I’m working on a project that involves a lot of thinking about discipleship. When we say the word “discipleship,” we all think of something different. Here’s a little of what I think discipleship is not. When I say it is NOT these things, I mean that it is not SIMPLY these things. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.
A Bible study group or Sunday school class. These things could be considered part of discipleship, but they can no way be the entire discipleship process for a person. We cannot be formed simply in a classroom.
A follow-up class for “new believers.” No, it is not true that we can give them a 12 week class and consider them disciples. Many discipleship programs stop at this. Instead of connecting them for life with people who care for their spiritual well-being, we farm them through a class and then let them go out into the rest of the Bible studies we offer, hoping they land somewhere that will help them with their formation.
A planned ministry of the church. Yes, discipleship takes place within a community of believers who are living out their faith, but it is not simply the job of a formal ministry of a local church. If I have a friend who begins their journey with Christ, and I say to that friend, “Great, now just attend this discipleship ministry and you’ll be fine,†I am not helping my friend in their spiritual journey.
A cookie cutter approach to living the Christian life. Discipleship is not a do-this, do-that-and-you-will-be-the-perfect-Christian kind of thing. It is a highly specialized thing. God works with different people in different ways. He molds us through different processes. We become his followers through different experiences.
These are a few of the things that discipleship is simply not. We must rethink what discipleship is in the church in order to properly help young people in their spiritual formation.
Technorati Tags: Christianity; Discipleship; Youth Ministry
Good ideas. Eldredge writes a bit about this idea in “Waking the Dead” - I think you would be interested in what he says. Nice.
Thanks, Tony. I’ll have to check that out. Not sure I can get it here. Maybe it will be a Christmas present.
Some good thoughts here and I concur with the Waking the Dead suggestion. If you really want to get into it though, get Transforming Discipleship by Greg Ogden. That is the best book I have read on true discipleship.
Also, I have written a lot about my process through discipleship on my blog. I would love your comments. Just search for discipleship. There are too many to link to.
Thanks, Conrad. Tony sent me his notes on Waking the Dead. Looks like good stuff. I’ll definitely be visiting your blog to search for discipleship stuff.