Apologetics: Why Discipleship is Important.

One of the questions that I’ve been asked to answer about Christianity is the question of: “Why is discipleship important? Why do we need that, especially if man is flawed and fallible?” Though this is a minor question when it comes to understanding Christianity, it is a good question. Why is it important? Can Christians live without it?

The reason why discipleship is important is because, just like when learning about anything, some people just know more than others and the people that know less can learn from the people that know more. For example, if you were to leave a kid to learn by themselves from a young age with no guidance, though they might learn how to speak, figure out some simple scientific facts, and maybe learn how to do very rudimentary forms of math, that may be as far as they get. However, if you bring in someone like a teacher to help them, who has more experience in different areas of expertise, then that kid can start learning more complex things like how to read and write, how to do algebra, etc.

This same concept applies to Christianity. By ourselves, we might be able to read the Bible and learn some things for ourselves that may be correct, however, with other things in the Bible that are harder to understand, that’s where discipleship comes in. When you’re a disciple, you’re a student. You’re learning from someone or multiple people who know more about the Bible or certain aspects of it than you do.

[Author’s Note: This is also why we’re told to make disciples of all nations, not converts. Converting someone to Christianity might be a good thing, but unless you’re there or have a system in place to help them in their Christian journey, then they are not disciples and are at risk of falling off the train. It also helps to keep us accountable as Christians.]

Does this mean that they are going to be 100% right 100% of the time? No. But that’s why it’s also a good idea to read your Bible consistently since many of the essentials of the faith are easy to find and understand (especially if you have a Bible with a good commentary). Always be comparing what your discipler is telling you to what the Bible says. In Acts 17:11, we actually see this practice encouraged, with the Bereans being described as being “noble” because they “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Other examples of the Bible encouraging Christians to fact-check the people they’re listening to are found in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, 1 John 4:1, 2 Timothy 2:15, Ephesians 4:14-15, Matthew 7:15-20, and Proverbs 2:3-6. If you find that what the person teaching you – whether that be a pastor, an elder, or some other Bible teacher – does not line up with what the Bible actually says in context, then it’s time to start digging deeper and possibly finding a new teacher.

Now, does this mean that you need to leave for every tiny, nit-picky thing? Also, no. There are some cases where the issues in question are secondary issues. For example, at my church, we’ll sometimes play music from Hillsong (mainly, “Man of Sorrows”). Though this is a theologically good song, because my family and I know where that music comes from and what aberrant doctrines are being pushed through Hillsong and some of their music, do not agree with the elders’ position on using it at all. However, the reason why we haven’t left that church and have still been going there for nigh on three years now is because we recognize that it is a secondary issue that’s not worth splitting over. The church, despite its occasional use of Hillsong’s music, is a very theologically sound church that we’re still happy to stay with.

However, an example of something where you would need to start finding a new teacher is when the issues either are primary issues (i.e. what they’re teaching doesn’t line up with what the Bible tells us about Jesus, God, the Trinity, salvation, etc.) or when the secondary issues become primary issues. I’ll use Bill Johnson of Bethel church as an example of this. One of the (many) ways that you know that he is a false teacher is because he denies the sovereignty of God. Though he (and other NAR pastors) will say that God is all-powerful, he does not believe that God is in control of everything, such as sickness and death, which completely flies in the face of Scripture (particularly what the book of Job tells us about God’s power vs. Satan’s power). Furthermore, he makes miracles – which are usually a secondary issue in the church – a primary issue because Bethel church makes a big deal out of the supernatural gifts of the Spirit, so much so that these “gifts” start delving into New Age mysticism to get.

Moving on, though on the same topic, I keep talking about why Bible commentaries are so important. Just like discipleship, commentaries are important because it can help you better understand things in the Bible that are hard to understand. What makes them even better is the fact that there are a ton of commentaries out there that you can use with your Bible reading to help you understand things like context, what the author meant when using a certain term, how one verse in one chapter may link to another verse, archaeological things that support the Bible, etc. Personally, reading my ESV Study Bible has been made so much easier because of the commentary that helps explain things that I may be confused about. For example, right now, I’m reading Leviticus and if it wasn’t for the commentary, I would be so confused because legalese apparently existed in ancient times as well. Basically, the commentary is like reading a short essay or something from an expert explaining in an understandable way how something works.

Until next time,

M.J.