For the last five months, I have been serving as the Interim Discipleship Pastor for a nearby church. In that capacity, I recently led a five-week discipleship group through The Forge Bible Study on Wednesday nights. On Sunday following our final study together, I had arranged for 75 church members and friends to view the movie, The Forge, at a local theater. In reflecting on these experiences, I wanted to share some of my insights about academic versus conversational discipling.
Academic Discipling
Good disciple-making, is more than content; it is also a relationship. Think about it this way: why did God send Jesus along with giving us the Bible? Studying a book called the Bible as a study of history, literature, or culture is not enough. Discipling is content set in the context of community. And the prime content is God’s Word. Jesus commanded His disciples (us) to make disciples of all nations. He did not tell us to hand a Bible to every disciple and tell them to read it and become a disciple solo. No, Jesus spent 3 years doing life together with His disciples. They knew what He meant when He sent them out to make disciples.
Conversational Discipling
At the same time, disciple-making is more than conversation. It is more than wise sayings. In order to develop disciples of Jesus, we must be “teaching them to observe everything I (Jesus) have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20a, CSB). That is the prime content for discipling in our relational contexts. It is the focus and applications of our conversations. But through The Forge Bible Study and movie, I also realized that some individuals fear academic discipling but are completely comfortable with conversational discipling. Many said to me that they could disciple that way. In fact, many agreed that they had done so recently.
Academic Versus Conversational Discipling
If we are going to make disciples of all nations, we cannot make discipling complicated. We cannot limit it to those who have been to seminary. We must marry the academic and the conversational, marry content to community. In other words, we must remove the “Versus” and change it to “and.” The content (God’s Word/Jesus’ commands) is life-changing. Let’s learn it, practice, and pass it on. Let’s talk about it along the way, in our homes, at work, and in the marketplace.
This sounds a lot like Deuteronomy 6:7-9. May it become natural to talk about it with our children and everywhere we go. Will you join me? Make disciples!
