Discipleship in Cities
One of the greatest challenges in doing ministry, in my case University Ministry, in a city with 50+ campuses in its metro area, is the challenge of doing discipleship with students who are live and work and play 45 minutes away on public transit). But the challenges that this context poses are more than just one of distance. The draw for students to remain on their campuses with their own kind is surprisingly powerful in its sociological force. Add those attractive and repulsive forces to the challenge of proximity along with the sense of isolation that can often mark an urban context, and we find a soil that is almost hostile to discipleship. Investing in one on one, or what some are beginning to call "Life on Life" discipleship is astoundingly time-consuming and extremely difficult.
As of now, we have no answers. All we have is a need. Any thoughts here would be greatly appreciated!
As of now, we have no answers. All we have is a need. Any thoughts here would be greatly appreciated!
posted by Abe @ 6:56 AM
5 Comments:
At 2:41 PM,
Anonymous said…
Great questions Abe. I ran across this today, which might be helpful.
Michael Johnson raises the point that many who enter the American church leave shortly thereafter, making momentary converts, not persevering disciples. Why is this? In this article, Johnson critiques generic discipleship and advocates self-generating discipleship in its place.
1. By definition, it's not personal or individualized
2. It's not done in the context of a relationship
3. It fails to inspire to a purposeful, high calling
The material looks interesting and potentially very helpful. I have contacted them to see if the will be offering online previews of First Steps discipleship material.
At 7:27 AM,
Jeff Fritsche said…
Jonathan Dodson passed this link on to me. I couldn't agree more with the difficulty of discipleship for me with young professionals in Austin. It seems the need to multiply new disciple makers across the city is vital. That makes my primary role as pastor to be in leaderhip development so that discipleship happens in the context of a relationship. But that in an urban context is also difficult for the same reasons.
I also have found that busyness and consumerism within the church has also been a hindrance to urban discipleship. Selfish preferences and entitlement, which are mantras of our culture, seem so far away from what Jesus displayed and taught. Yet we are guitly also of falling into "pleasing the customer" in church rather than making disciples. I talked a little about this in one of my posts: http://jefffritsche.blogspot.com/2007/02/experts-in.html.
I look forward to more discussion on this pressing issue of discipleship in our cities.
At 11:12 AM,
Abe said…
good comments, jd & fritsche. i think you're right in locating the beginnings of a solution with multiplying disciplers and understanding our role as one of equipping, training and developing leaders. i would be interested to peruse the materials that you mention, jd. i wonder if they are developing it with the city in mind, or working with the assumption that christianity is primarily a suburban movement ...
At 4:35 AM,
Jonathan Dodson said…
i'll let you know, as they are sending me the material free of charge
At 5:36 PM,
spamchang said…
as a student, i can only surmise that the primary driver behind whether one stays in discipleship vs. falling away is motivation. if you want to do it, then you by definition believe in it, and you will move heaven and earth to make room for this priority. it is difficult to let smaller concerns get in the way. sometimes it might take a while for someone to realize how important discipleship is, though.
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