Discipleship - A Dynamic Process

Introduction

My premise is that we are more motivated to learn when we sense a gap between what we know and what we see. The psychological term for this is "cognitive dissonance" (Festinger). I have spent one year separated from the protestant church and thus can now look back on my decades of affiliation with more detachment. My observations on the protestant church are a mixture of subjective observation and selective readings. I have spent one year studying the processes of addiction, recovery and relapse while trying to stay as detached as possible. My observations on addiction are based on subjective observation and a concentrated effort to read thirty books and forty articles on the topic while participating in a diverse number of settings. I have spent time: talking with addicts, counselors, program directors, lawyers and treatment officers; observing drug classes organized to support California Penal Code 1000 (PC1000); observing drug courts; and attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Cocaine Anonymous (CA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Nar-Anon the family support group for NA, Al-Anon the family support group for AA and CODA the support group for codependents. I have made friends with people in California Proposition 36 alternative sentencing programs. I have been to an AA convention, a NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) conference and taken classes towards certification as an addiction counselor. I feel like I have done about as much as I can in one year.

The purpose for this paper is to share what I have learned. The body of this paper has four sections: Stages of Change, Helping Models, Developmentalism and Renewal. In each section I will describe the differences I see in the approach taken in a typical protestant church and in a typical twelve step program. My goal is to provide information that can be used to improve both settings. The key theme in this paper is "Discipleship". The thread that connects religion with self-improvement is "Discipleship".

Stages of Change

The stages identified in the TTM model are:

• Pre-contemplation: I am not interested in change.
• Contemplation: I occasionally think about change but I am not willing to commit.
• Preparation: I want to change and I am trying to figure out how to do so successfully.
• Action: I am doing things so that I can change my life.
• Maintenance: I successfully changed and now I am trying to hold onto what I gained.
• Relapse: I have reverted back to a previous stage.

Zimmerman, et al mapped out treatment approaches for addicts based on these stages. This approach emphasizes compassionate support through the pre-contemplation and contemplation stages; disciplined efforts to assist in preparation, action and maintenance; and a blend of compassionate support and renewed efforts to recover from relapse.

When I observe twelve step meetings I see old timers greet newcomers, assess their stage of change and adjust their response accordingly. In churches I often see people greet newcomers in a static manner that gives the same response regardless of where the newcomer is in their willingness to commit. For example, a couple may come to church because the wife is in preparation and is searching for a new home church. The husband may be pre-contemplative and participate only to please his spouse. When we greet the husband and invite him to the men's Bible study we are trying to enroll him in action at a time when he is only prepared to receive compassionate support. Hurrying him towards action when he is pre-contemplative increases his resistance. At the same time, giving compassionate support to the wife when she is looking to commit to action will tell her that this church is not right for her.

What amazes me about AA and churches is how well AA seems to do with newcomers and how poorly churches seem to do. I think the first part of the explanation is that AA members have a lot more practice at greeting newcomers. The second key is that AA teaches people how to listen.

The ideal for "compassionate support" described by many who study the science of addiction treatment is today called "motivational interviewing" (MI) (Miller and Rollnick). MI is based on client-centered therapy developed by Carl Rogers. The key to client-centered therapy is the expression of unconditional positive regard. Rogers, Miller, Rollnick and others worked to teach professionals how to listen to people and then respond in such a way as to affirm the potential within the person. It is a difficult skill to do well. Bill W and Dr. Bob - the founders of AA - knew that they needed to affirm the potential within each alcoholic and encourage them to contemplate change. They quickly realized, however, that the more people talk the less likely it is that they will say what helps and the more likely it is that they will say the wrong thing. Twelve step meetings deal with this human limitation by imposing silence. If I share, you must remain silent and listen to what I say without agreeing or disagreeing. You just listen.Think about how much more effective our newcomer greetings might be if people listened attentively and said as little as possible.

Another key distinction between AA and churches is known as the revolving door syndrome. Churches stress over each newcomer that does not commit to action. Twelve step programs expect most newcomers to float through and then return to their addiction. And yet, the end result is that AA in the United States is as large as many of the mainstream denominations (Alcoholics Anonymous 2007, Cox).

When a newcomer browses for a while the AA old timers realize that the newcomer is not ready for action. They provide encouragement and wait to see if the newcomer will change. When newcomers browse through churches without staying it seems to me that many churches then begin a deep self-assessment trying to see what they need to change. Perhaps the service was not appealing enough; maybe the music was too loud or too soft or too fast or too slow; maybe the sermon should be shorter, longer, harder, softer, more entertaining, more Biblical, more contemporary or more traditional. AA has none of this anxiety. AA is what AA is; and will be what it has been. When people are ready for change they come looking for AA.

I also see differences regarding the stage of change expressed by members of twelve step programs compared to the stage expressed by most church members. In my opinion, most twelve step members are in action with only a select few old timers truly expressing maintenance. In my opinion most church members are in maintenance with only a committed few expressing action.

This observation puzzled me until I found an article by Falcone. The statistics he quotes indicate that AA uses the revolving door syndrome to their benefit. Basically, AA is self-selective. Out of one hundred that come through the doors, maybe fifty stay through a year. Out of the fifty that stay one year maybe twenty stay for five years. Out of the twenty that stay for five years maybe five actually achieve sobriety for those five years. Thus, if we say that drinking is the sin that the church of AA works to curtail then ninety-five percent of the people in AA are actively sinning. And everyone in AA knows that just about everyone else in AA is struggling with this disease.

In churches, out of one hundred that attend the first service in January probably eighty or more will still be there for the Christmas service twelve months later. In the Christian concept of sin, one hundred out of that one hundred are sinners. And yet, everyone in church wants to pretend like they are not sinners and seem intent upon uncovering the hidden sins in others. People in AA tell stories to try to top each other regarding how bad their actions were. People in churches tell stories to try to impress others regarding how good their lives have been. I think that a newcomer stepping into an AA meeting feels lifted by hearing that someone else had it worse than they do. I think that newcomers in churches feel put down that everyone here is so much better than they are now or can conceive of being in the future.

Perhaps one explanation is to link maintenance with pre-contemplation.

Christians choose a faith, go through various preparations, take action to join a body and then fall asleep in trying to hold onto what they have achieved so far. Addicts know that they can never sleep. Addicts know that they must stay in action for the remainder of their lives. For most addicts the next step from action is relapse, which is then either followed by a renewal of the cycle or by eventual death. A twelve step meeting is a battle over life and death. Addicts know the value of their recovery. But, as Bonhoeffer notes, Christians think that grace is cheap.

Of all the denominations that I have participated in, it seems to me that the silent meeting Quakers are the ones that make it most clear that the worship service is an activity where all participate. It seems to me that nearly all other denominations have turned the worship service into a spectator event where a few provide entertainment while the masses watch. I do not know how to solve this problem. What I have learned from Nar-Anon, Al-Anon and CODA, however, is that it is not my problem to solve someone else's problem. Perhaps that is the tidbit of learning that I can share with the churches. I cannot be responsible for anyone else's behaviors. So perhaps churches are being too much like Martha and not enough like Mary (Luke 10:38-42) when they fret over the lack of enthusiasm demonstrated in the worship service.

Twelve step programs know that what they offer can save lives. The people who come to twelve step programs are searching for anything that can give them hope. Churches know that what they offer will change lives. But it seems that most of the people participating in churches are fairly content with the lives they have and seek church as a way to protect what they have.

Jesus told a parable about the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7). When I go to an NA meeting I see friends that I know from prior meetings. When I go back to that same meeting a week later I look for those friends and when I do not see them I ask about. With few exceptions someone there will already know where that person is or someone there will take the responsibility to search for the lost person. We know that a lost sheep is in danger and one week is a very long time when you are fighting the demon of addiction.

When I go to church on a regular basis people seldom seem concerned about those who were there one week and gone the next. This is different when we get connected with a small group where the relationships are tighter. And in many ways even a one hundred member AA meeting behaves rather like a Christian small group. But in a Christian small group people occasionally drift away and few seem concerned enough to search for the lost sheep.

Jesus told a parable about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). When someone relapses and then returns to a twelve step meeting the meeting rejoices. There is a time in the meeting and a special token given to those who return. Their friends celebrate the start of new actions and welcome the prodigal back into the fellowship. When I see people return to church it seems to me that they are put on probation and tested to ensure they are safe. It is as if "grace" is both cheap for those who have it and a scarce commodity that needs to be carefully guarded from those who need more.

Perhaps the different responses to the prodigal reflect differences in the way people try to help people. And that, leads to the next topic.

Helping Models

• Moral model: I will support you, but you created the problem and you are responsible for solving it. This is often expressed in religious beliefs and is a popular view of addiction.
• Enlightenment model: Although you created the problem you do not have the tools to solve it. This is a common perception of the twelve step approach where the blame for the addiction is with the addict, but recovery can only come through teamwork. Churches demonstrate this when someone confesses their sins and the people rally to pray, comfort and support.
• Medical model: The disease concept of addiction presumes that addicts are genetically and environmentally conditioned so that addiction is an inevitable outcome for which the addict cannot be held responsible. Treatment is best done by professionals. Churches use this model with relief efforts like food banks. The presumption is that the person asking for aid cannot be held responsible for an economic recession nor can they be expected to solve such a massive problem on their own.
• Compensatory model: I think this would be better named the Missionary Model. I am not responsible for the problems in your life, but I feel obligated to help you anyway.

The two dimensions that Brickman, et al use for their description are "responsibility for the problem" and "responsibility for the solution". I think another way to express this is "awareness of the problem" and "relationship to the solution". And when I use cognitive dissonance as an indication of our awareness of the problem and client centered therapy as a way to measure the relationship between the person and the helper, I come up with the following set of nine states and the expression of nine helping models.

Penitence: When an addict reaches the point where their life is chaotic beyond their control the first step is to admit defeat and wait on God - referred to in AA as the "Higher Power". Like Brickman's enlightenment model, I admit I created the problem and I admit I cannot solve it. Paul was truly penitent in Acts 9:1-22.

Intervention: When the conflict between the addict and their supporters becomes more than the supporters can bear, they can stop the antagonism, express their love and challenge the addict to stop their addictive behaviors. Jesus challenged the money changers in Luke 19:45-48.

Medical: The addict is subjugated and held hostage by a disease. Professionals can treat the addict and cure them. Jesus cured the boy in Mark 9:14-29 that no one else could help.

Tough Love: We are so overwhelmed by the pain from caring for an addict that we become numb and have no feelings. We then push the addict away so that we can find peace in our life. Jesus fed five thousand and then went away alone to pray (Matthew 14:22-23).

Social: We are obligated to care for someone who we feel should be responsible for their own life. The disciples acted this way when Jesus challenged them to feed the five thousand (Matthew 14:15-21). Brickman calls this the compensatory model and describes it by saying that we attempt to compensate for a deficiency that the addict did not create. Marlatt, Miller, Prochaska, DiClemente and numerous other researchers working on addiction studies appear to subscribe to this model and there are even occasional debates to weigh the merits of the social model against the medical model.

Enabler: An enabler expresses their overwhelming love through actions that disregard the desires of the person receiving their gifts. Consider Martha in Luke 10:38-42 who busied herself in making a meal when Mary saw that Jesus really wanted an opportunity to teach.

Tranquil: In the tradition of the silent Quakers this is called centering. Jesus spent considerable time withdrawing from the crowd so that he could pray in peace.

Teacher: A teacher creates an environment in which a student can learn. In Luke 22:39-46 Jesus takes the disciples to a place to pray, asks them to pray, prays himself, and yet they sleep.

Discipleship: It is my conjecture that we adopt the discipleship model when we truly believe in the moral model and when we truly love the person who desires help. We teach the person to fish. Discipleship is the ultimate goal of the church (Mark 16:14-18). Discipleship is the technique used by twelve step programs. Discipleship is a dynamic process.

Consider the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11.

She is in conflict with the law. She is taken away by a mob and I cannot think of anything that would be more chaotic than standing in the midst of a mob that is about to torture you to death by throwing rocks at you. Jesus calms the crowd, changes their hearts and they leave. Jesus speaks to the woman and she replies calmly, accepts Jesus request to transform her life and aligns her will with his. Bill W was in conflict with everyone around him and was about to be committed to an institution. His life hit a bottom filled with chaos. Then he had a spiritual awakening and felt completely at peace. He changed his life and aligned his will with those who helped him start AA. That group of one hundred alcoholics then created a discipleship program that has helped millions.

Nar-Anon welcomes people who feel obligated to care for an addict, helps that person find tranquility so they can begin to change their lives by accepting discipleship with their program. CODA welcomes people who have been subjugated by others, helps each find tranquility and then starts the person on a journey of transformation by working the twelve steps.

But what I see today in churches is that we bring people in from the world and give them an hour of peace. Clearly this is what they need because if their need was not being met they would go somewhere else.

A few choose to absorb the preaching and stay for a class to hear some teaching. Their lives are changed, but only gently. But how many commit to discipleship?

My response to this rhetorical question is two-fold.

First, I believe that people suffer today from a lack of centeredness. All our life is filled with busy-ness. Like Martha, we focus on doing good deeds to such an extent that we neglect our self. And so we come to worship in desperate need of tranquility and we use the service to meet that need. My thought is that we should meet that need outside of church and then come into church eager to participate - or, as Richard Foster says - celebrate.

Second, I do not see discipleship expressed in the church today like I see it expressed in twelve step programs. As I pondered this mystery I observed that discipleship in AA is built through tight personal relationships with people who are just a little bit ahead of the one they sponsor. It was Lawrence Kohlberg who first brought the importance of age specific role modeling to my attention. And the concept that he worked with is called Developmentalism.

Developmentalism

Stage	Name	Who do I care about?	Phraseology	Words
0	Incorporative	Me	This is...
1	Impulsive	Extensions of me	Can I...?	No
2	Imperial	Myself with people as objects	I want...!	Why?
3	Interpersonal	Myself in relationship to people	I am...	But…
4	Institutional	One group at a time	You and I are...	Vote on that
5	Inter-Individual	Multiple simultaneous groups	We should...	Although…
6	Integrated	Multiple cultures	Humanity is...	Unity
7	Moral	Universal	Humanity should...

Stage 0 - Incorporative. Consider the story of Cain and Abel. When confronted Cain avoids responsibility. His behavior is self-focused and amoral.

Stage 1 - Impulsive. Noah brought his family into the ark. And yet, is there any evidence that Noah made any appeal to God to save his friends or neighbors?

Stage 2 - Imperial. As a youth we recognize not only family but we also have concerns for a network of social contacts. Consider the story of the visitors who came to Sodom to see Lot. The men of Sodom wanted to harm the visitors. Lot had compassion for these visitors and offered to let the men of the city have his daughters if they would leave the visitors alone. Lot extended his concept of family to a broader circle. We learn to care for our brothers and sisters and in stage two we are occasionally willing to intervene on their behalf.

Stage 3 - Interpersonal. Stage three is where we spend most of our teen years. We become intently loyal to our favorite team, to our school or to our club. We love competition with other schools or teams or clubs. Occasionally we might collaborate with a rival club but only if we can find some goal that allows us to make sense of the collaboration. Consider the relationships between the tribes of Israel and their neighbors as they followed Moses. Collaboration was despised and in nearly every situation in which it occurred we are told that it led to adverse consequences. Enemies negotiated treaties under false pretenses. Enemies' lives were spared only to become the cause of ferment years later. When we are in stage three we think of us versus them with clear demarcations as to "one of us" versus "one of them".

Stage 4 - Institutional. In the USA today many people never grow past stage three. When someone reaches stage four they value roles. Roles lead us to organizational structures as we use our roles to define who we are. You can identify stage four when there is awkwardness if you encounter someone in a cross-cultural situation. For example, if you meet a work friend in an unexpected social setting you might find that the personality you know from work is altered as the work role and the social role are distinct. Solomon was the person who brought institutional government to Israel. None of the kings that followed knew how to govern the whole like he did.

Stage 5 - Inter-Individual. One of the problems that the early Christian church encountered was how to integrate the diverse people who were coming to their faith. In stage three you are either like us or you cannot be one of us. The early Christians debated which foods to eat and which customs to follow. Teenagers use their social structure to define which music is good and which is bad. That is stage three. The early Christians then dealt with stage four issues and had to create an organizational structure and define roles. Stephen was chosen as one of the first leaders who was not an apostle. The next issue the church faced was that of integrating diverse cultures into one body. Stephen worked to ensure that all of the diverse cultures were treated equitably. Stage five is rare. One of the key factors that distinguish statesmen from politicians is the ability to bridge cultures and balance the concern for each constituency. People who reach stage five are the leaders who unify a church.

Stage 6 - Integrated. Stage six is very rare. Paul describes his life as a series of roles in which he fit into each of the stage three cultures that he encountered. And yet, Paul was always the same no matter where he was. Paul then used his perspective as an integrated person to define the organizational structure that he envisioned for his diverse flocks. And while Paul was the same to each flock, he recognized that each flock was unique and yet all were of the same body.

The goal for a church is to help people behave more like Paul and less like Cain.

Kohlberg took these same concepts and tried to create schools that would nurture the growth of morality. He found that moral development worked best when the next level of development was demonstrated through activity. Thus, a youth with a stage two attitude learned stage three concepts best when they were demonstrated by other youth who understood stage three. And stage three teens grew into stage four faster when they were coached by adults who lived stage four lives. Loevinger calls the role model a "pacer".

Churches use this concept when they select youth pastors who can "relate" to the youth. Clearly a grandfatherly role is valued by youth, but youth grow faster when their leaders are just a little ahead and not too far ahead. As a youth pastor becomes older their effectiveness diminishes.

I see this in the way twelve step members choose their sponsors. They want a sponsor who is very much like who they want to be in a year or two. They do not choose sponsors who are significantly more mature. They do not keep sponsors who turn out to be less mature.

Vygotsky calls this optimal gap "proximal development". In order to transition from one stage to the next we need to be on the edge of transitioning into that stage. The challenge we strive to answer is to seek pacers who can relate to every member of a meeting or a congregation. The answer is that no one can. Vygotsky discovered this concept and documented the capping of stages in different societies. Peer pressure and social expectations restrict growth. Like Kohlberg, we need to choose a setting and choose a target developmental shift and focus there.

Many who come into twelve step programs are trapped in stage one or stage two. Personally I believe that this demonstrates that addiction is a result of preexisting conditions, but that is a topic for another paper. For the purpose of this paper, people seek an organization that reflects their world view. Many addicts have a world view that is below the norm for our society.

Most adults in the United States today are either in stage three or stage four. Most people coming into a church expect to find an organization that expresses stage three or stage four values. People in stage three can relate to and value stage four, but find stage five difficult to understand. People in stage four are comfortable with stage four and often seek stage five.

A preacher that preaches stage three will alienate their stage four membership. A preacher that preaches at stage five will confuse their stage three membership.

AA has the same problem. Many people who do not start drinking until later in life and many people who have many years of sobriety come to speak at meetings and talk about ways of thinking and being that the newcomers can only envy. AA deals with this problem in two ways. First, most meetings are participation meetings so each member has a chance to find someone in that meeting to whom they can relate. Second, AA uses sponsorship to give the committed members a mentor who can be their pacer.

I think this is useful to churches in two ways. First, mentoring works. And secondly, the problem of choosing a pastor is even more complicated than it seems.

One of the clues to this complexity is the phenomenon of the founding pastor. The founding pastor is typically a younger visionary who can relate to a gathering flock that is similar in thinking - and in moral development. Most churches are started by pastors and flocks that are a mixture of stage three and stage four.

Over time both the pastor and the members mature - but at differing rates. If the member matures more rapidly than the pastor they become dissatisfied. If the pastor matures more rapidly than the congregation they become out of touch. Churches deal with statesmen preachers either by ousting them or by isolating them from the congregation. Think about how often a promising new preacher is hired and after a decade or so seems "burned out". Perhaps that pastor grew through those years while the congregation stayed behind.

So here is the challenge. People relate best to a pastor who is just like they are. People grow more when their pastor is just a little more mature, but not too much so. And when the congregation becomes comfortable at their stage of development they will try to block those who call on them to give up their comfortable stage in life and mature into the next.

But churches are made up of people in stage three, stage four and stage five. And that, I believe, is one of the underlying causes for church splits. As the body stretches to grow some are left behind. Their needs are not met. And they withdraw - either silently or with turmoil. For example, one body may express the need for closer connectedness - meaning a stage three desire for conformity and peer relationships. While another part of the congregation thinks that all of the parts of the body should understand that although different all are valued. That conversation will go nowhere unless someone can translate for those two groups.

I believe this also helps explain why so few addicts find comfort in churches. They have been trapped in a way of thinking that is more like that of a youth. And, like a youth, they simply cannot relate to a sermon talking about the ideals of stage five or stage six. From what I have seen, the churches that do the best at caring for addicts preach a gospel that is much more concrete and literal than the gospel that most mainstream denominations preach.

And perhaps this also explains the graying of churches. As a congregation matures they expect their preaching to stay just a little ahead of where they are. But as the preaching reaches higher and higher into the developmental stages the newcomers find the learning curve too steep. And so, in serving the existing congregation, the congregation inadvertently isolates themselves.

Perhaps seeker churches have found something that works. Maybe most of the newcomers seeking a church need a service that focuses on stage three. Think about the newcomers who started the Quakers, Methodists and Calvary Chapel movements. In all three cases, just like it was in Acts, it was the alienated that were drawn into the movement. And within each movement there was a core group of disciples who grew and matured while the congregations continued to serve their communities. Perhaps trying to have one congregation that meets all needs is not a realistic goal.

Perhaps a cycle of growth followed by stagnation followed by renewal is the best we can hope to achieve.

Renewal

Something was obtained and now it is decaying. This type of curve is known as a half-life curve because it resembles the decay curve for a radioactive isotope. This particular curve represents the percentage of clients who held addiction in complete remission during a year study by Xie, et al.

In addiction this is called relapse. But the same pattern can be found everywhere. Enthusiastic people accept Christ and study everything they can to learn about our Lord. Ten years later they are complacent.

Fortunately we are not always trending downward into chaos. We seek renewal and rejuvenate. What if, instead of learning and then always forgetting, we learn, forget a little, learn some more, forget a little and continue repeating this cycle all the while trending upward?

In addiction treatment this is known as relapse prevention. In churches this is known as renewal or revival.

The goal churches seek is to have a wave of renewal sweep over the congregation. The goal addicts seek is to find the tools to get through one day at a time. Both seek the same thing. We grow while we are in action. Once we enter maintenance we begin to lose our knowledge and skills. The key is to find the motivation to leave our comfortable plateau of maintenance and prepare for action again. And the gateway from maintenance to action is back through pre-contemplation, contemplation and preparation. Addicts know something that Christians seem to forget - you cannot stand still. You are either moving forward or you are already sliding backward.

Two thoughts I have on this are: we build cliff dwellings and then we like to sleep a lot.

By cliff dwellings I mean that once we grow our congregation into maturity we pull up the ladders and make it difficult for anyone else to get in. The more strength we have in our faith and the stronger the congregation is in showing that faith, the more intimidating it is to a newcomer. Perhaps AA is more welcoming because every member knows they are just minutes away from starting over. Maybe Christians should look around at the number of powerful Christians who have fallen lately and realize that we too are minutes away from temptation.

Meanwhile, we tend to sleep. Not just through the sermon, but in our lives. We reach a place where we are comfortable and we stop working our program. Addicts know what happens when you stop working your program - you relapse. But how can we convince Christians that the half-life curve at the top of this page just might represent the power of their faith?

Addicts find renewal one day at a time and one life at a time. Churches like to organize big programs and change everyone all at once. It is impressive when this happens. The great revivals of the past swept the world and changed society. From what I have read about those revivals it seems that each began with one small spark. From what I have read, it seems like each of those great revivals was rooted in a great focused effort at prayer. And, then each of those great revivals channeled people into discipleship.

For example, there was a quiet revival about one hundred years ago when Charles Sheldon published "In His Steps". That book originated the phrase "What would Jesus do?" Now to know anything about what Jesus would do people had to study and Bible studies spread and grew. And to answer that famous question for yourself you need to get into prayer. The result was a reawakening of Christian morality. People in business began to connect the sermon lessons with their business deals and lives were changed. It would be nice if we could do that again.

Conclusion

• The mental model that I worked with and refined during this project is illustrated in the diagram above. I have published additional papers about this study online at http://www.robertperrine.biz.
• I find that discipleship is an opportunity, not an obligation. The helping model shows that I can start from any state of being. Obligation, subjugation, conflict, distraction and chaos are traps that we learn to enjoy. Centering is the entrance way into discipleship and we get there through prayer, meditation and other disciplines of the body, mind and soul. Once centered we are ready to change, transform, grow and learn. Out of that experience we can release our will and align with our Lord.
• In my opinion, Christianity has the best foundation for discipleship. In my opinion, others today are more productive at making disciples. I ponder why it is that courts order people to go to twelve step meetings but will not consider church, Bible study or other Christian discipleship programs as suitable for changing lives.
• My hope is that something in this paper has stirred thoughts in you.