Discipleship. It’s a word that many Christians today are backing away from. After all, it doesn’t sport the social polish that other more correct and sensitive words boast. 

Discipleship. It’s a little too loud and brash for most of the modern populace. People nowadays prefer their words served up with syrups and glaze. Meanwhile, Discipleship is more akin to a thick piece of beef jerky.  It’s healthy and packed with protein, but it demands some serious jaw exercises in order to swallow it.  

Discipleship. I may be a bit strange, but I really like the word. I realize that I’m in the minority today in a mainstream Christian world where terms like mentoring and life-coaching have become the big boys on the block. But, discipleship has something that those terms just can’t muster. First off, mentoring and life-coaching are dressed in suit coats and pressed slacks, while discipleship is dressed in battle fatigues. The word discipleship is built for action in a time of war, while its hip, modern counterparts are built more for sounding smart in a board room.  

Discipleship.  It has a five o’clock shadow on its chin, a bit of dried blood caked on its cheek, a stream of sweat cascading down its forehead, and the distinct smell of old-school cologne wafting behind it everywhere it marches. 

Discipleship. It’s a word for the serious Christian: the ones who want to surrender all, give up everything, be used of God to tackle the powers of darkness, and to really see this world set free from its sin.  

Discipleship.  It’s a word for the passionate Christian: the ones who simply refuse to accept mediocrity in their own lives or in the life of the Church around them.     

Discipleship. It is a word that denotes challenge, exhortation, and life-transformation. Mentoring and life-coaching, on the other hand, denote suggestions, encouragements, and tidbits of wisdom.  Discipleship oversees change, growth, and reformation. Life-coaching, on the other hand, oversees people who are set on doing things their own way while graciously enduring casual, non-preachy input over steaming coffee mugs and chocolate bon-bons.  

So, call me strange, but with a dying world in desperate need of the thunderclap of the Gospel, I’m interested in offering good, old-fashioned discipleship and not a new-fangled solution.  

Discipleship. This is the stuff that ancient Christianity was built on. And, simply put, it’s the stuff that we need as the Body of Christ today if we are really serious about getting the ancient strength back.   

Discipleship. It’s a word that indicates the purposeful impartation of the Life of Jesus Christ from one Christian to another.  

Discipleship. It’s a word that sort of grows on you.  Because it’s a word that simply will not let you remain as you now are. 

If you are interested in discipleship, you’ve come to the right place.  Because, this is what we do!