Reformed Reflections

Our Lord Jesus calls His church to disciple the nations. Yet somehow we are not communicating clearly the Biblical meaning of discipleship. Too often in current evangelical literature no connection is made between loving Jesus and a total Christian world-and-life view, the Biblical perspective on reality. Anti-intellectualism and Biblical illiteracy of the average Christian is all too prevalent in our time and our communities.

Dr.Charles H. Dunahoo, coordinator for the Committee for Christian Education and Publications of the Presbyterian Church in America, suggests that we need to do a better job of teaching and living out a Biblical world-and-life-view. He also argues that the covenant must be an integral part of disciple making. It should not be neglected or overlooked. We need a more holistic or a kingdom approach to discipleship. Dunahoo believes that if that were to happen, there would be a greater Christian influence in our world.

Dunahoo states discipleship involves knowing our world. We should pay attention to postmodernism because it is not a passing fad. It is a total paradigm shift that manifests itself in many ways, not the least of which is our current obsession with pluralism, relativism, tolerance, and pop culture. Our challenge is to reach this postmodern generation of youth with the gospel in a way that draws them into the Christian community instead of pushing them away.

To approach the world, we need to understand the Word. This requires faith and commitment on our part. Dunahoo acknowledges his indebtedness to such Reformed thinkers as Abraham Kuyper, Francis Schaeffer, Cornelius Van Til, Os Guinness, and Carl F. Henry. But the greatest impact on his Christian growth was his discovery of the four-volume set Promise and Deliverance by S.G. DeGraaf. It focuses on learning, studying, and teaching the Bible from a covenant framework. In one sense we could say that covenant theology provides the path to knowing what and whom we believe, and the implications which that brings to our lives.

Dunahoo 's Making Kingdom Disciples is a must read for pastors, youth leaders, and teachers. It will assist them in their thinking about being and making disciples. To impact the world they must know how to teach, model, and explain to future generations what they mean by Christianity being "total truth," the Lordship of Christ over every area of life.