We change our oil every 3,000 miles. We rotate our tires every 6,000 miles. We can check lights, fluids, and tire pressure regularly. We can even subscribe to Motor Trend.
Yet we can still run out of gas.
My guess is that if you’re receiving this newsletter, then you know how important disciple making is. It’s the church’s core mission. So, we ought to learn best disciple making practices, read up on disciple making culture, and attend workshops on making actual disciples, not just converts.
Even still, you can run out of fuel.
How? Disciple making must be fueled by solid theology.
If you don’t have a solid theology that undergirds and sustains your disciple making efforts, your disciple making will run out of fuel. “Out-of-fuel” can look like a theology which props up one’s own traditions but has stopped pursuing the way of Jesus.
Out-of-fuel can also look like a theology which veers off into theological progressivism and eventually leaves the way of Jesus behind altogether.
Theology matters. Solid theology fuels effective and faithful disciple making. Bad theology derails us from our core mission. Taking our cue from the late Dallas Willard, we are convinced that, “The gospel we preach, the gospel we uphold, and the faith we coach determines the disciple we get.”
That is why we are grateful to announce Theology Thursdays as a regular feature of the Discipleship.org Collective. Starting Thursday, April 15th at 10 a.m. CT, Theology Thursdays will be a weekly, one-hour deep dive into crucial topics of theology. Hosted by myself and Renee Sproles of Renew.org, here are some of the topics we will be exploring:
- Who Is the Holy Spirit? (with special guest Dr. David Young, Author of A Grand Illusion and King Jesus and the Beauty of Obedience-Based Discipleship)
- What Is the Gospel? (with special guest Dr. Matthew Bates, Author of Salvation by Allegiance Alone and Gospel Allegiance)
- What Is Sin? (with special guest Dr. Anessa Westbrook of Harding University)
- How Can We Understand and Value Our Bibles? (with special guest Dr. Orpheus J. Heyward of the Renaissance Church of Christ)
- What Christian Convictions Are Essential? (with special guest Dr. Chad Ragsdale of Ozark Christian College)
We hope you are able to join us for Theology Thursdays as we seek to fuel disciple making with God-honoring theology.