‘What the Church Needs Most Is Discipleship’: Theology Expert Gives Practical Steps to Engaging Lost Culture By Tré Goins-Phillips for Faith Wire
There is no shortage of issues constantly vying for believers’ attention. According to one theology expert, the only way to engage these matters well is through proper biblical discipleship.
Dr. James Spencer, president of the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, recently appeared on CBN’s “Faith vs. Culture,” a weekly program hosted by the Faithwire staff.
“What the church needs most is discipleship,” Spencer said, referring to the practical ways in which the D.L. Moody Center works to equip believers with theological knowledge. “I think that discipleship really opens up opportunities that no other tactic or strategy that we could come up with is ever going to provide.”
Now is your chance to support Gospel News Network.
We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
The first step toward meaningfully combatting the encroaching secular worldview is helping Christians “understand these issues from an intellectual, factual basis,” as well as communicating how “Christians can be Christians in the world in response to these issues,” such as immigration, abortion, and sexuality.
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning this summer of Roe v. Wade, which granted nationwide legal coverage to abortion, Spencer authored the guide, “20 Questions: Christians and Pro-Life in the United States.”
As far as engaging in society, Spencer encouraged Christians to maintain a biblical perspective by staying informed but not dwelling too heavily on the news or social media. By doing that, he said believers are more likely to remain calm in such a chaotic world.
“There’s always something compelling about being calm,” he said. “When we’re not activated or triggered by the information that we’re talking about, that’s always, I think, a better witness. It demonstrates to others that we actually do have the peace that surpasses all understanding and that we’re not threatened by what’s going on around us. We’re concerned by what’s going on around us, but we’re not threatened.”
