Missed part one? Read it here.
Discipleship in action
Discipleship happens in various ways and contexts in and through Serving In Mission around the world. Mission workers are coming alongside new believers to get them off to a strong start. Some are mentoring the next generation of church leaders, others walk with, and disciple children and youth from difficult backgrounds, and there are many more examples.
Mark, in Ecuador, engages in one-to-one discipleship with believers keen to grow, mentors people in ministry who want to grow in both ability and character, and runs group discipleship with leaders of local churches, who are seen to be the future pastors, evangelists, and missionaries of the church.
“It’s honestly one of the greatest joys of my ministry,” he says. “God’s given me a lot of joy through these relationships, and I’m honoured that he’s chosen to use me in this way, to see his people mature in faith and develop deep and meaningful relationships with him so they want to share with others.”
How to disciple someone
How did Jesus disciple the disciples? What other examples do we see in the Bible that can help us?
Jesus prayed before choosing the 12 apostles (Luke 6:12-13). Pray about someone to start meeting with. You could then offer to meet with them for an initial chat and see if they would be interested in meeting regularly.
He went on praying for them (see John 17). “Discipling without prayer is like running without breathing,” says Garrett Kell.
He taught them how to pray and have a relationship with him.
Jesus did life together with his disciples. They were with each other in a variety of everyday contexts. They could observe him and learn from his example. To the Philippians Paul writes, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice.” (Philippians 4:9). To the Corinthians he wrote, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1). That always challenges me! May we be examples worth imitating!
Paul also told the Thessalonians that, ‘We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.’ (1 Thess 2:7). Sharing our lives with people where they can observe our imperfect but genuine walk with God in the everyday things of life, can have a very profound impact. We found this to be true with several young people who joined us for meals, games or outings.
He intentionally taught them. Time in the Bible is a key part of making disciples, helping to ground a person in God’s truth and align themselves with the values of the kingdom. My wife Ellie spent over a year reading through Luke with a young woman new to faith in Cambodia, which was a truly transformational experience.
There were several “Wow!” moments as she grasped more of who Jesus was. They were both challenged to obey particular teachings. It helped to ground the woman’s faith, giving her confidence to read the Bible for herself.
Jesus asked good questions (e.g. Mark 8:27-38). Questions are a great way to diagnose where someone is at and help take the relationship deeper.
He also showed them how to do various forms of ministry and sent them out to get involved themselves (e.g. Luke 10).
So, what next?
How are we going to respond to Jesus’ call to make disciples and what could making disciples look like in your context?
We can be confident, as mission worker Mark writes, that, “discipleship is central to our missional calling and is a key part of being obedient to the Great Commission as Jesus calls us not only to share the gospel and baptise, but also to make disciples that obey all that he has commanded.”
Pray about someone to disciple. Some of us may need to rethink our schedules and priorities to ensure we have time for this. You could also help to encourage a culture of disciple-making in your church.
Recommended resources
If you’re looking for some useful resources then read 1 to 1 Discipleship by Christine Dillon of OMF and look up www.safar.org
If you’re interested in exploring what it could look like for you to make disciples together with Serving In Mission, we’d love to have a chat.