Kairos : Evangelical Journal of Theology

Headwinds Facing Christian Higher Education

2024-12-02T17:30:32+01:00

This paper explores the challenges facing Christian higher education institutions, focusing on trends and “headwinds” that threaten operational viability. These institutions are argued to be at risk due to a loss of mission, rooted in a broader cultural shift away from biblical Christian discipleship. The paper uses a Wall Street-style risk assessment to categorize institutions into four quadrants based on headcount and investment: Thriving, Hoping, Inertia, and Struggling. The analysis reveals that a significant majority of Christian schools fall into the Struggling or Hoping categories, suggesting potential long-term viability issues. The paper suggests that the root cause of these challenges is not in attempting or failing to compete with secular schools, but rather, the neglect of discipleship as taught by Christ, predominantly in churches, thence passed along as under-discipled rising students. The paper proposes a return to “Empyreal Discipleship,” emphasizing the importance of faculty members as visible disciple-makers. By focusing on discipleship, Christian educational institutions can regain their competitive advantage and fulfill their mission of creating educated disciples. The paper concludes that the path forward involves prioritizing discipleship over mere education to navigate the social headwinds facing Christian higher education.

A Disciple “Will Be Like His Teacher” (Luke 6:40)

2024-12-02T17:24:39+01:00

Using Luke 6:40 as a springboard, this paper examines how the formation of disciples occurs and how Luke’s moral logic works. Three aspects of formation are examined: the roles of imitation, community, and habit. For Luke’s moral vision, the study points out three key warrants: rewards, punishments, and imitation.

What is Jesus’ Definition of a Disciple Embedded in the Great Commission?

2024-12-02T17:15:02+01:00

Any conference on discipleship must be rooted in the biblical definition of a disciple. When Jesus commands us to “make disciples,” who or what exactly are we making? What does a disciple look like? We need to look no further than the definition embedded in Jesus’ original mandate known as the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20). There is a precise structure to this text which gives us the basic characteristics of a disciple. We find here a singular imperative, “make disciples.” What is often overlooked is that this central command is modified by three participles, “going,” “baptizing,” and “teaching.” Participles are verbal adjectives (descriptive images) ending in “ing” that describe the nature of a disciple. In this presentation, I will contrast the popular definition of a Christian with the biblical definition of a disciple. Christians, as commonly understood, are those who have trusted Christ for their salvation and believe that they will be with Jesus when they die. In other words, we have, perhaps unwittingly said, “You can be Christian without being a disciple.” The “gospel” we have been proclaiming has led directly to a non-discipleship or “forgiveness only” gospel. Bill Hull and Ben Sobels assert two truths: 1. You cannot make a Christlike disciple from a non-discipleship gospel. 2. The gospel you preach determines the disciples you make. In contrast, I will note that the three descriptive participles of “going,” “baptizing,” and “teaching,” when fleshed out, contain within them Jesus’ definition of a disciple. This is further underscored by the gospel Jesus proclaimed as recorded in Mark’s gospel at the inception of Jesus’ ministry: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mk 1:14-15).

Portraits of Deficient Discipleship

2024-12-02T17:21:50+01:00

This paper aims to explore the way the evangelist Matthew illustrates the deficiency of discipleship by sketching three portrayals of deficient discipleship. The section under scrutiny is that of chapter 8:18-27 from Matthew’s Gospel. The first portrayal is that of a disciple-to-be, described in terms of much enthusiasm without much understanding of the kind of teacher Jesus is (Matt 8:19-20). He is a proper illustration of the first type of deficient human attempt to follow Jesus, namely, discipleship without costs. The second portrayal, is that of an acknowledged disciple, described in terms of manifest hesitation that comes from an insufficient clarification of his existential priorities and of the kind of master Jesus is (Matt 8:21-22). This portrayal is a helpful illustration of the second type of deficient attempt to follow Jesus, namely, discipleship without commitment. The third portrayal is that of the called disciples, described in terms of fear that comes from the lack of understanding of the kind of Lord Jesus is (Matt 8:23-27). This portrayal is a realistic illustration of the third type of deficient human attempt to follow Jesus, namely, discipleship without hardships. Yet, in his answers in the encounters with the three categories of protagonists in the biblical text, Jesus offers corrections to all three types of deficient discipleship. And Matthew combines the revelation of the symptoms of the three deficient types of discipleship with the solution coming from Jesus’ answers, to make the recipient-audience of his Gospel understand that discipleship is costly, is based on commitment, and involves hardships.

The History of Discipleship in Judaism

2024-12-02T17:08:18+01:00

This article deals with the history of discipleship in Judaism and its transition from an individual obligation to a public education system. The article is divided into three main sections: The first section discusses the centrality of education to Torah study in Judaism as well as the Jewish legal concept of “educational obligation” as opposed to the modern legal concept of “right to education.” The second and central section examines the development of the Jewish obligation to educate – the transition from private to public education. The author analyzes the various Talmudic regulations that led to this transition and the relationship between them. At the end of this section, the author discusses the funding structure of the public education system and the right of parents to choose the educational framework for their children. In the third section, the author emphasizes the distinctiveness of Jewish education as the supreme value of the pure intellectual study of the Torah, which refers both to financial interests such as the teachers’ right to strike in Jewish law, and to dedication to study in times of severe hardship and darkness such as the time of the Holocaust...

J. I. Packer’s Use of the New Testament for His Doctrine of Discipleship

2024-12-02T17:28:46+01:00

This paper investigates how J. I. Packer, one of the most prominent Evangelical theologians of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, used the New Testament to build his perspective on discipleship. While a systematic presentation of discipleship is not available in Packer’s works, his numerous references to the term reveal his deep preoccupation with the subject. Hence my decision to trace his steps back to the way he uses the New Testament to devise a holistic understanding of discipleship. To achieve this goal, I took several steps of my own, first to study his general view of the Bible, second to go a bit deeper in the same direction by seeing how he works with the New Testament as the fundamental source for his theology of discipleship, and then – the remaining four steps – have to do with Packer’s actual use of New Testament books for his doctrine of discipleship; in this respect, I read about his thoughts on discipleship as he read about it in the four Gospels, in the epistles (Pauline and otherwise), the Acts of the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I also did a brief research on what I called Packer’s “two pillars” of discipleship...

“Building (Not Burning) Bridges for the Gospel”

2024-12-02T17:26:27+01:00

In this article, I explore what the Pastoral Epistles (Titus and 1-2 Timothy) say about disciplemaking. I deal with the goals of Paul’s teaching in the letters and the methods that he commended to Timothy and Titus and the churches they served. Goals: the twenty-seven New Testament documents emphasize different aspects of following Jesus toward maturity (i.e., goals of disciplemaking) as the situations they were written to and from necessitate. In the Pastoral Epistles, Paul’s specific goal is that his readers live virtuous lives, largely as defined by the pagan culture around them. He hopes that in so doing they will gain and maintain a hearing for the gospel. Thereby they would avoid or defuse negative stereotypes that were used against Christians and ease societal anxieties that were common in their world. Methods: in these letters, Paul commends the use of moral examples and appeals to honor and shame. He further exemplifies the use of creeds as a teaching tool for his churches. My purpose is to show that the Pastoral Epistles offer a unique perspective on disciplemaking, focusing on the importance of public witness and utilizing methods like imitation and conformity to social values...

What Does the Donkey Teach Us About This in Matthew 21:1-11?

2024-12-02T17:34:47+01:00

The central question of this article is why Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem on an animal, namely, a donkey, and what this reveals about his relationship with creation. The author’s primary contribution lies in exploring care for God’s creation through a Christological perspective, specifically by analyzing the biblical passage in Matthew 21:1-11. This analysis demonstrates how, through the donkey, Jesus reveals his royal identity and humble character while calling for change, imitation, and a different eschatological future. Together, these elements indicate that Jesus uses the animal world to express his identity and attributes, as well as to communicate the nature of the future world he invites his followers to. As a humble king, Jesus’ mission is to restore order to all things and to guide his fallen creation toward a “new creation,” where peace between man, God, and the rest of creation will be fully realized. Employing a “method of recovery” or re-reading the biblical text from an ecologically conscious perspective, the author examines the meaning of relevant Old Testament passages.