In discussions of our current social context, it is standard practice to point out that we are all being discipled by the world all the time: through social media, Netflix, advertising, consumption, news reporting, the education system, the workplace and day-to-day social interactions. This observation is followed by a call to intentional deep discipleship, thick church community and possibly an appeal to some kind of historical practice like weekly communion or a collection of spiritual disciplines. In this article I want to provide what ultimately amounts to a minor but important qualification to this line of argument. But to get there, I’m going to begin with a melodramatic assertion: if the discipleship of the world is so global and relentless, then short of the power of the Holy Spirit and the preserving grace of God, we are all doomed.
Not Even Monasteries Can Save Us
We might celebrate the occasional article by a Christian public intellectual in the secular news, or their presence on a current affairs show’s panel of guests. We might spotlight the success of a Christian musician, TV series or film. We might boast of the richness of the holistic worldview taught in our parent-controlled Christian school curriculum or church preaching program; the intentionality of our small groups or 1:1 ministry or conferences or retreats. But compared to the 24–7 barrage of counterprogramming, how can this possibly compete? It’s a mere discipleship drop in a huge bucket of worldly water.
To counteract the alleged discipleship of the world would require the construction of a complete and sealed-off Christian subculture. Then we could control the messages sent and entertainment offered, along with setting the pattern of informal practices and everyday artefacts which also shape us. But not even monasteries could save us. Because near-total isolation would not be faithful discipleship (Matt 28:16–20, Jn 17:15–19, 1 Cor 5:9–10, 1 Pet 2:9–12). And because isolation from the discipleship of the world is impossible. The problem with any Christian subculture we might create is that we would have created it: we who have been discipled by the world. Without even realising it we would infect our monastic community with worldliness—even if it’s a kind of worldly counter-worldliness that is as much a reaction to the world as it is a result of biblical reflection.
The World’s ‘Discipleship’ Needs Scare Quotes
We need to revisit the rhetorical flourish involved in prophetic warnings about the discipleship of the world. It is true that Scripture itself does speak about the world, the flesh and the devil, exhorting us to “not conform to the pattern of this world” (Rom 12:2). But these realities are not exactly the same as what we might simplistically call ‘the culture’. On a theological level, we can see unified forces of sin and Satan; on a sociological and educational level, the reality is more diffuse.
Yes, various individuals and organisations have discipleship agendas. But there is no single One World Order ruled by lizard people or the Illuminati. Mixed in with the intentional ideology of activists are compromised messages drafted by committees. Some capitalist corporations might be seeking to indoctrinate you, others are simply parroting marketing trends. Even ideological movements are, in reality, splintered into multiple opinions, agendas, heretics, conservatives, reactionaries and so on. Where there is a genuinely proactive discipleship agenda at work, those who implement it are not necessarily very competent or persuasive, and none of them are actually able to predict or guarantee the cultural outcome of their efforts.
Importantly, much of what gets pointed to as ‘discipleship’ or ‘liturgy’ is only metaphorically so—it needs scare quotes. TV shows can influence us, but they are not the same as sermons. Shopping centres can shape us, but they are not the same as temples. The ‘discipleship’ of the world is, in reality, often fragmented, intermittent and superficial.
The Particular Power of Deliberate Discipleship
The church doesn’t need to combat some monolithic discipleship with an equal but opposite program, somehow matching each hour spent on YouTube or eBay with its Christian antidote. Because the church is doing something of a different order, we are doing something without any scare quotes around it: actual discipleship, actual worship. Conscious, deliberate, spiritual engagement with preaching and prayer, singing and sacraments, community and confession, evangelism and edification is engagement with a different kind of activity. I want to insist that deliberate, regular, coherent and sincere participation with religion and spirituality is its own human experience, a powerful one, that is different to the metaphorical ‘false gods’ and ‘false religions’ of cultural practice.
More still, monotheistic religion in particular is also a different kind of thing than the mixture of practices and principles and stories underlying polytheistic spiritualities. And truly singular is the worship of the true God, as revealed in his word, in Christ and by the power of his Spirit.
This is not to say that we are not shaped and shaken by the various chaotic forces of the world. These forces will affect the doubts we entertain, the sins we struggle with and the misunderstandings of Scripture we will tend towards. It truly is difficult to keep living as Christians and persuade others, even our own kids, to become a Christian in our current cultural context. My point is that the problem of the world is on one level entirely outside of our control; and on another level it is not something that we need to address with a ratio of equivalent input.
I am convinced that thorough instruction in Christian Scripture and worldview; deep discipleship; holistic worship; meaningful community; godly patterns and habits; and deeply Christian good deeds and culture-making are all important. They always have been. But they are not important as a culture-war indoctrination strategy. They are not needed to dilute the toxic influence of the world’s so-called ‘discipleship’—something that we must somehow turbo-charge in this cultural moment. Rather than are the good and normal Christian life.
