Adult-ministry editor Carl Simmons gives us the lowdown on a new resource that takes us back into biblical times and illustrates the struggles of the early church—and tells us why you can’t always judge a book (or DVD) by its cover.

• Walk as Jesus Walked: Making Disciples, by Ray Vander Laan, with Stephen & Amanda Sorenson. Faith Lessons series, Volume 7. Zondervan, $39.99 (DVD, with leader’s guide); $9.99 (discovery guide, for group members), 209p.

I’d been on the lookout for a resource for our men’s group that would walk us through how Jesus raised up his own disciples. Therefore, when Walk as Jesus Walked: Making Disciples came into the office, it seemed like a godsend. And while watching the opening shots of DVD, the well-shot, travelogue-like group visits to ancient lands appeared to back that up. Even the “Survivor/Amazing Race”-like music and footage (intentionally or not, but I’d bet the former) evoked the sense of challenge and adventure that’s a part of any true discipleship.

About 10 minutes in, though, you begin to realize: Nearly all the footage has been shot in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), where Jesus didn’t walk during his earthly ministry; the messages revolve far more around other biblical characters (or post-biblical ones, for that matter) than they do around Jesus; and truthfully, there isn’t a whole lot of talk about making disciples either. (You could either consider this nitpicky on my part or false advertising on the part of the study’s creators and/or packagers, but you should know it up front either way.)

That said, there’s a strong message about the cost of discipleship here, especially in the final session – more on that a little later. So let’s take this study on its own terms, rather than on what it’s selling itself as, and as the DVD is the centerpiece let’s start there.

The DVD sessions themselves are all 22-29 minutes long, and seem purposely formatted for TV (neither a good nor a bad thing, but it kind of jumps out at you). The content of the sessions generally consist of teacher/researcher Ray Vander Laan walking a band of modern-day disciples through ancient ruins in the New Testament settings of Antioch, Lystra, and Cappadocia, as well as 2nd-century church locale Aphrodisias. As such, the footage provides some useful background information for those unfamiliar with basic New Testament history. The second half of each session usually consists of Vander Laan giving a brief sermon to the small group. (Note: Your enjoyment of this part will be largely proportional to how much shouting and/or emotionalism you prefer in your sermons.)

You’ve probably already gathering that the DVD was not my personal cup of tea. Still, this is about what you may or may not want in a study, and there are some positives here. So let’s spend some time talking about those now….

Vander Laan does make some good observations in his messages regarding illustrating spiritual truths with real-life examples (athletic games, as one example here), rather than simply giving scriptural references that aren’t readily grasped by non-Christians. Also, the closing session in particular -- shot in the catacombs of Cappadocia -- offers the important lesson that following Jesus sometimes was, and is, a dangerous thing. For the second half of that session, Vander Laan transitions from the persecution of the ancient church by yielding the catacomb floor to a Sudanese woman, who shares about the persecution her people are going through at this very moment. It’s a pretty powerful scene.

The discovery (student) guide is also well worth noting here. It’s broken down into almost daily (5x/week) in-depth personal study sessions, to help group members go deeper into their walk. If there’s a “making disciples” approach to be found, it’s in the discovery guide rather than the DVD. I would have liked to have seen more actual applicational material here – the guide more gets you thinking about what to do next than help point the way. That said, someone who works diligently through this guide will have examined both themselves and God’s word enough that God himself will have ample opportunity to speak here -- and that’s the important thing.

At 200 pages being covered in five weeks, however, this is definitely not a light study — a sample one-day session yielded 12 questions and 15 scripture readings alone. I won’t say it wouldn’t work as a study for newer Christians, but you would need to have excellent study skills going into this, in order to keep up (or you’d at least need to spread out your meeting times to give people a chance to keep up).

The bottom line: Looking for a brief but intense study on discipleship? The discovery guide of Walk as Jesus Walked could be your ticket. Take time to look it over before deciding, though. Have a sizable budget? Buy the DVD, show Session 5 to your entire congregation, and build a powerful worship service around the needs of the persecuted church. Otherwise, stick to the discovery guide.