Jesus reserved His harshest criticism not for those outside the faith, but for religious leaders who failed in their primary task: to lead people clearly and faithfully toward God. In Matthew 23, He exposes their failure with piercing words:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to” (Matt. 23:13).

Instead of clearing the way to God, they blocked it. Rather than lifting burdens, they piled them higher. Jesus accused them of leading people not toward life, but toward destruction:

“You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are” (Matt. 23:15).

They were meant to prepare people to meet the Lord, yet their leadership created obstacles rather than cleared them. Jesus calls them blind guides, whitewashed tombs, and serpents—leaders who looked righteous outwardly but led people astray (Matt. 23:24-33).

This must sober the church today, especially its leaders. Spiritual leadership is a sacred trust—not to preserve tradition for its own sake or to grow comfortable congregations, but to steward souls faithfully toward Christ, removing every obstacle that clouds the call to full surrender and allegiance to Him. Leadership isn’t about protecting inherited systems; it’s about preparing a people to walk in clarity, freedom, and wholehearted obedience to the King.

In this hour, the church and its leaders must issue a clarion call for believers to return to the authority of Scripture and full allegiance to Christ. This call is not just about what we believe but about how we live, lead, and model faith itself. Leadership is not merely doctrinal instruction—it’s embodied example.

And here, to be honest, is where my deepest concern with the traditional church model surfaces. My biggest hang-up isn’t simply with tradition itself, but with the continued use of ineffective methods that are labeled “discipleship.” In many churches today, sermons remain the primary—and often the only—avenue for discipleship. A setting that demands passivity from those who attend, with little to no interaction or reflection, and almost no space for brothers and sisters to engage one another in the kind of loving accountability that fosters true growth.

What’s more, ministry has been professionalized. The well-trained experts do the work, while the masses sit passively and remain safely unused. How can this even be claimed to be biblical? Ephesians 4:11-13 speaks directly to this point: leadership exists not to do the work of ministry for the people, but to equip, coach and release the congregation to do the work of ministry themselves.

“Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” (Eph. 4:11-12).

Yet what we see practiced in many places is the exact opposite of what Scripture calls for. The result? Training that looks more like meeting institutional expectations than fostering true personal transformation. People are trained in classroom settings, receive certificates of completion, and are declared “discipled”—while actual practice, personal application, and reflective growth are minimal or absent. These ineffective systems continue to be upheld as the standard path to maturity. The spiritual meal may look official and well-presented, but its nutritional value is shockingly low, and its practical impact consistently proven ineffective—not just  by research studies into church practices, but by the lack of fruit we see. If someone can sit in a church for ten years and still feel unprepared to disciple others, that’s a travesty. And the blame does not lie with the people alone—it begins with our leaders and their chosen methods, methods that are ineffective yet stubbornly preserved.

And yet, part of the problem runs even deeper. We are creatures of habit. Left unchallenged, we return to the familiar—not because it’s right, but because it’s comfortable. Biblical change demands energy and perseverance. To discard the old and embrace the new, to walk in biblical patterns that genuinely form disciples, requires sustained effort and long-term commitment. Too often, we settle for ineffective models simply because we don’t desire transformation enough to endure the strain of change.

This is why leaders must do more than preach change. They must patiently walk alongside people in the difficult work of transformation, modeling and guiding until Christlike living becomes their new normal.

This is also where tradition must be carefully understood: tradition itself is not the problem. It’s neutral. Tradition can reflect and reinforce biblical truth, or subtly undermine it. But when a tradition—whether in belief or practice—contradicts, adds to, or distorts Scripture, it must be rejected. And this includes not only what we teach, but how we disciple.

Leaders must be bold enough to ask: Does the way we gather, disciple, and model the Christian life actually reflect the pattern of Jesus? Or are we handing people ineffective, untested habits masked as faithfulness? Like the Bereans, who tested everything against Scripture (Acts 17:11), the church must examine both its beliefs and its practices. Are we truly building on Christ—or just repeating what we’ve inherited?

This is the sacred task of the church and its leaders: To help people examine and dismantle every unstable foundation—whether secular, cultural, or religious—until their lives are anchored firmly on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. Not on tradition alone. Not on inherited methods. Not on assumptions, comforts, or trends. But on Christ Himself—His life, His words, His ways—as their unshakable foundation.

This is the church Jesus envisioned. This is the discipleship He commanded: A people wholly surrendered. A people truly grounded. A people fully aligned with the King. And now, more than ever, the church—and its leaders—must issue a clear, urgent, clarion call: Return to the authority of Scripture and full allegiance to Jesus Christ.