Navigating a Complex World: Discipleship, Biblical Counseling, and the Next Wave of Christian Leaders In an age when 61% of young adults describe themselves as living in “serious loneliness 1 ,” mentoring has become a rare, sought-after commodity. This phenomenon is old news to most students. Men and women who are in college today experienced the global pandemic during high school. The social and ideological friction of the past several years has drastically affected those formative teen years for many students. The most surprising factor of all is that these students are more interested in being mentored by an older adult than generations who came before them 2 .
And yet, isolation statistics are soaring to an all-time high.
As the body of Christ, it is critical that we intentionally invest in this generation – that we not simply talk at them, but rather walk with them in biblical discipleship. The question is, how do we begin integrating discipleship into our daily habits? Drew Burtis '11 & '12, the dean of students at Word of Life Bible Institute's New York campus, speaks to this issue in the context of the students he encounters on a daily basis. “These students are the most connected and the most disconnected generation. They are able to connect with anyone around the world at any time, but they don't have real life, one-on-one
relationships. Discipleship is the pushback [against isolation]. It allows students to be in relationship with other people – to study the Word of God together, memorize Scripture together, and pray together. " When asked to define discipleship, Drew points to the example of Jesus. “At its basis, discipleship is the practice of following Jesus; we learn from Him and His teachings, and we implement those in our lives.” He points out that community mentoring is a vital part of discipleship when we follow the biblical model. “Jesus had the twelve He poured into so they could go and do the same. We need that, too.”
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