfare can directly inform and parallel those in spiritual battles, particularly in influencing thoughts, beliefs, perceptions – individually and across cultures at a profound level. His mission is to equip and empower God’s people to effectively counter ideological threats and enhance cultural influence. To explore this transformative approach to spiritual warfare and for opportunities to collaborate, you can contact Matthew at matthew@therexusnexus.com.
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