When we talk about discipleship in the evangelical circles today it typically is limited to spiritual matters. Most times when people discuss discipleship it involves small groups, personal spiritual disciplines, prayer, scripture memorization and accountability. All of these are good things, great things in fact. But we typically stop short of teaching a fully orbed gospel of the kingdom which permeates every aspect of life including the physical realm. Why?
Well first of all I would argue that we see discipleship as only post-conversion. We have missed that a form of discipleship takes place before people actually become Christians. This is especially true among urban youth. Discipleship is definitely teaching believers to mature and grow in grace and usefullness for service. But it is also pre-conversion in that it deals with core cultural concerns relating to urban issues that an urban youth has. Carl Ellis defines discipleship as, "When you engage someone with the person of Jesus Christ through practical encounters and conversation".
I bring this up because many times urban youth do not connect with our methods of evangelism. Before we can bring these men to a point of making a decision for Christ, they need to see how the gospel of the kingdom addresses their core issues. We also need to be aware that urban youth suffer from broken value systems. That means discipleship involves far more than simply teaching them the Bible and memorizing Scripture. We need to connect the Bible in a way that teaches achiever values and breaks down subsistence values. Sometimes it is not simply a moral or character flaw that is holding them back, it is the fact that they have adopted faulty values that lead to nihilism and despair.
