Is it true that Christian education,
discipleship, and spiritual formation all mean the same
thing? To many
people, the words are used interchangeably but should they
be? Christian
education, discipleship, and spiritual formation are all in
the same ballpark.
While these words should mean the same
thing, they have different connotations to the average
person. To start
with, they are all similar in that they have the same goal
in mind.
Education, discipleship, and spiritual formation all seek to
make a more mature Christian.
They differ in their methodology however.
Education is knowledge acquired by
learning or instruction.
Christian education is therefore acquired Christian
knowledge. Most
often this is thought of as formal education but this can in
fact come from anywhere.
One can be educated by a television program, through
one-on-one
discipleship, or through the written words of another in a
book. Some
people are educated for education’s sake and do not apply
what they know.
This is the drawback of education.
Ideally application is emphasized but a person can be
educated with no call to action for use of the information.
Discipleship takes education a step
further. It
seeks to not only impart knowledge on a student but to also
give guidance on how to make this practical.
While educating, a teacher can offer practical
application but they are unable to follow up with every
student individually.
In the case of discipleship, a teacher can follow up
with each student to see how they are applying the
principles because there are far fewer students.
Spiritual formation comes as a result
of practical application.
Paul summarizes spiritual formation in Colossians
1:10, “And we pray this in order that you may live a life
worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing
fruit in every good work,
growing in
the knowledge of God.”
Spiritual formation may come as a result of personal
application of teaching, it may result from one-on-one discipleship, or
it may result from a Christian’s personal study of God’s
Word along with prayer and fasting.
We see education, discipleship, and
spiritual formation evident in Jesus’ ministry.
Jesus taught to the masses, thousands of people at
some times. Some
heard but never actually learned what was said.
Some understood and learned but never applied the
lessons. Others
accepted the teaching and became followers of Jesus.
Jesus cast a wide net, knowing that some people would
accept His teaching while others would reject it.
Jesus obviously modeled discipleship
and did so better than anyone else.
He personally invested His life into the lives of
twelve men. From
those twelve He had an inner circle of three men, Peter,
James, and John.
He personally made sure that they understood His teaching
and made it practical to them.
His success ratio was far greater than with just His
teaching but even discipleship did not guarantee results as
Judas Iscariot still rejected Him.
Finally spiritual formation came as a
result of everything that Jesus did.
Some in the crowds accepted Jesus’ teaching, applied
it, and grew spiritually because of it.
The disciples were obviously cast in the mold of
Jesus. And even
after Jesus had left this earth spiritual formation
continued as a result of what He taught and what the
disciples understood with the help of the Holy Spirit.
