In George Barna’s book, Growing True Disciples, he lays out some research that is very interesting in regards to what people are thinking about Spiritual growth.  He starts off by sharing a definition of a disciple.  “…disciple refers to someone who is a learner or a follower who serves as an apprentice under the tutelage of a master.”  In light he is saying that a disciple is one who is regularly mentored and consistently works on their relationship with Jesus.  Is this something that we need to start looking at in the church?  How do we mentor our students?  Has discipleship really just become a program within our palate of ministry offerings? 

If we were to look at the disciples how different would the life they lived be from the one that we are living?  My day starts early with me getting up and heading to the office to do some reading and then from there I start working on whatever the next project is that needs to be done.  I will make phone calls and do mostly random stuff that in all reality may not impact anyone.  The disciples though “had no life apart from what they were being trained to do.  Being a follower of Jesus was an all-consuming obsession.”  The current church culture though has changed the face of what that looks like to those who are following.

In this book, George Barna, shares the idea that we have become followers of Christ much like we have become followers of sports teams or even the latest reality television show.  He shares how he feels that the church has made discipleship a program and how that is failing and creating individuals who competent spiritually.  He goes on to offer several biblical concepts of what a disciple should look like.  They are as follows:
1.    Disciples must be assured of their salvation by grace alone
2.    Disciples must learn and understand the Principles of the Christian Life
3.    Disciples must obey God’s laws and commands
4.    Disciples must represent God in the word
5.    Disciples must serve other people
6.    Disciples must reproduce themselves in Christ

In short Barna feels that when you are a disciple of Christ you will adhere to what He has taught and you life will reflect what God has shown us through His word.  The church must step up to the plate and the leadership will have to reflect this as well in the way they live and do ministry.

Barna goes on to share what he feels the state of discipleship in the church really looks like.  Based on the research most born-again adults acknowledge that spiritual development is a primary responsibility of a follower of Christ and may be a helpful endeavor, but it is not a pressing need because they believe they have largely mastered the principles and nuances of the Christian faith.  As a student minister I could not agree with this more.  I see students all the time argue that we have already been taught this and do not need to hear it again.  Yet, they still struggle with the implementing of the teaching into their lives.

Research also showed the most common approaches currently used by those who are pursuing some type of spiritual nurturing process.  They include the following:
-    two out of three (68 percent) are involved in a small group or cell group designed to facilitate spiritual growth
-    One out of 4 (24 percent) participates in a Sunday School class that motivates them to grow
-    One out of every seven (15 percent) is being spiritually mentored by someone
-    One out of every nine (11 percent) attends a class for the purpose of becoming more spiritually mature

With all that being said only half of those interviewed felt that discipleship is one of the two or three highest ministry priorities of their church; the other half said it is just one of the many ministries or programs at their church.  Barna wraps up this section of his book recognizing that the chief barrier to discipleship is not that people lack the ability to become spiritually mature but rather they lack the passion, perspective, priorities and perseverance to develop their spiritual lives.

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