The BIGGEST Thing We’ve Overlooked In Discipling the Next Generation
Grant Skelton, author of The Passion Generation and NextGen director for Think with Gabe and Rebecca Lions, joins Kirk Cameron to discuss the urgent need for robust discipleship within the church. Skelton argues that addressing a perceived “NextGen problem” requires recognizing it as fundamentally a discipleship problem.
The core issue facing the next generation is not that the church is asking too much, but that it is asking too little. Young Christians are often drawn away by the world’s call to “change the world,” a passion that lacks the grounding of the Gospel.
The Timeless Solution: Making Disciples
Skelton asserts that successful strategies for reaching young leaders are rooted in the ancient, yet ironically overlooked, practice of discipleship.
Discipleship as the First Priority: Jesus’s final words, “Go and make disciples,” should be the church’s first priority. Discipleship is not a new concept; it is precisely what Jesus did with young adults (the disciples) and it worked.
Skelton’s own life trajectory was dramatically changed at age 16, just two weeks after his conversion, when an older man named Kevin Batista stepped in. Kevin provided a necessary vertical relationship for guidance and immediately gave Skelton a horizontal mission: to reach his entire high school for Christ, recognizing that Skelton might be the only life example some students would see. This model—combining a vertical relationship with guidance and a horizontal mission—is what allows young people to thrive.
The Attraction of Mission: Young people, especially men, are naturally looking for a mission, a battle to fight, and an adventure to live. The church must provide this sense of purpose. Jesus did not ask them to sit down; He said, “Come and follow me, I’ll make you a fisherman, and we’re going to go change the world”.
Bridging the Generational Gap: From Ministry To Ministry Through
Skelton highlights a statistical challenge: the world is getting younger, but the church is getting older. Older generations are holding onto the baton of leadership longer, resulting in ministry often being done to the next generation rather than through them.
The Apprenticeship Model: Instead of viewing the transition as “passing the baton” (implying the older generation’s time is over), Skelton prefers the analogy of passing a torch or using the apprenticeship model. This requires chronologically superior Christians to serve as a Mr. Miyagi figure, guiding the younger generation while they are still in charge.
Iconic stories and franchises (like Frodo needing Gandalf, Harry Potter needing Hagrid, or Luke Skywalker needing Obi-Wan Kenobi) consistently demonstrate that young people with passion require the wisdom of the older generation to succeed. Without this guidance, the passion risks leading to spiritual chaos (“Lord of the Flies”).
Discipleship vs. Mentorship: A Game Changer for Busy Leaders
One of Skelton’s most significant contributions is differentiating discipleship from conventional mentorship, offering a path for busy, high-capacity individuals to invest in others.
Mentorship is Addition; Discipleship is Inclusion:
- Mentorship: Requires adding something to your calendar (one more meeting, coffee, or early breakfast). This is challenging for those with full-time jobs, marriage, and children, leading to the top excuse for not discipling: “I don’t have time”.
- Discipleship: Involves including someone in your calendar. It means inviting others to join the life you are already living.
The Jesus Model: Jesus provides the ultimate example: He did not shift his mission around the disciples; the disciples moved their lives around him. They were with Jesus as He performed healings, fed people, and answered questions (many of the Gospels’ contents derive from questions the disciples asked while they were on the move with Him). Discipleship is “caught more than it’s taught”.
The Four Arenas for Inclusion: Skelton suggests busy believers look at four existing arenas of their lives to include others:
- Personal Life: Hobbies, things done for fun.
- Work Life: Inviting someone to observe or take notes during work activities.
- Church Life: Shared ministry involvement.
- Family Life: Living life together.
Skelton even suggests that young people should sometimes “trick” busy potential disciplers by finding out what they already like (like golf, pickleball, or sourdough bread making) and asking to join them.
Overcoming Excuses: Qualification and Obedience
Skelton addresses the common excuses that prevent Christians from engaging in discipleship:
- Lack of Time: Addressed by the “including in your calendar” model.
- Feeling Unqualified/Unworthy: Many people feel their life is not “glorious enough” or they don’t know enough about the Bible.
- No Prior Experience: They feel they cannot give what they have never received.
The Spiritual Prerequisite: The idea that a discipler must be a speaker, author, or theological expert is a major hindrance. Skelton argues that the problem is not how biblically illiterate we are, but how biblically disobedient we are. We often hear verses but fail to act on them.
Skelton offers a simple, encouraging definition: Discipleship is frequently following someone who is spiritually just a couple steps ahead. This takes the pressure off, as most believers are easily a few steps ahead of the next generation or new convert. Paul affirmed this when he said, “Follow me as I follow Christ,” not “Follow me because I’m qualified”.