Breaking Down Hirsch's Video

If you haven't watched Alan Hirsch's short video on discipleship and consumerism scroll down and watch it.  I resonate with nearly everything he says in the video, and I've watched it a number of times now because I find it so compelling.  I like it so much that I want to break down his major points:

1. Discipleship and Disciple-making are foundational for any movement.  If we fail at this point then we fail at every point.
2. The culture is making disciples whether or not we are, and if we want to make disciples we have to account for this cultural influence.
3. Those who are discipled by Western, secular culture are first and foremost consumers.  A sophisticated confluence of media, advertising, etc. are crafting our self image and shaping our desires.
4. This consumerism is a religion in essence.  It is defined by what we consume and is the search for meaning, identity, purpose, and belonging tied to the consumption of products.  It is the most compelling alternative to Christianity in the Western world today.
5. Christian discipleship is about becoming more and more like the one we love - Jesus.
6. We worship Jesus through our obedience, through our becoming like Him.  This is over against the idea that worship is mainly about words (e.g. music).
7. You cannot build a church on consumers because they have no commitments beyond their own needs.  In contrast, disciples of Jesus have already given up their own agendas and forsaken their own needs.  One can build a movement with true disciples.

I love this.  Hirsch puts first things first - make disciples or fail.  The culture is effectively making disciples, and if we don't subvert consumerism and provide a compelling alternative (i.e. the Gospel) we will not effectively build the church.