A thought about discipleship
Discipleship (i.e., the Great Commission) cannot be legislated; it must be modeled. If you want to see more disciple-making, then start making disciples that make disciples. Don’t tell people to make disciples; make disciples yourself.
Alan,
I believe what you are saying is true and I wish to be the person that is making disciples and not just talking about it, but up to this point discipleship has always been modeled to me as a program, training material, or a select group of chosen men under a discipler. Where do I go to learn about true discipleship and how do I start making disciples? This is an honest question from someone who thinks they have not been fulfilling this command for some years.
Great Post!
These are the questions I would ask in these times:
How Many tweets about Making Disciples have you made?
How Many conferences on Making Disciples have you attended?
How many books have you read on Making Disciples?
How many clever Disciple Making slogans have you created?
How many times have you encouraged others to make disciples?
How many disciples have you personally made?
Alan, thanks for another great post!!
Kirt, being raised in the traditional church, I have found as you have stated, that discipleship is taught as a program. I have never been taught to make disciples. This past year I started a Life Transformation Group, just to see what it was all about. I have been involved in this discipling process for about two months now, and I can say that what I thought may just be another program at first, is indeed a simple and easily reproducible method to make disciples that make disciples. You can find out more about Life Transformation Groups here:
http://greenhousefla.com/?page_id=24
Thanks Jonathan.
I think you just discipled me……
Discipleship – the old fashioned way:
. . . thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. . . continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. -II Tim 3:10,11,14,15
or, Paul’s Modeling Agency, Ltd.
Kirt,
It seems that I didn’t need to answer… my great readers took care of that. 🙂
If I were to add anything, I would simply say pick one, two, three, or a few more people… preferably some about the same maturity level as you, some more mature than you, some less mature than you. Start spending time with them (not necessarily all together). Talk about your life, marriage, family, work, etc. Always look for opportunities to encourage one another to trust God in your life situations. Spend time serving others together. Spend time in one another’s home. Get to know each other’s families. Recognize that this is not just “hanging out time”, but this is our mission as disciple makers. I think that as you do this, you will find happening what Art describes below.
Miguel,
Yes… and regardless of how we answer your first set of questions, it’s only the last question that counts as making disciples.
Jonathan (@jgrubbs),
I’m not familiar with Life Transformation Group. From the short description that I read, it seems to be similar to what I described above.
Art,
That is one of my favorite “discipleship” passages.
-Alan