When Jesus discipled his twelve, they followed him and learned from his every move. Now, 2000 years later, social structures in the West make that discipleship methodology almost impossible. After all, we have bills to pay. Complicating this is the rise of online connectivity. Do we even need to be physically present to make disciples? In Following, one of Baker Academic’s “Pastoring for Life” series, Jason Byassee and Andria Irwin tackle these sorts of issues head-on.

The dual authorship of this book is interesting. Byassee is, in his words, “the weird elder relative.” A theologian at the Vancouver School of Theology, Byassee found a digital native in Irwin who has reflected deeply on the role of technology in discipleship. They provide a sort of counterbalance for each other—implicit accountability.

The challenge of dual authorship is creating a book that coheres. While Following contains many fruitful ideas (indeed, I’ve used some of these in a Discipleship course I teach), it reads more like a disparate collection of meditations on digital discipleship than a holistic argument.

In the end, perhaps that’s the inevitable result of wrestling with a challenging topic from multiple perspectives with no obvious solutions. Following is worth reading and coming to grips with. Whether you’re a digital evangelist or a curmudgeony Luddite, you’ll find something here to chew on.

Byassee, Jason and Andria Irwin. Following: Embodied Discipleship in a Digital Age. Baker Academic, 2021. Pastoring for Life.