Last week I asked the question “Who is Your Disciple?” where I talked about the importance of investing in the lives of others and leaving a spiritual heritage. If you didn’t have a chance to read it, you can find it here, “Who is Your Disciple?” I really believe that if you pray and ask the Lord to give you a disciple, and begin to work with people, He will do just that. Discipleship is probably one of the areas of greatest weakness in our churches today yet one of the most important when it comes to spiritual and numerical growth. In Matthew 28:18-20, what we call the great commission, and Christ last command for us, we see that they were not only to win people (make disciples) but were also to teach them all things. Discipleship is the process whereby we help someone grow in their spiritual life to the point that they can then in turn help someone else grow also. This is what we see in two key passages, 2 Tim 2:2 and Eph. 4:11,12. In 2 Timothy Paul told his son in the faith to pass on what he had learned to faithful men so that they could in turn teach others. Also in Ephesians 4 we see the process of perfecting the Saints, or taking them to maturity, so that they can do the work of the ministry, or in other words disciple others and the final result is the edification or growth of the body of Christ. Now before we talk about how to disciple someone I think we need to understand what discipleship is and is not.
What Disicpleship Is Not:
Discipleship is not a set of Lessons or a Program
Many often say that they have been through discipleship or have been discipled. What they usually mean by that is that they have completed a set of ten lessons, filling in the blanks after reading a Bible passage. Now don’t get me wrong. I think studying the Bible is very important and discipleship does usually include some lessons, but that is not in and of itself discipleship.
Discipleship is not done Through Preaching Alone
I have heard the comment several times, from pastors, that they do their counseling or discipleship from the pulpit. Once again I think that preaching is of vital importance and plays an important role is spiritual growth but in and of itself it is not discipleship.
Discipleship is not done by Involving Someone in Ministry.
This is another common concept that I see. The idea is that if we can get someone involved in a ministry in the church, they will become more faithful because of the responsibility that they feel. While one of our goals is to get them involved in the body of Christ, it will not give us the results we ultimately want, because all we will have is an unprepared person serving in the church, which usually ends in disaster.
What Discipleship Is:
Discipleship is Investing in Someone’s Life
Like I mentioned in my last article it is when we invest our time, energy and concerns in the life of someone else. Any investment that is going to give us returns, is going to cost us. Discipleship is a life of sacrifice and I believe that most people don’t get involved in discipleship because of the time and effort that it takes. As I have mentioned you can’t just give someone a lesson and tell them to bring it back when they are done and get the results you want. You must be willing to spend time with them, even in the difficult moments, if you truly want to disciple.
Discipleship is Meeting Them Where They Are
I have heard it said that discipleship is getting down in the gutter where the people are and helping them out. That is the part that is not so pleasant sometimes. I have used an illustration before, to explain discipleship, where two people are walking, and the one discipling has his arm around the other helping him walk through life. If he falls, he has someone to help him up. If he gets discouraged, he has someone to encourage him to continue. This means that we must be willing to go through some unpleasant, difficult times with them and stick with them until they come through. We can’t get discouraged with where they are at the moment but must always see them for what they can be and recognize the small progress they are making.
Discipleship is Helping Them Grow
The end result of discipleship is seeing them grow and taking them as far as we can in their spiritual growth. We will talk more about that in the next article but the goal is that they are in the process of growing, starting on the most basic level, and getting to the point that they can reproduce themselves as Christians. We divide this process into four steps and although it is important to go in order, you might be working of multiple steps at a time. These steps are BE, DO, SERVE, TRAIN. I will elaborate on them a little here.
BE
This is their “Private” level. This is what they are when it is only them and God and no one else sees. This level speaks of their relationship with God, their integrity, a person that is surrendered to God. It is vital that we start on this level because usually we try and help people “do” what they should but the problem is that there has been no work on their BE level so that they can DO what they should. The idea is that we are only going to do according to who we are or at least who we think we are. So we help someone in this area by first making sure they are saved, because they cannot be what they are not. Then we must teach them who they are in Christ and how to live according to that truth. They are not a failure, a lier, cheater, or whatever the sin is that they are facing. They are a born again child of God, a new creature in Christ and they must begin to live like who they are. Then we must get the Word of God in them. We must help them to form spiritual disciplines of reading their Bible, praying and confessing their sins and forsaking them. The Word will give them the spiritual nutrition that they need so they can “BE” what they should.
DO
The next level is the Do level and of course this speaks about what they are doing in their Christian lives. This is their “Personal” level or the part of their lives that everyone sees. This is shown by the type of father or husband that they are, the way they pay their bills, their faithfulness to church and the things of God. Although this area can be faked to some extent, it will eventually show in the details and reactions in a persons life. Like I mentioned before, if we have helped someone be who they should (saved) and understand that truth and live according to it, then the do level is not that difficult. The result is that they will begin to do according to who they are. All they should need is a little direction as they begin to live the Word of God on a daily basis. If they are not doing what they should then we might need to go back to the “Be” leve to see what they are missing or what they do not understand. Growing in this area takes a lifetime, and we will never completely arrive, but the key is that they are continually growing and changing, doing what they should as Christians.
SERVE
Then comes the level that most want to jump straight to. This is their “Public” level or the area of their service to God or where we fit in to the body of Christ. One of our goals should be to get people involved in serving in the local church, but not before we work on the other two areas, (BE and Do) so that they can serve the way they should. We have all heard it said that twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work in church. I believe that is probably true, but mostly because we are not discipling like we should. The church will never accomplish what it should until every member is in their place completing their function in the body and every member will not find that place until we help them grow in their Be and their Do so they can Serve the Lord with their lives.
TRAIN
This is their “Priority” level and the ultimate goal of discipleship. We want to make disciple makers, those who will not just disciple others but will teach others to disciple. This is what 2 Timothy 2:2 is all about and the key that Paul wanted to teach his predecessor so that he would be successful in his ministry. This is also the key to fulfilling the command that Christ has given us to “preach the gospel to every creature in the world.” Can you imagine if every person in your church were to prepare themselves and then reproduce themselves as a Christian in someone else. I think any pastor would love to see his attendance double over the next year. Obviously not everyone will participate or respond, but just imagine if a small percentage of Christians would begin this process with someone else and take them to maturity and teach that person to disciple someone else. We could truly make an impact like never before for the cause of Christ.
So I hope you will embark on this wonderful journey of discipleship and decide that you are going to invest in the life of someone else. I would love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments about discipling others.