DISCIPLESHIP EDUCATION WITH MILLENNIALS

Corey Farr
ED404: Educational Ministry with Adults
Dr. Robert Price
November 25, 2017
Abstract
This paper looks at some of the unique cultural and philosophical characteristics of

millennials with an eye towards teaching Christian discipleship more effectively. Rigid

modernist discipleship paradigms will be contrasted with presuppositions, principles,

values, and felt needs (broadly speaking) of millennials.1 I will contend that our best bet

for discipling and teaching the young adults in our churches is by combining narrative

identity theory and transformative education theory to help this generation find the self-

awareness and self-realization that they are so desperate for in the grand narrative of

God’s work of making a people for his name, thereby intentionally supplementing and

course-correcting the isolating combination of individualism and epistemological

relativism. A curriculum will then be presented for a spiritual formation class titled

“Discipleship in Community.”

Introduction

Like many who feel called to ministry, I have a heart for my generation. As a millennial,

I have seen the strengths and weaknesses, the hard points and soft spots, of Generation Y.

Growing up in a fundamentalist Pentecostal grade school meant that I was taught to fear and

despise the word “post-modern.” It was a dangerous world out there, with the evil – or at least

fatally misguided – post-moderns relativizing all truth and threatening to plunge us into the

depths of nihilism. As a boy, my early millennial uncles and aunts and older cousins were

frequently objects of prayer during morning prayer requests. If only they could become more

rationalist, more foundationalist, more objective, more dualistic; in a word, if they could only

become more Modern, then they would be able to hear and accept the gospel.

1
I will clarify from the outset that my context and experience and, I can only assume, the demographics referenced
in the majority of my research materials, are white Americans or Europeans.
 Fortunately, I’ve come a long way since the theology I was raised in, which had the best

intentions but was woefully inadequate and archaic for communicating to the vast majority of my

generation. I have come to see that post-modernism, like every philosophical/cultural milieu, is

neither better nor worse than its predecessors; it is merely different. To speak to my primary

audience of predominantly white millennials, I have had to learn not only a different language

from the one I was raised in, but also an entirely new set of presuppositions and perspectives.

The monolithic “Judeo-Christian worldview” with which I was raised, with its rigid moralism

and logic-based apologetics, holds clout as well as a spaghetti strainer with my target audience.

Yet still I have felt deeply called to engage in teaching and doing discipleship with other

millennials.

Discipleship

The word “discipleship” is defined in many different ways by many different Christians.

It is not my goal here to outline a detailed elaboration of my own understanding; I will cite

simply the definition I give my students in the first week of class, “Being ‘in Christ’ means: A

community filled with the Holy Spirit imitating Jesus before the Father.” This slogan is

paradigmatic for the curriculum that appears at the end of this paper and functions as a shorthand

for the Trinitarian theology of discipleship that I offer my students.

Leland Harder offers three facets of discipleship on the practical/psychological/relational

side: nurture, instruction, and experience.2 “Nurture” for Harder is “the largely unconscious and

informal assimilation of Christian beliefs and attitudes through the constant association with

those Christians to whose fosterage one is committed [e.g. the family].”3 He uses “experience” to

2
Leland Harder, “The Concept of Discipleship in Christian Education,” Religious Education 58, no. 4 (July 1963):
349.
3
Harder, 349.
describe the “actual personal performance” of what is being learned, “occasionally with some

form of advance tutelage but always with considerable trial-and-error.”4

When teaching a discipleship class, it is tempting to focus on instruction with a little

experience thrown in here and there. Even with experience added in through assignments or

spiritual practices, it is also easy to misunderstand that all the real “learning” happens in

instruction, with the “experience” side of things simply reinforcing and appropriating the content

given in instruction rather than offering totally new in-formation. However, all three, nurture and

instruction and experience, must be emphasized, especially with millennials, as we will see.

Nurture is particularly important, since it emphasizes the communal side of identity formation

and disciple (trans)formation, in contrast to individualism, which will be a major focus of this

paper.

Indeed, identity and (trans)formation are major components of discipleship. Rolf

Jacobson writes, “Every attempt to come to terms with what Christian faith is must seriously

consider the nature of this change of identity.”5 It is this change in self-understanding that lies at

the core of my curriculum; yet I recognize that I cannot do this as a disconnected “teacher.”

Discipleship happens in relationship; indeed, it is mutual. Young adults are “drowning” in the

Church because of “the lack of mutually-valued relationships that engender trust and shared

support.”6 Very early on in preparing for this class, I decided that my relationship with the

students would be of utmost importance. Allan Martin, who identified that young adults are

drowning, offers four “relational building blocks” that are crucial for those who would reach out

to this generation: authenticity (transparency, honesty, and “being real”), belonging (within the

4
Harder, 353.
5
Rolf A Jacobson, “We Are Our Stories: Narrative Dimension of Human Identity and Its Implications for Christian
Faith Formation,” Word & World 34, no. 2 (2014): 129.
6
A Allan Martin, “Burst the Bystander Effect: Making a Discipling Difference with Young Adults,” The Journal of
Applied Christian Leadership 3, no. 1 (2008): 49.
community), compassion (care for individuals and local social justice issues), and mutual

discipleship (“Young adults are not seeking ‘a sage on the stage,’ but rather, a ‘guide on the

side.’”).7 I believe that this relational element of teaching, especially for millennials and

especially when the subject is spiritual formation or Christian discipleship, is a sine qua non of

everything discussed in this paper.

Defining “Millennials”

So, what are millennials exactly? Without getting into the complex debates of

categorizing generations, millennials are broadly those born from the early 1980s to the year

2000. At the time of writing this paper, that means people aged 17-35. As a young adult working

in ministry primarily with youth and young adults, these are my people.

In my opinion, millennials broadly speaking are philosophically shaped by their

relationship to post-modernism. They are the first generation to be raised fully within the shift in

the cultural Zeitgeist to a less Modernist world. This is not to say that millennials are necessarily

card-carrying post-moderns (besides, I can think of no philosophical outlook less likely to have

membership cards) but only that they have been shaped by its advent. Many, like myself, were

raised in forms of evangelical Christianity that fiercely clung to their Modernist worldview. Even

if most of us did not react and leave that fold as soon as possible, even if we had stayed within it,

we would still be defined dialectically by post-modern thought.

Millennials are also shaped by globalism, individualism, consumerism, and – all too often

– narcissism. All of these combine to make them a generation of options. All kinds of things to

buy, all kinds of dreams to have and things to be – the sky’s the limit! Follow your dream! Self-

discovery and material wealth seem to be the twin values of millennials; because of this, “the

7
Martin, 51–52.
traits of complaining, entitlement, and selfishness can arise.”8 For this reason, pluralism and its

concomitant virtue, tolerance, are foundational to understanding the average millennial’s

worldview. Much could be written on pluralism and tolerance if space allowed, but it is an

important factor to keep in mind throughout this work.

Although it is easy to take the “generational generalizing” too far, it is important that

scholars from across the spectrum agree that “the millennial cohort, as well as the cultural

context in which they live and learn, is driving significant changes in higher education and the

learning spaces of our institutions. These changes are likely to affect conditions for teaching and

learning beyond this set of students and will shape what will be (or in some places is already

operating as) common sense in and out of the classroom.”9 As teachers within the church, we

must learn to speak to this generation.

A Contrast with Modernist Thinking

Teaching millennials to be disciples, which is the primary focus of this paper, cannot be

done in the same way evangelical disciples were taught in the 1950s. Back then, the combination

of a church and culture in the world of Christendom that valued and respected hierarchy

combined with a Modernist foundationalism meant that the Bible as the ultimate authority,

“God’s instruction manual for life,” the rulebook for Christian living, could easily be accepted.

However, in today’s culture, even within the church, it is difficult to convince people of the de

facto authority of the Scriptures. Even conservative evangelicals raised in conservative contexts

almost always wrestle with the questions of authority and inspiration as they become adults.

8
Fran Blomberg, “Contentment: Radical Discipleship for Young Adults,” Journal of European Baptist Studies 17, no.
1 (2017): 46.
9
Whitney Bauman et al., “Teaching the Millennial Generation in the Religious and Theological Studies Classroom,”
Teaching Theology & Religion 17, no. 4 (October 2014): 302.
 What then? Do we stubbornly dig our heels in and try to convince our young people of

the authority of Scripture using the thought process that came up with doctrines like infallibility

and literalist interpretation? Or do accept that the word “authority” can be understood in

different, yet still valid, ways in a post-modern context? “While the Bible as inherent authority

may be quickly losing its appeal,” writes Randall Reed, “the Bible as an example of human

creativity, group reflection, political rhetoric, and social discourse makes the study of the Bible

particularly relevant for millennials.”10

Although Reed penned those words about teaching students at a public university that

were generally religiously unaffiliated, the “relevant” aspects he identifies speak to Christians of

this generation as well. Books like Velvet Elvis, Blue Like Jazz, and The Blue Parakeet don’t

become best-sellers among evangelicals because they are promoting inerrancy and literalism; in

fact, they all push back strongly against the Modernist way of reading Scripture while remaining

faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The immensely popular YouTube channel The Bible

Project’s accessible presentation of the narrative of Scripture along with literary criticism and

socio-cultural background also confirms Reed’s proposal.

I must confess that I have spent so much time in this world that I experienced a reverse

culture shock when I read Terry Moore’s 1989 article Education for Christian Discipleship: A

Concept and a Tool. Though the title could not have better suited the subject of this paper, the

format Moore proposes could not be more out of touch with the circles I travel in these days. In

the article, Moore lays out a taxonomy of discipleship relations with God, People, and World,

subdividing each of these relationships into several aspects. Relationship with God, for example,

subdivides into relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Relationships with people

10
Randall W Reed, “A Book for None: Teaching Biblical Studies to Millennial Nones,” Teaching Theology & Religion
19, no. 2 (April 2016): 154, https://doi.org/10.1111/teth.12329.
subdivide into intimate relationships, friend relationships, and relationships with those we do not

know. Moore then says that each of these subdivided areas have their own respective attitudes,

behavior, and cognition. If we can simply define the correct attitudes, behavior, and cognitive

understanding of each of these categories, we can then identify the “Christian world view” and

teach it well in order to make disciples.11

The contrast between this highly individualist and rationalist discipleship paradigm, the

telos of which is a “world view” that treats Christians as nothing more than disembodied souls

directed by cognitive beliefs and defined by behavior, and Nathan Byrd’s article on narrative

discipleship could not be more stark.12 Byrd’s article, which will be cited a number of times in

this paper, uses narrative theology and transformative education to talk about identify-formation

and meaning-making as two central concepts within Christian discipleship, as we will see

shortly.

Narrative Identity Theory

The definition of a story, at its bare-bones basic level, is that something happened after
something else. All human experience happens in time, which means, of course, that all
human experience happens after something. In other words, we human beings have no
access to our experiences outside of story. We are our stories.13

Hyper-individualism is one of the most distinctive traits of post-modernism as it has

found expression in late 20th and early 21st century American culture. Because of this, millennials

in various ways have been urged to view their lives as a “blank slate” upon which they can create

their own identity. Ties to community, family, or even cultural norms are de-emphasized in an

effort to free us from their perceived stifling and suppressing effects. Although individualism

itself was an understandable and even necessary reaction against some of the more deadly effects
11
T M. (Terry Michael) Moore, “Education for Christian Discipleship: A Concept and a Tool,” Christian Education
Journal 9, no. 3 (1989): 71–83.
12
Nathan C III Byrd, “Narrative Discipleship: Guiding Emerging Adults to ‘Connect the Dots’ of Life and Faith,”
Christian Education Journal 8, no. 2 (September 2011): 244–62.
13
Jacobson, “We Are Our Stories,” 124.
of communalism, the pendulum has again swung too far. The fallout of this hyper-individualism

has resulted in a millennial identity crisis, and here I am speaking from personal experience.

Because of this pluralistic environment, millennials no longer have stories, apart from the ones

they construct or adopt by voluntarily finding associations, whose narratives are often shoddy

and defective, in which to find themselves and their meaning and purpose.

Narrative identity theory is a reaction against (or, rather, an expansion upon) previous

understandings of identity. Role identity, for example, proposes that people’s identity is formed

by an amalgamation of distinct yet overlapping roles. For example, I may be a student, brother,

son, teacher, and youth pastor – along with a plethora of other minor and major roles, some of

which may be purely contextual, e.g. speaker at a conference. Though I carry all of these roles

with me, various circumstances will call for one or several of them to come to the fore, thus

determining my self-perception and behavior. Others have said that identity is inherently about

personality; hence the popularity of personality inventories such as Meyers-Briggs (MBTI).

Although each of these identity theories are valid in their own way, each of them is

relatively static and atemporal. Narrative identity theory “postulates that individuals form an

identity by integrating their life experiences into an internalized, evolving story of the self that

provides the individual with a sense of unity and purpose in life.”14 This story, like all stories, has

a past, a present, and a future and thus, a plot. The plot has its characters and settings and, most

importantly, a teleology. James K. Smith hits upon this in his book Desiring the Kingdom, in

which he explains that everyone is driven towards a vision (their vision) of the “good life” or, he

even says, “the Kingdom.”15

14
“Narrative Identity,” Wikipedia, August 24, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Narrative_identity&oldid=796976908.
15
James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2009).
 Each individual “constructs his or her own meaning by interpreting the past through the

eyes of the present with an eye toward the future.”16 Meaning-making is central to narrative

identity; as humans, we are compelled to make meaning of our world and life experiences.

Though we do this in myriad ways, we all do it; when we lose the ability to do so, suicidal

tendencies or mental illness are unfortunate but almost unavoidable consequences. This is why

Rolf Jacobson can say with confidence, “We are our stories.”17

Our narrative meaning-making is actually a dialectical engagement with reality; though

reality provides the material for our stories and plotlines, these in turn provide a hermeneutical

paradigm for our interpretation of reality. It is here that we should hear echoes of various notes

and keys from the post-modern epistemological symphony: relativity, subjectivity, and

contextuality.

Individual narratives are important, but they are insufficient. Again, Byrd: “Meaning-

making is also a social process that often occurs in community [and] in conversations.”18 The

reason that millennials are so drawn to narrative/post-liberal theology is that shared narratives in

our culture are often weak and thin, and the cacophony of millions of individual symphonies,

clashing and conflicting in various keys, has reached a deafening level of dissonance. Skepticism

and doubt transpose our songs into minor keys at best; at worst they remove all the rules of

tonality, leaving us with a chaotic racket.

It is here that narrative theology strikes a chord. Jason Clark captures the essence of

narrative discipleship, “It's not enough that I encounter and make sense of my life in terms of the

Christian story. The story of Jesus, of God’s redemptive activity in and for the world, must

become the story I find myself in. My story must be located within the greater story of the

16
Byrd, “Narrative Discipleship,” 257.
17
Jacobson, “We Are Our Stories.”
18
Byrd, “Narrative Discipleship,” 257.
Christian narrative.”19 Scripture is more and more being perceived not as a timeless and

immovable document laying down basic epistemological truths as it was in Modernity, but rather

as the “Story of God making a People for his Name.” I have seen this vision captivate, compel,

convict, and convert more young adults than I can count.

It is for this reason that, when asked to teach a class on spiritual formation, I intentionally

and decisively chose to name the class “Discipleship in Community.” It took us eight weeks to

reach our section on “individual” discipleship; the first two months were spent exploring our

anti-individualistic mantra, “The people of God is more than the persons of God.” Interior

discipleship is the ubiquitous focus of traditional spiritual formation classes, as can be seen in the

tome par excellence of the field, Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline: The Path to

Spiritual Growth. Let the reader understand, I see great value in the spiritual disciplines aspect of

discipleship. As a reader of James Smith, I would be hard-pressed not to. Fran Blomberg’s

description here is worth quoting at length,

Christian practices are actions and attitudes that witness to and invite participation in the
present reality of God’s kingdom. They are complex, socially embedded, intentional, and
habitual. Practices build on historical precedent while being dynamic and adaptive. They
have social, moral, and ‘epistemological weight’; their exercise may lead to new
knowledge, or new understanding of God. Their excellence is not achieved quickly, but
requires ongoing deliberation of their meaning and continual social embodiment.
Practices are far richer than casual activities.20

Yet for the entry point into individual discipleship in my class, I chose not spiritual

disciplines but doubt, already mentioned, and pain. Although we have spent significant time

together discussing the formative power of long-term habits and spiritual practices (“liturgies” as

James Smith calls them), I chose to capitalize on the latent potential in doubt and pain for

19
Jason Clark, “Consumer Liturgies and Their Corrosive Effects on Christian Identity,” in Church in the Present
Tense: A Candid Look at What’s Emerging, ed. Scot McKnight (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2011), 52.
20
Blomberg, “Contentment,” 41.
producing paradigmatic shifts that help us re-story ourselves into the grand narrative of the faith.

It is here that the theory of transformative education is most informative.

Transformative Learning Theory

Jack Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning posits that at times when an individual

experiences a “disorienting dilemma,” such as a crisis, life transition, or, I would add, the weight

of intense doubt or pain, it is then that the individual is primed for a “perspective

transformation.” These shifts have “three dimensions: psychological (changes in understanding

of the self), convictional (revision of belief systems), and behavioral (changes in lifestyle).”21

The process by which this happens is simplified here: (1) the experience of disorientation of

perspective-challenge, (2) critical reflection, (3) reflective discussion, and (4) “action,” which

includes a perspective shift or new perspective entirely.22

Mezirow uses “perspective” to refer to structures of meaning-making such as “frame of

reference, habits of mind, and points of view” that all include “cognitive, affective, and conative

dimensions.” This set of presuppositions and hermeneutical approaches constitute our

“perspective.”23 Obviously, a transformation in this perspective, even a minor one, is a fairly

major shift, and it is for that reason that the “disorienting dilemmas” are not common. For

Mezirow, truly transformative learning is not a daily experience, but it is an educational

philosophy nonetheless. A positive transformative learning experience is one in which “we

transform our taken-for-granted frames of reference (meaning schemes, habits of mind,

mindsets) to make them more inclusive, discriminating, open, emotionally capable of change,

and reflective so that they may generate beliefs and opinions that will prove more true or

21
“Transformative Learning,” Wikipedia, November 9, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Transformative_learning&oldid=809554526.
22
Sharan B. Merriam, Rosemary S. Caffarella, and Lisa M. Baumgartner, Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive
Guide (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006), 134.
23
Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner, 132.
justified to guide action.”24 Although this description is not intended to be Christian, there is

nothing in it that is not also a desirable outcome for positive Christian discipleship. Mezirow’s

description sounds, at first glance, more suitable to the ideals of a deeply pluralistic culture – it

is. However, if we take nestle this more inclusive, open, and reflective perspective shift within

the narrative identity we have already discussed, the two pair quite nicely.

Byrd believes that “the practice of narrative discipleship appears to assist emerging adults

to identify themes in their journey of faith in order to establish a foundation for transformative

learning to occur.”25 I agree with Byrd here, and I would add that it is often through doubt and

pain that we are most susceptible, especially early in our faith, to the paradigm shifts offered by

transformational learning. For this reason, the transformative element of narrative discipleship

can often be very difficult; thus, even this more “individual” side of discipleship cannot be done

alone. Mentors and ministers have a responsibility to help younger (and older!) disciples learn to

“connect the dots” in their lives.26

For this reason, I teach my students about the “discipline of doubt” and the “power of

pain.” The latter is easy to find in Scripture, not least in our Christology, but the former may be a

bit more opaque at first glance. Doubt, I tell my students, is something that we cannot control;

despite Modernist cognitive illusions, we cannot simply will ourselves not to doubt. On the other

hand, doubt is not a vice, nor is it a sin or a sign of a lack of faithfulness. Though we demonize

“doubting Thomas,” it is important to remember that Jesus responded to his doubt with a

demonstration of faithfulness (Jn 20:24-29). He also responded favorably to a simple cry that, I

24
Jack Mezirow and Associates, Learning as Transformation: Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress, 1 edition
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000), 8.
25
Byrd, “Narrative Discipleship,” 258.
26
Byrd, 258.
would venture to guess, is not unfamiliar to many of us, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk

9:24)

Though we cannot control whether we doubt, we do have total control over what we do

with it. It is for this reason that I tell my students doubt is a spiritual discipline. Rather than

viewing doubt as a lack of true faith, I encourage them to have the transformative perspective

shift that doubt is evidence of a desire for truth that is not yet satisfied. Pursuing that doubt,

asking questions, seeking answers – all in community, of course – is where the spiritual

discipline lies. Over time, we can learn to handle doubt better and even see opportunities for

transformative learning earlier and earlier in the stages of doubt.

Restorying Ministry

The combination of the two theories we have discussed, transformational learning and

narrative identity, led to our development of a framework to be used in ministry with those going

through a “disorienting dilemma.” Called “re-storying,” this framework could work in

conjunction with a number of other transformative Christian discipleship tools that utilize

observation, critical reflection, discussion, and action/change. An example of this is Mike

Breen’s “Kairos Circle,” used by the Navigators ministry as a discipleship paradigm.27

The re-storying model came about as I began to realize that we cannot simply expect

disciples, in or outside of class, to adopt a generic “Christian identity” that will “subsume all

other identities within each person.”28 Though I have spent a significant portion of my adult life

critiquing individualism from within the belly of the beast, it is an undeniable fact that

discipleship happens within our experiences – as individuals with unique stories – of doubt, pain,

27
Mike Breen, Building a Discipling Culture, 2nd edition (Pawleys Island: 3DM Publishing, 2014), 55–66.
28
Joshua H Lunde-Whitler, “Paul Ricoeur and Robert Kegan in Unlikely Dialogue: Towards A ‘Narrative-
Developmental’ Approach to Human Identity and Its Value for Christian Religious Education,” IJPT 19, no. 2 (2015):
310.
rejoicing, mourning, and transition. Joshua Lunde-Whitler, speaking to educators, says that we

are obligated to take “the specific and personal life-stories of individual persons, in all their

staggering complexity, into account.”29 How much more as Christian disciplers seeking to help

people make meaning and find self-understanding in the story of God making a people for his

name? The people of God may be more than the persons of God, but it is certainly not less.

Once again, I must give credit where credit is due, that is to Nathan Byrd, for first

planting the seed of this framework I will lay out below. He writes,

Restorying may free participants from the restrictive bonds of experiences, perspectives,
and self-conceptions of their past lives. Educators can assist students to restory their
lives. In this vein, educators can be similar to therapists and help others see their story
“with an unusual profundity and focus.” This is accomplished through asking questions
to help learners transform or restory amid transitions. In Randall’s theory, there are three
stages of restorying one’s life: narrating the story (simply telling the various stories or
storylines), reading the story (stepping back and examining it from a distance), and
rewriting the story (learning to restructure the stories to make new meanings in light of
present circumstances).30

Here, once again, we see the steps of transformative learning: experience, reflection, and action.

For Breen’s Kairos Circle, these are observe, reflect/discuss, and plan/act. For Byrd, though,

working from a narrative identity/theology perspective, these three steps are named narrating,

reading, and rewriting. In that vein, the following paradigm was developed for walking a brother

or sister in Christ through a disorienting situation.

1) Tell me your story (Allow the person to share their situation with as many details as
they are willing. Ask only questions if possible – do not tell their story for them.)
1a) What was the “breaking point” that prompted this crisis? (This is optional. It
may already have come out in the story-telling, or it may not be relevant. But if it
is a struggle with a sin issue, doubt, or other major disorientation that prompted a
crisis, finding out what prompted them to finally break down will be invaluable.
For example: What was the moment/events where this became too heavy for you
to bear? Was it when you were sitting with your head in your hands during

29
Lunde-Whitler, 310.
30
Byrd, “Narrative Discipleship,” 251.
 worship? Was it earlier? What was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”?)

2) Name your feelings. I will write those feelings or perspectives down on this piece of
paper in front of us. (Focus on feelings and perspectives in the present. Not “just”
emotions)
2a) Prompts: Fears? Thoughts about others? Thoughts about yourself? Thoughts
about God? (This is optional. Prompt with questions if needed. Avoid naming
their feelings at all costs. Walk with them through that, but don’t try to guide
them through their own emotions – not yet)

3) As imperfect Christians, we have been trained in a terrible habit of motivating

ourselves by the tools of the enemy: fear, guilt, and shame.

Fear is about the future (unknown), guilt is about the past (what I’ve done), shame is
about the present (who I am is not enough). Let’s take these feelings and thoughts
we’ve written down and categorize them under fear/guilt/shame.

4) Jesus does not work through these tools of the enemy, but through faith/hope/love.
Faith(fulness) is about the past, hope is about the future, and love is about the present.
Let’s walk through each of these feelings or sets of feelings and I will help you “re-
story” your situation using faith, hope, and love as our perspective.

Although the re-storying model is still new and relatively untested, I believe that it flows

quite naturally from the principles discussed in this paper. As we have already seen, there is

room for trial-and-error in transformative education and certainly in discipleship.

Conclusion

The real conclusion to this paper is the overview of the curriculum to be found in the

following pages. In this paper, we have seen how the combination of narrative identity formation

and transformative learning theory combine together to address many of the felt and unfelt needs

of the millennial generation. The cultural milieu of post-modernism, pluralism, globalism, and

hyper-individualism requires us to rethink much of how we teach and walk out discipleship. This

is not to change the heart of the message, but only to inculturate it, to use a word from Leslie

Newbigin, in a way that is meaningful for our audience. I hope that the concepts presented here

are a helpful step in the right direction.

 Syllabus: Discipleship in Community
Module 1: First Principles

Week 1: Why community?

“In Christ”=“A community filled with the Holy Spirit imitating Jesus before the Father”

Week 2: The Story we find ourselves in

The narrative as communal identity formation.

Module 2: Macro-community: The Church

Week 3: Living together, worshiping together

Week 4: Finding your place in the Body

Module 3: Micro-community: “Mutual Discipleship”

Week 5: “Accountability” versus Mutual Discipleship

Fear, guilt, and shame versus faith, hope, and love

Week 6: Welcome to the Dark Side: Dealing with Doubt and Pain
The discipline of doubt and the power of pain

Week 7: Confession and Communion

Invitation/challenge
The “Kairos circle”

Module 4: Myself-in-community: Individual Discipleship

Week 8: Social or Solitary?

Introversion and extraversion in community
Meyers-Briggs

Week 9: The helix-shaped Christian life

Module 5: Ministry

Week 10-11: Ministry inside the community

The ministry of silence
Re-storying discipleship model

Weeks 12-13: Ministry outside the church

“Tell a better story”
Evangelism as “gospeling”
The Four Worlds evangelism tool
 Lesson Plans
Module 1: First Principles
Week 1: Why community?
- Share my testimony
- Talk about individualism and the “millennial identity crisis”
- Defining being “In Christ” as a communal thing (all the “yous” in Paul’s letters are
plural!). Our definition for “In Christ” is “A community filled with the Holy Spirit
imitating Jesus before the Father.”
o Four points here in our “Trinitarian Ecclesiology”
o “A community” – Ecclesiology, “the people of God is more than the persons of
God”
o “filled with the Spirit imitating Jesus” – Christological pneumatology, Jesus
shows us what a true human filled with the Holy Spirit looks like.
o “before the Father” – Does Jesus stand between us and the Father blocking our
wrath, or does he stand beside us with his arm around us welcoming us into the
Father’s presence? (example from Cherith Nordling)
o We are invited, as a community, into the Trinitarian dance/perichoresis.
- What does this look like?
o Love – your dream of community vs the reality of the community itself
(Bonhoeffer)
o Worshiping together
o Reading together
o Mutual discipleship (the cornerstone of this course)

Homework: Read Bonhoeffer, Life Together chapter 1 (Community)

Week 2: The Story we find ourselves in

- Devo: Psalm 105 or 104
- Review week 1
- Open discussion on Bonhoeffer
- “The Narrative as Communal Identity Formation”
o The answer to the millennial identity crisis caused by hyper-individualism
o Imagination is a disciple’s daily bread
o Do you belong before you believe/remove before you reform or the other way
around?
- You Are What you Love (Jamie Smith)
o What do you want? (desire/eros) We are erotic creatures first, not thinking
creatures.
o The Power of Habit – What is learning? Do you ever experience a gap between
what you know and what you do?
o Teleological creatures
 Everyone is driven towards a vision of the Kingdom/good life
 The heart as “erotic compass”
 “Discipleship is more a matter ...” (read quote from You Are What You
Love page 2)
 o Worship restores our lives by re-storying our imagination
 Genesis narrative example, what questions is this narrative answering?
- Dramatic reading of spoken word: A Memory of the Future, showing narrative power

Homework: Read Smith selected readings

Module 2: Macro-community: The Church

Week 3: Living together, worshiping together

- Review weeks 1 and 2
- Discussion on Smith
- Macro-community:
o The importance of inter-generational ministry
o The Gathering
o The Word
o Reconciliation

Homework: Bonhoeffer, chapter 2 (The Day with Others)

Week 4: Finding your place in the Body

- Review
- Discussion on Bonhoeffer
- The importance of reconciliation
o Diagram
o Speech act theory
- How to be a more “erotic” Church member – using the community to serve your own
interests
o Seeking satisfaction, skipping service
o Elevating expectation over experience
o Confusing complaining with (prophetic) critique
o The dangers of over-identifying and losing your identity

Homework: Listen to Matt Tebbe, “Resurrection Imagination,” and read blog post “Erotic
Christians”

(From this point on the class is too contextual and my notes are too lengthy to try to give
outlines for each lesson)

Module 3: Micro-community: “Mutual Discipleship”

Week 5: “Accountability” versus Mutual Discipleship

- Discuss
- Fear/guilt/shame vs faith/hope/love

Homework: read blog post, “The Power of Pain”

 Week 6: Welcome to the Dark Side: Dealing with Doubt and Pain
The discipline of doubt and the power of pain

Homework: read Bonhoeffer, ch 5, “Confession and Communion”

Week 7: Confession and Communion

Invitation/challenge
The “Kairos circle”

Homework: Take Meyers Briggs test, read Bonhoeffer ch 3 (“The Day Alone”), read blog post
“Social/Solitary”

Module 4: Myself-in-community: Individual Discipleship

Week 8: Social or Solitary?

Introversion and extraversion in community
Meyers-Briggs

Week 9: The helix-shaped Christian life

Homework: Read Bonhoeffer ch 4, “Ministry”

Module 5: Ministry

Week 10-11: Ministry inside the community

The ministry of silence
Re-storying discipleship model

Weeks 12-13: Ministry outside the church

“Tell a better story”
Evangelism as “gospeling”
The Four Worlds evangelism tool
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