In my previous article entitled “Discipling the Unbaptized, Unchurched, and Unfamiliar,” I explained that discipleship in the 21st Century needs to look more ancient than modern. “Christ-haunted” men and women coming into our churches are being replaced by men and women who know very little about the Christian faith. The church—in our context, the Reformed church—has a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate biblical discipleship that is community centered rather than individualistic and programmatic.

Changing Paradigms

In the mid-20th Century in North America, there was a decline in professions of faith and the Christian religion despite the fact that pews remained relatively full. Many Americans believed in attending church and in their children having a foundation in biblical knowledge. The 1960s and 1970s began a decline in church attendance. With that decline came a decrease in biblical literacy and basic knowledge of Christian truths.

The generation of adults that fill most of our neighborhoods and workplaces today is a generation 30 or 40 years removed from cultural Christianity. With that is also a lack of biblical knowledge, a lack of knowing the importance of the church, and a lack of Christian ethics, all of which at one time were at least presumed in our culture.

This paradigm shift has led to new struggles for the disciple-making church; but, at the same time, there is an open door of opportunity. Today’s disciple-making context is beginning to look more like 1st-Century Rome than 20th-Century America. It is time to regain the community-centered discipleship of the 1st Century rather than the individualistic discipleship of the last century.

Basics of the Christian Faith

When the church steps back and asks what biblical discipleship is made up of, we come to realize that discipleship is being a learner under Jesus Christ, and that the basic components of the faith include doctrine, spirituality, and ethics. Stephen Smallman, in his book What Is Discipleship?, said, “The historic tools of discipleship, The Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostle’s Creed are still basic building blocks that should be integral to helping those with little or no background grow up in the faith” (p. 22). These basics can be found within the Constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, especially in the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms, which are the discipleship tools of the Presbyterian tradition.

But the question remains, how does one move from a dusty old 17th-Century catechism into a lively, faith-producing discipleship tool of the 21st Century? The community of faith becomes integral in that transition.

Discipleship as a Community Endeavor

Sometimes in our circles we make a division between ordinary-means-of-grace churches and discipleship churches. This is a false dichotomy, or at least it should be! It is language that needs to be rejected in the Reformed community. The ordinary-means-of-grace pastor or disciplemaker must find himself being fully committed to the ordinary means of grace to the same degree as the New Testament is. Ordinary means of grace will include preaching and sacraments, but it also includes your dining room table and any and all lawful means of communicating the gospel to the new disciple. Robert Weber, in his book Ancient-Future Evangelism (Baker Books), said, “The early church formed new disciples—through immersion in the life of the church, through worship, through preaching, and through mentoring.” Church life and personal life are to be part of the tools for today’s disciples as well.

The Lord’s Day is to be central to discipleship. The new disciple needs to know the value of the Lord’s Day, which is a crucial source of both the means of grace and Lord’s Day Christian fellowship. This means that both preaching and teaching need to be used in the building up of the new disciple. A small group of new disciples can go through the doctrines of the church while discussing implications for church membership and discipline (disciple being the root word).

For the post-everything new believer, this discipleship will require taking the time to work through things that were once taken for granted in the church: the Bible as the Word of God, creation, the eternality of the soul, the necessity of the cross, eternal punishment and reward, the nature of the sacraments, and the doctrine of the holy Trinity. Take whatever time is necessary to examine the new disciple as well as to instruct him or her. We can no longer assume that these old and true teachings are known at any level by the post-everything disciple.

In preaching, take the time to define terms. In our churches we use terms such as justification, imputation, and atonement. Make sure that the preaching in the pulpit is conducive to new believers. Remind the new disciple not to be frustrated if knowing the lexicon takes time—not being able to clearly articulate these words does not mean that a new disciple is outside of union with Christ. At the Los Angeles RPC we have had mature Christians aid new believing women by explaining theological words. Again, the Shorter Catechism is a gem for this type of discipleship.

Besides what goes on within your building, open your home. The dining room table is as much a part of discipling the unbaptized, unchurched, and unfamiliar as your church’s worship space is. The home will prove to be a virtual war room in the building of the kingdom of God. Demonstrate family worship and Christ-centered conversation, and at your table the vulnerability to speak about hard things will unfold. Many new believers will find the comfort of the disciplemaker’s home a warm place to ask questions and to be challenged in a different way.

Ordinary-means-of-grace discipleship must include the church building, our homes, and other meeting places. In the 21st Century we must call a truce on ordinary-means-of-grace ministry versus discipleship ministry. We must do both to reach a new generation of the lost. The community of Christ must be demonstrated and reinforced in all aspects of life. We must return to our ancient roots of catechism as discipleship as we teach, demonstrate, and underscore Christian teaching, spirituality, and prayer. With our catechisms in hand, and a willingness to be stretched and to open our homes, the Reformed community—including yours—can reach the unbaptized, unchurched, and unfamiliar. We don’t need more programs; we need to use the tools that Christ has given us.

Nathan Eshelman | Los Angeles, Calif., RPC