Principles in Practice

Discipling, Part I
Are You Cut Out to Be a Discipler?

Do you know what a disciple is? Are you one? Should you have one?

Words related to disciple, in the Christian context, include adherent, apostle, believer, convert, follower and pupil. The opposite of a disciple is a master or teacher. So a disciple is someone who looks to another for leadership. And a Christian disciple is one who looks to Jesus Christ.

If the Lord Jesus Christ is the master or teacher, then the discipler's role is to point the way to Him. The discipler's job is to teach the disciple how to lead a life of obedience to Christ.

A discipler does not have all the answers. In fact, he or she may feel very inadequately equipped. But however much the discipler does not know, presumably the disciple, the person being pointed to Christ, knows even less.

God the Father and God the Holy Spirit taught Jesus what He needed to know during His ministry on earth. He then left the Holy Comforter or paraclete after His resurrection and ascension to oversee the continuation of His discipling ministry. Every person who has been born again can learn from the Holy Comforter and also from others who are more mature in their Christian walk.

Discipling by Teaching

Of course, prophets and teachers are mere humans. They are subject to the same frailties that beset the rest of us. God says that He will hold them to a higher standard, but He does not tell us to. We are never to take the word of a prophet or teacher at face value. Instead, we are always to test the word of a prophet or teacher against the written word of God. And where there is doubt, we are to let God demonstrate the truth before we act.

When a prophet or teacher is wrong, he is answerable to God. But when we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, permit ourselves to be misled by a prophet or teacher, we are answerable to God for not checking ourselves. God will likely deal with us just as He will certainly deal with the person who misled us.

Nevertheless, since Jesus commanded all Christians to disciple others, we are obligated to lead others toward greater obedience. God knows that we will make mistakes. But we cannot let the fear of making mistakes deter us from following the command.

We can minimize our mistakes as disciplers by placing ourselves under prophets and teachers to be discipled through the exercise of their gifts. We become better disciples ourselves through hearing and doing what we are taught by others.

Discipling by Speaking Out

Perhaps the most often used excuse for not witnessing and discipling is: "I do it by example." In other words, if someone can catch the idea by watching me, I have done my part. But if the person serving as the model does not say something, the apprentice will top out, level off.

Many of us feel uncomfortable identifying ourselves publicly as Christians. We do not know how to handle it. It is embarrassing to boldly confess Christ the first time, and the second and the third. But after a few dozen times it is much easier. The hardest thing I ever did as a young Christian was stand up at a friend's funeral and tell the world I was a Christian. But once I had confessed my faith before four hundred prominent members of the community, it was a piece of cake to tell people one at a time.

Next, I realized I needed to identify those people who were looking for more direction in their lives and offer to be available. God was sending people to me for discipling, but I had not been sensitive to that. I was missing opportunities to serve God as a discipler. I doubt the disciples lost much. God just sent them on to someone more open to the leading of His Spirit. I was the loser.

Discipling by Example

Sometimes an individual's personal example makes him or her ineffective as a discipler. The walk does not match the talk. Of course, no one is perfect. But the person who predictably brings disrepute on the Lord's name should probably be discouraged as a discipler.

Prospective disciplers must become hearers and doers of the word before they attempt to disciple anyone else. Otherwise they will become a stumbling block, simply reproducing their bad habits in others.

Still, we should not be striving for perfection before we reach out to others who need our help. Your example is always something to be sensitive to but not sensitive about. You can always improve your example, but lack of perfection should not stop you from being a discipler.

Discipling through Accountability

Setting up a process of accountability is critical to the discipling process. You can teach and you can set a good example. But to really produce growth and maturity, you must design a way for the person you are discipling to measure his or her progress.

The most effective way to make your disciple accountable is to schedule a regular time to meet. This can be a time both for instruction and a check-up to see how prior instruction has translated into action. You can check Bible memory or review written Bible study responses. Or ask how the individual has dealt with specific situations or problems discussed at the last session.

Regular meetings build your relationship with the disciple. First, you will just get to know your disciple, your "Timothy." Often he has agreed to work with you because of some life crisis that is producing pain. He hopes that you will be able to show him a shortcut, a way out. In telling you about his problems, "Timothy" often will share enough of his life for you to identify the underlying problem. You then show him the connection between the deeper problem and the surface problem. In this way, you build a relationship that gives you credibility in "Timothy's" eyes.

However, too often, this "relationship building" process does not develop any real accountability. It becomes a time for sharing and talking, but does not move on to a time of making real decisions or planning steps that will move the person toward maturity. There is a fine line between talking about the Lord and making progress toward becoming the person He wants us to be. Disciplers must not lose sight of the real objective.

So, are you cut out to be a discipler? Yes, indeed. Jesus practiced and commanded discipleship, and we are to follow in His footsteps. In the next Glad Tithings, we will continue the focus on discipling with some specific practices disciplers can recommend to those they lead.

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