A Pastor Who Gets It
I have been teaching a class at North Burlington Baptist Church on “Sects Education.” It has been a lot of fun, both in my own research and the interaction with the class.
However, I think the highlight for me is that their pastor, Merv Budd, understands the importance of discipleship. He has started a program at NBBC called Deeper, which is a set of courses on different aspects of the Christian faith. In addition to my class, there is also one running on how to interpret the Bible. There will be more in the future.
Merv Budd gets it. The danger for the Church today is not that we will have Christians with too much head knowledge, it is that there is not enough head knowledge. Pastors and other Christian leaders need to be intentional in helping congregations to break the biblical illiteracy and reach for a new level of discipleship.
Starting a discipleship program is not taking away from having a vibrant relationship with Christ. Increasing our knowledge of the faith should deepen that relationship, not weaken it.
My challenge to pastors is to ask you what you are doing. It does not have to be the Deeper program that NBBC runs, but do something.
If you are interested in more about Pastor Merv Budd, you can find his blog here.
