Is it Mobile & Reproductive? - Discipleship 122

What I'm learning most right now about the discipleship of people and youth is based on two questions:

1. Is it mobile?
2. Is it reproductive?

The wave of the information age has done a lot of great things in our world. Technological advances like the internet, cell phones & handheld devices (pda's, ipods, psp's, ds's, etc.) have made our entertainment much more mobile and reproductive. The challenge for the church and for youth ministry specifically is to view these cultural values or norms as assets in the mission of discipleship and the battle for relevance of the Christian faith in today's emerging youth culture.

If we know that a growing number of youth and adults are using technology to enhance their educational experience and personal growth or development (entertainment, connectedness, etc.), why then wouldn't we consider how to use these same tools to develop people spiritually?

Ministry and more specifically discipleship, that is mobile and reproductive is biblical...Jesus modeled it to us. Very early on Jesus challenged His first followers, the disciples, to limit the number of things they brought with them on their journey while learning to embrace a more nomadic routine to life. During their travels from ministry setting to ministry setting, Jesus embraced and demonstrated a mobile, interactive and reproductive discipleship strategy. He used shared experiences as launching points for spiritual conversations; He took time to reshape and question cultural practices that were no longer relevant to the Christian context, and He invited people to join Him on the journey.

When you think about your current ministry context, is it mobile and reproductive? Are your programmatic elements for ministry bound by a pre-determined location, or are they able to be adaptable to a different context and setting? If it's mobile and on mission...it will become reproductive.