Digital Discipleship: The Gap Between Information and Formation

The quiet revival is no longer quiet.

With church attendance rising by 13% in evangelical churches across the UK (2020-2025), it’s no longer a whisper, it’s a wake-up call for leaders everywhere. People are flocking through the doors, full of curiosity; wrestling with doubt, yet encountering the undeniable presence of God.

In John 21, the disciples fished all night but caught nothing, until Jesus appeared. At His word, they cast the net once more and it overflowed with fish. In our world today, the net has again been cast by fishers of men and it’s filling fast. But now comes the call to manage the miracle, to steward the blessing and ensure that moments of salvation grow into lives of devotion.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus met people within the culture they lived in. He didn’t wait for them to come to Him - He stepped into their world. He taught fishermen by the sea, spoke with a Samaritan woman at a well, called tax collectors from their booths and told stories farmers and merchants could understand. He communicated through familiar language to reveal eternal truth.

In the same way, today’s digital spaces are our modern marketplaces; the places where people gather, question and search for meaning. As leaders, our task isn’t to compete with culture, but to carry truth into it: to translate timeless wisdom through the tools of our age, meeting people where they already are.

The question for leaders is this: How do we meet the rising demand for discipleship without creating a gap between information and formation?

During a time of high-demand, it’s tempting to substitute formation for information: to fill people with podcasts and posts instead of walking with them through the formative work of transformation. Jesus didn’t call us to hear His words, but to practice them (Matthew 7:24).

Across the world, people are finding Jesus in digital spaces, through podcasts, testimonies, and social media and the Gospel is reaching corners of culture the Church could never have touched before.

With that reach comes a risk: a distanced faith instead of a deep faith. Yet in our hesitation around technology, we often miss the blessing it can be. Leaders in every sphere are called to bridge digital encounter with embodied discipleship, helping new believers move from first-time decisions to everyday devotion.

We need to steward people well with pathways to discipleship that ensure these bursting nets don’t break. How? We give people tools. We show them where to feed themselves, not remain reliant on Sunday gatherings.

Information can inspire; formation transforms. Information relays the message; formation renews the mind. Information tells people what is true; formation helps them live it.

Here’s the thing: both have a place in discipleship. When shaped by strong theology and intentional design, digital tools provide the framework of foundational truth within which transformation takes place.

That’s the heart of digital discipleship: using technology not to replace community, but to multiply reach, reinforce truth between gatherings and make formation accessible for people hungry to grow - all while lightening the load on leaders.

This move of God isn’t confined to pulpits. It’s spilling into offices, classrooms, and communities, and leaders in every sphere have a role to play.

Our responsibility is to equip people for discipleship not only in church, but in the everyday places they live and lead. The digital space makes that possible on a scale we’ve never seen before. It allows truth to travel into spaces where faith conversations rarely happen - workplaces, group chats, professional circles - turning ordinary environments into discipleship opportunities.

We live in an age where faith can go viral overnight but fade just as fast if it isn’t rooted. Digital discipleship bridges that gap, carrying truth from Sunday inspiration into everyday formation.

This new demand for discipleship doesn’t just need communicators; it needs equipped shepherds, leaders who see technology as a tool for discipleship in the Church and beyond it.

Jesus is building His Church. He is calling people home. He is encountering hearts. Our job is, and has always been, to steward what He gives us.

This is exactly what BibleProject exists to do, using digital storytelling to make the Bible accessible and engaging. Through creative design and clear teaching, it reaches people in the digital spaces where they already are, often connecting with those who might never have been reached otherwise.

The Great Commission commands us to make disciples and in this age, technology can carry that message while Truth still does the transforming. It’s a tool for both encounter and sustained engagement. Our prayer should always be that we don’t lose the catch Jesus has brought home, but use every tool God has placed before us to disciple people.

Jesus will bring in the catch; it’s our job to manage the miracle.

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BibleProject

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