How do you disciple someone?
Last weekend I was in Michigan talking with a room full of people about this very question. Afterwards, I was standing at the door saying goodbye to the folks when one elderly man came up to me and said, "You make it sound almost too simple." I smiled and said, "Maybe that's because we've made it too complicated for too long." His eyes welled up as he said, "Yeah. Yeah, I think we have."
Discipling someone so that they begin to reflect the character and lifestyle of Jesus does not need to be simple but it can be.
We are in a season in the U.S. church where we need to evaluate our presumptions and strategies for discipling. (If the discipling methods we are following in our churches are so effective, why does U.S. Christianity seem so anemic especially in light of the robust Christianity exhibited in places like India and Africa and China?) And perhaps more telling, why do our discipling methods seem to deactivate our people rather than activate them?
Some observations from last week's blog: We realized that while the information we teach is critical it is not all. People not only need to be informed of the teachings of Jesus, they need to be shown how to put those teachings into practice in real life. This is key to the discipling process (see Matthew 7:24-27closeMatthew 7:24-27 Build Your House on the Rock 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (ESV) closeMatthew 7:24-27closeMatthew 7:24-27 Build Your House on the Rock 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (ESV) Build Your House on the Rock 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (ESV) ). This happens best in smaller groups where people are given the time to sort through their stories of what happened when they took the teachings of Jesus and put them into practice during the previous week.
For senior leaders, we made a few additional observations: First we were reminded that Jesus taught the crowds but discipled the few, and that it seems that He actually prioritized discipling the few over being with the crowds. (See how often He left the crowds in order to disciple the few.) We also were reminded that Jesus could only disciple those who were willing to come with Him. If they were not willing to come with Jesus, there was not much else even Jesus could do. Lesson: start with the willing and the few. Love the unconvinced, teach the unconvinced, but be sure to prioritize the discipling of the few and the willing.
By the way, this then becomes the primary strategy for how a senior leader can deal with the overwhelming charge of discipling ALL the people under his or her care. How in the world do we have enough time every week to meet with all the smaller groups of people who are in the discipling process? Frankly, we can't. So we deal with this tension by focusing our discipling time on the people who have the capacity to turn and disciple other people as well. Think in terms of a pinch of yeast spreading. We disciple a smaller group of leaders who then turn and disciple others. Think in terms a of spider web. It starts in the middle and radiates out in all directions from there.
So the question becomes, Who are the few and the willing who have the capacity to turn and disciple others as well? Start there.
Finally, how do we know where to start the discipling process in a person's life? If we are information-centered and classroom-based, we start with whatever lesson #1 is in the booklet. This is fine. But how about this? What if we started with wherever God is already at work in the person's life? What if the first question we ask as the Teacher/Rabbi is, Where is God already at work discipling this person? If you are teaching a crowd in a classroom, you better start with lesson #1. But if you are discipling a smaller group of people, start with where God is already working.
Here are some simple questions to see where God is already in the process of discipling the person: How is God messing with you lately? What is He showing you, teaching you, inviting you into? Start there.
So, keep it simple... because we can.
Start with the few and the willing. And start with where God is already messing with them. He knows precisely where His discipling needs to happen.
Next week: the simple focus of discipling.
Rev. Greg Finke
Executive Director, Dwelling 1:14
Rev. Greg Finke
