Last time, I wrote about how house prices have caused some council estate Christians to move off estates. Today, I'm looking at the saddest reason we don't have as many council estate Christians and it looked like we would have, backsliding.
Its heart wrenching how many we used to roll with who no longer walk with Jesus. The pull of the old life is strong. Backsliding takes many forms, its not always the pull of an old lifestyle of sex, drugs, and raving, its also the pull of the middle class dream (as mentioned earlier).
Because of the high backsliding numbers, and the low number of cultural insiders ministering on estates, we badly need more discipleship. We need discipleship resources, and disciples who are willing to take the time to disciple others.
The contextualised resources we need should ideally map out the spiritual journey of a typical council estate believer, pre-empting the challenges that arise. This is what I've tried to do with the Urban Catechism (pts 1-4) and the Image Bearers discipleship course. But resources are only useful if you have the people ready to make the time to use them, and again, the middle class dream gets in the way of that.
more next time.....
Because of the high backsliding numbers, and the low number of cultural insiders ministering on estates, we badly need more discipleship. We need discipleship resources, and disciples who are willing to take the time to disciple others.
The contextualised resources we need should ideally map out the spiritual journey of a typical council estate believer, pre-empting the challenges that arise. This is what I've tried to do with the Urban Catechism (pts 1-4) and the Image Bearers discipleship course. But resources are only useful if you have the people ready to make the time to use them, and again, the middle class dream gets in the way of that.
more next time.....
