Wow, it's been six months since I've written anything. I guess you could say I've been super busy. I've been working at my church with college ministry since the beginning of last school year. Lately, I've been spending time thinking and praying on ways to make it more effective at reaching students.
Anyway, let's get into what I wanted to talk about. As a part of my job, I spend time with Pastor going to different events and conferences. I really enjoy that part of my job because it means I get a chance to learn more about a variety of topics. Yesterday, I went with Pastor to discussion on discipleship, and we heard from three different local churches in the area.
The first church, I was really impressed by, because they seemed to have a really good idea on what discipleship really is. The first point they made was that discipleship should be simple and reproducible, which is so true. If you can't reproduce discipleship, it's not going to go anywhere. You can't make discipleship work if there are a bunch of different steps to follow. You'll just end up losing people in the process.
This first church had five different steps in the way they do discipleship. The first guideline is that you meet with two or three people of the same gender as you. That way, you can work with more than just one person at a time, and you can discuss any gender specific issues.
When you're meeting together, the first question you would open with is a simple one. Asking people what they are thankful for is a great way to not only get the conversation going, but also to help people think positively. It's also a fantastic way to bring Jesus up with people who are not yet believers as it creates a way for you to introduce that Jesus is the one who provides for them.
The second thing they ask, is what are you stressed out about? After this question is asked, they pray about it and this creates a great way to continue to pray for those you're discipling.
After this, they read a Bible passage, it doesn't have to be a long one, but they read the Bible together. Then someone else is asked to summarize the passage because it makes it easier to relate to what the passage is talking about. After the passage is summarized, they ask a few questions. What does this say about God? What does this say about man? What is something we can obey and how can we apply this passage to our lives?
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do," James 1:22-25. This is a good example of why we need to put into practice what we're reading.
Lastly, they ask two questions, who can you share this with and do you want to meet again. This is an awesome way to encourage people to share the Gospel with the friends of the people you're discipling. It's also a good idea to find out if people want to meet again, because it stinks to meet with people who don't want to meet with you.
After some time, the people they are discipling are asked if they want to do this process with other people, like their friends and thus the cycle continues. In my training in disciple making, I've learned that it is important to find people who are F.A.T. or faithful, accessible, and teachable. If you can't find people who are faithful to meeting and accessible, you can't meet with them. It's also important to meet people who are teachable, because you need to be able to teach them new things, otherwise, they won't get anywhere when you're disciplining them.
