What's Missing in Our Discipleship Models - Deeper Experiences with God - Episode 20
Have you ever wondered what might be missing from your personal and the church’s corporate discipleship model? On this week’s episode with Pastor Dave, he reflects on gaps in modern discipleship, drawing from early church formation and his own pastoral experience. Contrasting his long-held model of askesis (training through spiritual disciplines of engagement and abstinence) leading to agape (Christ-like love) with the early church’s pattern of askesis leading to apatheia (abiding calm through surrendered relinquishment) and then to agape, he invites listeners to practices like unhurried walking to cultivate slowing down. He also outlines six stages of faith, based on Pete Scazzaro's model in his book, "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality", arguing many churches lack a plan to guide people through the second half of this journey. Finally, he emphasizes patience as a neglected virtue in our instant-gratification culture. He invites listeners to reflect on where you are in your own discipleship journeys and where might God be challenging you to step into the gap.
Takeaways:
- Rediscovering Apatheia. Dave introduces a missing step in modern discipleship: apatheia — not apathy, but an abiding inner calm that comes through surrendering our anxieties and cares to God. He draws on the early church's formation model and practices like unhurried walking as a way to cultivate this quality of stillness.
- Action: What is one care or anxiety you might cast upon the Lord this week, trusting that he cares for you more than you can imagine? Try going for a prayer walk as a step towards surrendering.
- A plan for the second half of the spiritual journey. Drawing on six stages of faith — awareness, learning, ministry/productive life, inward journey, outward journey, and being pervaded with love — Dave argues that many churches have a strong plan for the first half of the journey but leave people without a map for the deeper, inward stages.
- Action: Which of the six stages are you in right now? Sit with that question and consider whether your current rhythms are serving where God has you in this season.
- We often resist the hardest what we need the most. Dave challenges listeners that if you feel resistant to where the Spirit might be nudging you, that resistance itself might be worth paying attention to. What might you be resisting in your life right now?
- Action: Take space to sit with this question this week. Consider journaling, praying, or discussing it with a trusted friend or spiritual director.
- The forgotten virtue of Patience. In a culture wired for instant results, Dave calls patience a deeply counter-cultural and undervalued spiritual virtue — one that God often uses quietly and slowly to form us into the people he intends us to be.
- Action: Where in your life is God asking you to be patient right now? Choose one area this week to intentionally slow down and trust his timing rather than forcing an outcome.
Quote of the Show:
- “ We often resist the hardest the thing we need the most.” - Pastor Dave
Links:
- Website: https://www.daveripper.com/
- Book Link: https://www.ivpress.com/experiencing-scripture-as-a-disciple-of-jesus?srsltid=ARcRdnozSLwlOR3rXlh5Rp4R0kSzNB2t_cI8-pmHSl_L4L2j8VYEOANk
- Podcast: https://www.daveripper.com/podcast
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