ABNORMAL - ER, PRE-BASIC - DISCIPLING
First, using “Abnormal” to describe this kind of discipling was a mistake, because it sounds like something bad. (It meant statistically abnormal, outside the “normal” range of the statistical majority or “norm.”) Actually “Pre-Basic” is a much better description of the kind of discipling needed outside the majority of cases.
Statistically, some 80-85% of Americans have some kind of vague belief in the Christian God, and some kind of vague belief in the truth of the Bible, or most of it (according to George Barna, the Christian pollster.) This majority can start with “Basic” discipling, because they already have accepted at least the bare basics of Christian belief.
The other 15-20% of Americans lack even these bare-bone basics of belief. So they cannot start at that point, but must begin further back, at a pre-basics level. Pre-Basic discipling utilizes everything used in Basic discipling, plus many other things.
This 15-20% minority typically start as frank unbelievers in Christianity. They might have belonged to another religion, or have been agnostics or atheists. But somehow, in some way, they came to Christ. (More on “Pre-Basic” evangelism another time.) Now they need discipling. What is likely to be different?
For one thing, they may be more hostile, more on-guard. They may have been very hostile to Christianity before conversion. A lot of that may still be with them. They may also have felt a repugnance, a strong distaste for Christianity and everything associated with it. They may be in real distress about the fact that they converted, even though they do not want to go back. But they may be aghast at all they have given up, and at losing still more in the future. And feeling very wary and uncertain about what comes next. Feeling, in short, “What have I done?” and “Now what!” and “Don’t push me!”
If they came from another religion, at least they started with the assumption that there was some kind of God, so the change is less drastic than for an atheist. But they still have many more problems than someone with bare basics of Christianity. For instance, their families may be in grief and anger about their leaving their religion. Their minds are full of unanswered questions about the differences between the old and new religions. They will be making major adjustments, for years. Neither they nor the discipler know what all of them are, or will be. Their disciplers will need to seek out the good books and resources that they are likely to need, ahead of time. Then as their questions come up, the discipler can point them to a more expert resource on the subject. (If they came from Satanism or something similar, that is a very special case. Fortunately, there is a lot of expert help in that area too.)
The change from agnostic or atheist to Christian is the most drastic of all. These converts are often still in shell-shock because of the huge size of the change they just experienced. They also will be going through significant changes for years to come, as they continue to work through all the implications of such a complete reversal in world-views. Their questions can range from scientific to philosophical to underlying assumptions to lifestyles to historical to standards of evidence. No discipler will come already prepared to address all their questions, especially if they are more learned or expert in some areas than the discipler. No matter. The discipler still needs to start hunting out the best resources on questions they may have, long before they ask, in order to know where to look, or to point them, for answers. Because those questions are coming!
For instance, when I converted from agnostic to Christian, it was actually a two-step conversion. (Read in www.outoftheironfurnace.blogspot.com, Ch. 11. Scroll down about 4/5 of the way.) First, a heart-change, when I realized God was there. But then, a purely intellectual process that took two years, before I accepted Christ. That was because I declared war!
I loved it that God existed and he loved me. But I hated Christianity. So I did everything I could, questioned everything possible and raised every objection I could think of, hoping against hope that he was not the Christian God. I did this on my own turf, the scientific thinking I taught and had been taught. And on my own turf, he beat me. (Must be a lot smarter, right?) The way that happened was for every question or objection I raised, an answer would come in just 2 or 3 weeks. I was getting more and more alarmed, being driven more and more toward Christianity, and leaving finger-nail marks all the way down the cliff.
On the day I was finally convinced, against my will, that Jesus was who he said he was and the only way to God, I gave in and accepted him as Lord and Savior. It was a miserable day, too. I hated it. (Read in www.outoftheironfurnace.blogspot.com, Ch. 13, last 5 paragraphs.) Not because I was in “Ise” (an isolation, or punishment, cell) but because I lost the battle and had to surrender. And because all I could see was how much I was giving up. Right then, it looked grim. I did not know about all the good stuff that was coming later. I just knew that I could never consider myself honest again if I did not admit I had been wrong and he was right.
At that point, I was still hostile to the “institutional church” and “churchy” things. I was offended by the way Christians sang, talked, and thought. I had a poor opinion of preachers. Considering myself pretty strong and independent, I did not want to get involved in “group” things with other Christians. My hope at that point was to keep it just between God and me, without having to go any further than that. In short, I was not a very appealing candidate for any discipler to take on. There are probably many more like that.
Whatever ex-agnostic or atheist you might deal with as a discipler may have come through some such difficulty, because it is so hard for us. We have just arrived from very far away. Be patient. We eventually will probably come around. We’re more stubborn, and more insistent on our questions being addressed. And that process may go on for many years after conversion, well after the basics of discipling have been learned and are being practiced.
My discipler turned out to be Prison Chaplain Clifford Olsen. He had just the two qualities I needed most. First, he was persistent. It took him at least a year to get me into a prayer group. He just kept talking about it, every time I saw him. Second, every time I had a burning spiritual question, I could drop by his office and tell him. The same thing always happened. He would say, “Here, this is just what you need,” pull a book off the shelf and give it to me. He never missed. It was always just what I needed. (He also did not have to make the case himself, but let someone more expert do it.)
In dealing with such converts, it is of greatest importance to have an idea of the kinds of questions they might confront, and to be ready to come up with an expert resource on it quickly, because they usually are ready for it right then.
It is even important to anticipate questions that they may need to ask, but don’t. For instance, one day Chaplain Olsen handed me a book I thought I didn’t need. It was “The Genesis Flood” and concerned evolution. I told him I didn’t need it; that evolution was not a problem with me. That my acceptance of evolution did not affect my faith in any way. But he knew that it was likely to be a problem in the future. So he persuaded me to read it. Again, he anticipated correctly; it would have troubled me at some point, not too far in the future.
With Pre-Basic discipling, then, learning about expert resources to answer the questions they will have is what is most different from Basic discipling. Still, these converts also need every bit of what is offered in Basic discipling, as much as anyone. Be persistent with them. Do not let them off the hook, and do not be discouraged. What they badly need, once they are willing, is exactly the same Basic Discipling that everyone else needs.
Above all, don’t be intimidated by them. They need you more than either of you may know. Most of your disciples will not be so much trouble. Still, some of these more difficult disciples, such as C.S. Lewis, have eventually brought great gifts to Christianity. In discipling, you just never know. But you can be sure that every convert you disciple will be a gift, in one way or another, to the Kingdom of God and also, some day, to you.
Statistically, some 80-85% of Americans have some kind of vague belief in the Christian God, and some kind of vague belief in the truth of the Bible, or most of it (according to George Barna, the Christian pollster.) This majority can start with “Basic” discipling, because they already have accepted at least the bare basics of Christian belief.
The other 15-20% of Americans lack even these bare-bone basics of belief. So they cannot start at that point, but must begin further back, at a pre-basics level. Pre-Basic discipling utilizes everything used in Basic discipling, plus many other things.
This 15-20% minority typically start as frank unbelievers in Christianity. They might have belonged to another religion, or have been agnostics or atheists. But somehow, in some way, they came to Christ. (More on “Pre-Basic” evangelism another time.) Now they need discipling. What is likely to be different?
For one thing, they may be more hostile, more on-guard. They may have been very hostile to Christianity before conversion. A lot of that may still be with them. They may also have felt a repugnance, a strong distaste for Christianity and everything associated with it. They may be in real distress about the fact that they converted, even though they do not want to go back. But they may be aghast at all they have given up, and at losing still more in the future. And feeling very wary and uncertain about what comes next. Feeling, in short, “What have I done?” and “Now what!” and “Don’t push me!”
If they came from another religion, at least they started with the assumption that there was some kind of God, so the change is less drastic than for an atheist. But they still have many more problems than someone with bare basics of Christianity. For instance, their families may be in grief and anger about their leaving their religion. Their minds are full of unanswered questions about the differences between the old and new religions. They will be making major adjustments, for years. Neither they nor the discipler know what all of them are, or will be. Their disciplers will need to seek out the good books and resources that they are likely to need, ahead of time. Then as their questions come up, the discipler can point them to a more expert resource on the subject. (If they came from Satanism or something similar, that is a very special case. Fortunately, there is a lot of expert help in that area too.)
The change from agnostic or atheist to Christian is the most drastic of all. These converts are often still in shell-shock because of the huge size of the change they just experienced. They also will be going through significant changes for years to come, as they continue to work through all the implications of such a complete reversal in world-views. Their questions can range from scientific to philosophical to underlying assumptions to lifestyles to historical to standards of evidence. No discipler will come already prepared to address all their questions, especially if they are more learned or expert in some areas than the discipler. No matter. The discipler still needs to start hunting out the best resources on questions they may have, long before they ask, in order to know where to look, or to point them, for answers. Because those questions are coming!
For instance, when I converted from agnostic to Christian, it was actually a two-step conversion. (Read in www.outoftheironfurnace.blogspot.com, Ch. 11. Scroll down about 4/5 of the way.) First, a heart-change, when I realized God was there. But then, a purely intellectual process that took two years, before I accepted Christ. That was because I declared war!
I loved it that God existed and he loved me. But I hated Christianity. So I did everything I could, questioned everything possible and raised every objection I could think of, hoping against hope that he was not the Christian God. I did this on my own turf, the scientific thinking I taught and had been taught. And on my own turf, he beat me. (Must be a lot smarter, right?) The way that happened was for every question or objection I raised, an answer would come in just 2 or 3 weeks. I was getting more and more alarmed, being driven more and more toward Christianity, and leaving finger-nail marks all the way down the cliff.
On the day I was finally convinced, against my will, that Jesus was who he said he was and the only way to God, I gave in and accepted him as Lord and Savior. It was a miserable day, too. I hated it. (Read in www.outoftheironfurnace.blogspot.com, Ch. 13, last 5 paragraphs.) Not because I was in “Ise” (an isolation, or punishment, cell) but because I lost the battle and had to surrender. And because all I could see was how much I was giving up. Right then, it looked grim. I did not know about all the good stuff that was coming later. I just knew that I could never consider myself honest again if I did not admit I had been wrong and he was right.
At that point, I was still hostile to the “institutional church” and “churchy” things. I was offended by the way Christians sang, talked, and thought. I had a poor opinion of preachers. Considering myself pretty strong and independent, I did not want to get involved in “group” things with other Christians. My hope at that point was to keep it just between God and me, without having to go any further than that. In short, I was not a very appealing candidate for any discipler to take on. There are probably many more like that.
Whatever ex-agnostic or atheist you might deal with as a discipler may have come through some such difficulty, because it is so hard for us. We have just arrived from very far away. Be patient. We eventually will probably come around. We’re more stubborn, and more insistent on our questions being addressed. And that process may go on for many years after conversion, well after the basics of discipling have been learned and are being practiced.
My discipler turned out to be Prison Chaplain Clifford Olsen. He had just the two qualities I needed most. First, he was persistent. It took him at least a year to get me into a prayer group. He just kept talking about it, every time I saw him. Second, every time I had a burning spiritual question, I could drop by his office and tell him. The same thing always happened. He would say, “Here, this is just what you need,” pull a book off the shelf and give it to me. He never missed. It was always just what I needed. (He also did not have to make the case himself, but let someone more expert do it.)
In dealing with such converts, it is of greatest importance to have an idea of the kinds of questions they might confront, and to be ready to come up with an expert resource on it quickly, because they usually are ready for it right then.
It is even important to anticipate questions that they may need to ask, but don’t. For instance, one day Chaplain Olsen handed me a book I thought I didn’t need. It was “The Genesis Flood” and concerned evolution. I told him I didn’t need it; that evolution was not a problem with me. That my acceptance of evolution did not affect my faith in any way. But he knew that it was likely to be a problem in the future. So he persuaded me to read it. Again, he anticipated correctly; it would have troubled me at some point, not too far in the future.
With Pre-Basic discipling, then, learning about expert resources to answer the questions they will have is what is most different from Basic discipling. Still, these converts also need every bit of what is offered in Basic discipling, as much as anyone. Be persistent with them. Do not let them off the hook, and do not be discouraged. What they badly need, once they are willing, is exactly the same Basic Discipling that everyone else needs.
Above all, don’t be intimidated by them. They need you more than either of you may know. Most of your disciples will not be so much trouble. Still, some of these more difficult disciples, such as C.S. Lewis, have eventually brought great gifts to Christianity. In discipling, you just never know. But you can be sure that every convert you disciple will be a gift, in one way or another, to the Kingdom of God and also, some day, to you.
posted by Old Neocon at 8:31 PM
1 Comments:
When I became a Christian, one of the first things that I did was read a chronological daily Bible cover to cover in order to get a basic framework for Christian teaching. I recommend the practice for all new converts.
For new converts who have never been in a Christian home and are therefore ignorant of even basic Bible stories, I recommend the Picture Bible, and then the one-year Bible.
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