Ours is a culture ever moving forward, never looking back. The present is all that matters! Only recently, with the passing of Steve Jobs, did we seek to remember the significance of the past. But for the Christian we must always look to the past, not least of all because it was the historic work of Jesus that makes our faith. But, also in the realm of discipleship we out to pause and consider how the church throughout history has fulfilled this task. Winfield Bevins’ little book on discipleship, Creed: Connect to the Basic Essentials of Historic Christian Faith helps answer that question. This book seeks to connect the process of making disciples with the ancient creeds and guides of the early church. It serves us well as a resource both for making disciples and reconnecting contemporary Christians with their roots.
Winfield Bevins is lead-pastor of Church of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The church he pastors is non-traditional and reaches to a lot of un-churched or de-churched young adults. As Bevins tells the story, he saw a real need early on in his ministry to connect these new believers with a simple process of discipleship. Nothing seemed to work. He writes:
What was I going to teach these new believers? Like most young pastors, I looked to the latest books, programs, and curricula to teach the essentials of the faith, but they either lacked substance or were so academic that no normal person could understand them. It was discouraging trying to find a discipleship tool that helped real people connect real doctrine in a way that was simple, yet profound. (10)
It was then, through studying church history, that Bevins’ focus shifted to the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. “Slowly,” he writes, “I began to see their relevance for today’s believers” (10). “Christians, such as you and me,” he says, “are beginning to rediscover that church history has much to teach us about discipleship” (11).
The book, which is small (123 pages), is broken down into three parts. Each section focuses on an aspect of this ancient discipleship process. Part one unpacks the Apostle’s Creed, part two the Ten Commandments, and part three The Lord’s Prayer. Each section highlights a distinct aspect of the Christian faith: doctrinal, ethical, and spiritual. The layout is incredibly useful, and Bevins’ insight to see these three elements as important for our contemporary discipleship is much appreciated. And, in 123 pages he gives us much that we can use in the actual discipleship process.
Winfield Bevins’ understands, of course, that he is not writing a systematic for us. He states, “Rather than discussing every doctrine of the Christian faith, I have taken broad strokes to help you grasp the primary doctrines of the Christian church in one small book” (13). But he does believe this will be “an ideal discipleship tool for believers, both old and new.” By using the simplicity of the Apostle’s Creed he touches on the following key doctrines in individual chapters: the Bible; God the Father; Jesus Christ; the Holy Spirit; the church; and salvation. Under the Ten Commandments he walks us through each point, explaining how it applies to our lives today. In the Lord’s Prayer he unpacks how our spiritual growth takes place, and what our relationship with God on a daily basis is like. The usefulness of this tool for new believers is its simplicity and accessibility.
The truth is that most churches, and most pastors, are constantly in the pursuit for the new and the modern and we tend to forget, as Bevins writes, “Christianity wasn’t invented yesterday” and the church is much bigger than what’s happening now. We can learn from history, and often what we learn can help us today. Sometimes we don’t need new and “relevant,” what we need is to return to our roots and find all the relevance there waiting on us.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 