Evangelicals Now
Christian news worldwide
magnifying glass Search archives
home Home check the archives Archives Subscribe Subscriptions Advertising Information & booking of classifieds Adverts Find a local evangelical Church Find a church for the search engines and extremely curious! About us Contact us Site Map
Printable
Version

Abandoned in the nursery?

A look at the Discipleship Explored course for new Christians

‘I’d become a Christian a few years ago, but looking back, I never really settled into it. I’d been led to believe that following Jesus would be a bed of roses, so it was a shock when I lost my job and started to struggle with reading the Bible.’

Julia’s story is typical of many who come into Christian things through certain evangelistic courses or events. Although they warm to the gospel of forgiveness, and the experience of a relationship with Christ, the practicalities of Christian living and the cost of following Jesus are often not made clear. Hardly surprising, then, that there is a growing fringe of believers that are not making progress in their Christian lives.

Writing to the Colossians, Paul urges them: ‘Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness’ (Colossians 2.6-7).

Although a new believer has ‘received Christ Jesus as Lord’, it is clear what they must do next: they must ‘continue to live in him’. And it is this challenge that Discipleship Explored helps people address.

Follow up

Discipleship Explored has been developed by the team that produced Christianity Explored. They had become aware of the need for a course that catered particularly for people who’d recently decided to follow Christ.

Jonathan Rogers, who has been helping to lead DE courses at All Souls, Langham Place, said: ‘I’m convinced that discipleship is one of the areas that we, as British evangelicals, have largely neglected. This is certainly true for my generation. The Great Commission is often quoted in Bible-believing churches, but I suspect that many of us choose to hear Jesus commanding us to ‘make converts’ rather than to make disciples. The results of this are obvious. There are churches up and down the land full of immature Christians who know little of God’s purposes for their lives.’
Discipleship Explored was launched nationwide in January, as many churches started courses throughout the country. The eight-week course takes participants on a journey through Philippians, and challenges them to recognise the consequences of their decision to follow Christ.

The call of Jesus

Rico Tice, who heads up the Christianity Explored team commented:

‘Everywhere I travel, I meet Christians who have not faced up to the nature of the call that Jesus makes to those who would follow Him. I meet people who still have their careers, holidays, houses or their sport as their first priorities. And it’s often because they were evangelised badly. It’s no surprise that their faith is weak, and likely to crumple when they encounter a disappointment or a setback.

‘We realised that there was a need for something to help new Christians understand more thoroughly what they believe so they can grow through opposition, rather than be defeated by it. Initially, we designed it for those who’ve recently become Christians, but really it’s appropriate for everyone, no matter how long they’ve been believers.’

Philippians

Discipleship Explored brings people face to face with these challenges through a detailed exploration of Philippians. ‘What has impressed me is the biblical focus. While the material facilitates good-quality discussion, the secret of its success is that it always directs people back to the Bible’s teaching’, said Jonathan Rogers. ‘Helping to lead this has been a real joy and a thrill. Any course of this kind can only scratch at the surface of a lifetime of discipleship, and DE does not pretend otherwise, but it has been truly marvellous to see God at work. Even over a few short weeks we have seen participants grow in their faith and their commitment to the Lord.’

DE also puts in place some of the basics of Christian living. In addition to the studies and discussions on Philippians, there is a daily Bible-reading plan, which can form the basis of discussion the following week. It also encourages reading the relevant Bible passage before attending church on Sunday.

Pastoral support

There is more to Discipleship Explored than just a series of talks and discussions. It also provides leaders with training material and guidance on how to handle pastoral situations. There is a supporting website with free downloadable material and publicity (see http://www.discipleshipexplored.com).

Philip Moore, at Hamilton Road Baptist Church, Bangor, Northern Ireland, has recently led a course. He commented: ‘It enables group leaders to illustrate the important truths that ground a disciple’s faith in Christ. The studies then allow participants to go exploring for themselves and to bring their questions to the next meeting. It is a group of studies resolutely centred on Christ, making it clear that he is the only foundation on which disciples should build. This will be a regular feature of our evangelistic/discipleship programme.’

As Jonathan observed: ‘Once people become new-born Christians we simply mustn’t abandon them in the nursery!’

Sarah Allman