BASE Elements of Discipleship

Discipleship is the process of learning to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ. There are many good methods and some not so good. I think the acrostic B.A.S.E. sums up the essentials of growth. Let’s look at the separate letters to see how it applies to spiritual growth.

The first element is “B”, Belief. A belief is a truth that is presented to us. It can be presented in a book, or in a conversation. The important thing is that by being “truth” it often confronts previously held ideas and by the nature of being truth it pushes us to the next element.

The second element is “A”, Acceptance. Acceptance is a personal acceptance. In other words, the disciple takes the belief, as his/her own. Acceptance leads to the third element.

The third element is “S”, Switch. As we accept a belief as our own, we come to a realization that it forces us to a decision of the will. Every truth that we accept pushes us to switch our will, for God’s will. This step is often the point at which people decide not to live by the truth they say they hold.

The fourth element is “E”, Express. Expressing is acting upon the decision to follow God’s will. This is the final step in seeing change in people’s lives.

I’ve seen the diagram of BASE, drawn as a baseball diamond, used to describe the process of becoming a disciple of Christ. First, there is a belief presented, that Jesus is Lord, then we accept it, we switch our wills for his, and we express it by following. This is a good evangelism diagram. But from what I’ve seen, the process continues as we learn to follow Jesus as His disciples.

Let’s look at one example: There is a belief given in Scripture that God responds to prayer to accomplish His will. We accept that as the way God works. We switch to decide to pray because it is what God desires. And we express it by praying! Following the process, we’ve moved from a non-praying person to a praying person.

A discipleship ministry must help people move from one base to another, with one truth after another. As we do that, we will see people who have been transformed by the renewing of their minds.

Dr. James Renke
Senior Pastor
Village Green Baptist Church
Glen Ellyn, IL