Whether you’ve been in ministry for a day or a decade, you know many pastoral decisions involve navigating the gray, foggy middle with wisdom. Ministers must often operate within the wisdom categories of good, better, and best, not the moral categories of right and wrong. One wisdom issue facing many local churches today is whether and how to use video teaching in discipleship. It used to be that churches would use, for example, videos from a prominent women’s teacher until a particular woman from the church could be raised up to teach and lead its women’s ministry. In this and other areas, video teaching was a supplement until local church leaders could be properly trained and equipped. But today, many churches adopt a discipleship model that involves recording their own leaders, producing podcast or video content in-house, and then distributing it to smaller groups (e.g., Sunday school classes, home groups) to watch or listen and discuss. From my conversations with ministry leaders, it seems the motivations behind this shift are mixed. Some record their membership classes, for example, because the material is replicable and doing so makes the teaching more accessible for a larger number of potential members. Others value the higher production value of recorded teaching. Still others mimic methods they see adopted by larger, “more successful” churches, hoping that adopting the same methods will produce similar results. How would you think through this issue? Should your local church offer its next discipleship or membership class as a series of YouTube videos? Is this wise and best? Here are three questions to help you navigate this foggy question with wisdom. 1. Does my chosen method prioritize face-to-face ministry? The author of Hebrews famously opens his letter by writing, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (1:1–2). Should your local church offer its next discipleship or membership class as a series of YouTube videos? Our triune God, from eternity past, determined that in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4–5), the Father would send the Son to take on flesh and minister in the flesh to his straying and sinful people (John 1:14; Col. 1:16–17; Heb. 1:3). After Christ’s death and resurrection, the Spirit was sent to indwell us (John 14:16). God’s ministry to his people has always been intimate and personal; the ministry of God’s Spirit-indwelled people should be no different. John seems insistent on this “in flesh” model. In his letters, he leverages technology to encourage and instruct from afar, but he holds out hope that he’ll see his recipients face-to-face (2 John 12; 3 John 13–14). He knows well the limitations of impersonal methods, and he wants the full joy of incarnational ministry. Should your prospective members go through a set of membership-class videos, then discuss them with an elder? Maybe. There are elements lost and gained when teaching is recorded instead of live. The teaching may have a higher production value, but it’s also less personal. On the other hand, the video may be an excellent, replicable catalyst for personal conversations about the truths taught. However you weigh this decision, the goal should be person-to-person ministry. 2. What method best fits my context and occasion? Most (if not all) of the Bible is occasional literature—an occasion prompted each writer to put quill to parchment. We can easily observe this in letters like 1 Corinthians. The back half is broken into sections that begin “Now concerning . . .” (7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1, 12). Ministry is also occasional. The church has been given clear, universally applicable imperatives, such as “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). That said, how disciples are made isn’t as clear as the command to make them. Your context can, at times, dictate the difference between good, better, and best. Does the season you’re in occasion a more streamlined approach to discipleship through small groups? If you’re a solo pastor, your church might benefit from your sending a recorded video that can be watched separately by each small group. Ministry, like life, is full of seasons (Eccl. 3:1–8), and each season is an occasion to reassess why your ministry is structured the way it is. Weigh each occasion prayerfully, holding fast to the ancient truths of the faith while presenting them in a way that fits each situation. 3. Am I OK with driving slowly? I live in California’s Central Valley, home to a natural phenomenon called tule fog. From winter to spring of each year, rain, rapidly warming and cooling air, and the mountains on either side of the valley create conditions that produce some of the nastiest fog in the world. The fog can be particularly dense over stretches of freeway, which makes driving dangerous. When visibility is low, wise drivers slow down to ensure they can correct mistakes and avoid challenges that arise. Not-so-wise drivers continue full speed ahead. Your context can, at times, dictate the difference between good, better, and best. I see in the tule fog a metaphor for ministry. As a pastor travels down the ministry highway, he has stretches of distinct clarity. In those circumstances, he can make great progress very quickly. But other times, the conditions are foggy, and we need to be more principled and slow, recognizing that hasty decisions can lead to catastrophic outcomes. Discipleship isn’t a race; not everything needs to be streamlined for accessibility and efficiency. You don’t have to “keep up” with the ministry down the street or across the country. Just because you can record teachings doesn’t mean you should. Some of the most wonderfully pastoral moments come in the moment. The minister needs to be OK with going slow if the occasion calls for it and it better embraces person-to-person discipleship. Slow methods are difficult and messy, and they often feel unnecessarily inefficient, but Jesus himself went slow. He spent three years with 12 underqualified men, but he used that inefficient yet personal ministry to change the world.