Obedience and knowledge

Obedience and knowledge

The essence of discipleship is “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt 28:20a).  It’s not just about teaching knowledge, but about teaching obedience so people can live into what Jesus taught and how he lived. That’s the...
Discipleship pitfall #1: All head

Discipleship pitfall #1: All head

When we over-emphasize knowledge in our approach to discipleship, we end up with a classroom approach. Discipleship is a checklist of things to read and know. It’s curriculum-based and doesn’t take into account where God is currently working in the life of an...
What does it mean to be a disciple?

What does it mean to be a disciple?

How would you define discipleship? How can you tell if someone is a disciple or not? Too often we make discipleship about knowledge. Discipleship is not about knowledge– it’s about character, behavior, attitudes, a posture of humility and teachability. Knowledge...
Knowledge in service of character development

Knowledge in service of character development

Jesus only trained people up to the point where they were already living out what they know. He gave his disciples a little bit to go on and expected them to act on it. (See Mark 9:14-29 or Luke 10:1-24 if you’d like an example.) Training people beyond their obedience...