5. Making disciples must be reproducible.
When I look at the model that Jesus gave us for making disciples, I am extremely encouraged. Why? Because it’s something that even I can do! I’m not the smartest guy or most gifted or extremely talented. I mess things up all the time. But I can spend time with people and pray with them and read the Bible with them and talk to them about Jesus and do my best to obey Jesus’ commands.
Much of what has passed as “discipleship” has been 100 percent impossible to reproduce. If praying for someone means that I have to use fancy words and dress in fancy suits and wear gold watches, chances are that most “normal” people aren’t going to get in the game. They will likely burn out before they even get started. If sharing my faith with someone means that I need to make signs and yell into a bull horn and distribute tracts from the ′50s, chances are that my friends and neighbors are going to have a difficult time joining in God’s work.
If you want to be effective at making disciples who also make disciples, you need to rethink the canned box that you may have inherited. Why? Because it’s simply ineffective. But if you get back to the basics and look to the Spirit for guidance as you intentionally and sacrificially enter into long term relationships with people, chances are that your disciples will pick up on your model and run with it!
So there you have it. Discipleship for many of us has gone woefully wrong. The train has left the tracks and all of our improvements upon the missional methodology that Jesus and the apostles demonstrated and taught will not get us back.
I’m convinced these five observations, however, are a way for us to start thinking and acting a bit more effectively … and this is just the start of the conversation.
What would you add?
Do you have any examples that you could share with us?
What is the single most important aspect of disciple making?
How would you describe the most difficult challenge facing our discipleship?
