What We Read About
Andy Johnson ’14
For the past two years, I have been leading a peer group through
the book
Not a Fan
by Kyle Idleman. When I joined Discipleship
Council, I was excited about selecting a doctrinally sound book that
could impact the lives of 100 Cedarville students. After studying
Not a Fan
as a Discipleship Leader during the previous year and
seeing my idea of the comfortable Christian life dismantled, I
chose to leadmy group of leaders through the same book, earnestly
hoping they would have the same experience.
A common misconception is that when a discipleship group
studies a book on Christian living, it neglects theWord of God. On
the contrary—we study the Bible alongwith the ideas of a Christian
thinker or theologian. In
Not a Fan
, Idleman bases his ideas on
Scripture. Discipleship Ministries stresses the transformative
power of the Bible; thus, we take the main supporting passage
for each idea expressed in
Not a Fan
and study it ourselves. In
doing so, we wrestle with Scripture while critically analyzing an
author’s work.
I chose Idleman’s book because of its message that a life
spent following Christ requires more than just cheering on Jesus
while we sit in the bleachers. He contrasts what it means to be a
sacrificially devoted follower of Jesus with simply being a fan.
Through this study, I have discovered that when Jesus invites us
to follow, He calls us to come and die: die to our will and our
desires in order to take on those of Christ. As I pursue a career in
medicine, this understanding has altered my trajectory in life as I
seek to sacrificially serve Christ as a physician and model His love
and character to my patients.
What We Talk About
Michael Brittan ’15
I knew as a freshman that I wanted to be involved with a group
of guys studying the Bible, so I joined a group studying the book
of James. Our study time included reading and discussing a
passage of Scripture, discovering how it applied to our lives. It
was encouraging to hear group members share how the passages
spoke to them, which helpedme think critically about God’sWord.
This year, I’m leading a study on the book of Hebrews. During
one of our meetings, we discussed balancing the priorities in
our lives. We dug a little deeper and talked about balancing
relationships. Marcus, one of our members, described three
different kinds of people with whom we can form relationships.
Some people are like deserts — they give nothing in return after
you have invested in them. Some are like rivers that flow in one
direction— they have all the “right” answers for what you need to
change in your life. And some are like swamps — they draw you
in and meet you where you are. The “swamps” listen and invest in
your life, and you do the same for them. We want a lot of swamps
in our lives, but we must realize it’s important to love and invest
in the deserts and rivers that God puts in our paths.
In our group, we talk about all the significant parts of our lives.
These conversations create an environment where group members
feel safe to share. Building trust is essential for discipleship. The
relationships that are formed through Discipleship Ministries are
a vital part of the spiritual growth that takes place at Cedarville.
GO ... AND MAKE DISCIPLES
More than a third of Cedar ville
students participate in Discipleship
Ministries, a network of student-
l e d d i s c i p l e s h i p g r o u p s t ha t
me e t we e k l y f o r B i b l e s t udy,
communit y, prayer, and suppor t.
Twelve experienced group leaders
form Disci p l eshi p Counci l. They
are per sona lly mentored by the
Director of Discipleship Ministries
and trained to teach a group of nine
peers to become effective discipleship
leaders. Those 108 students lead their
own groups of eight to 10 students
in discipleship groups across
campus . Four current and
former group leaders share
what makes Discipleship
Mi n i s t r i e s such an
inf luential force in
s tudent s ’ sp i r i tua l
development.
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Cedarville Magazine
