In the second verse of the second chapter of the second
epistle to Timothy, Paul set out a philosophy of discipleship. He tells Timothy to teach/train/disciple those
who will teach/train/disciple others to grow in relationship with Christ,
understanding of the Bible and in bringing the Good News to others (see also
Matt.23:18-20).
“Discipleship” is not something we should expect pastors or
the church to do in our place. We all
should take responsibility to help other believers grow. The church provides excellent opportunities
for believers to grow in knowledge and understanding of God through the
Bible. All believers should regularly go
to church and Sunday School to get good Bible teaching!
As believers we should look for opportunities where we
ourselves are being challenged to grow all the while looking for opportunities
where we can help others grow. It’s like
eating food and exercise. If I eat
food and just keep eating more food and more food, I will get fat (it’s
happening at this very moment!). But if
I observe a regular exercise program while I eat regularly (and I am very
regular in my eating!), then I will work off the calories I’m taking in. I will have a healthy body.
It’s the same in our Christian life – if we keep taking in
good teaching from church, from youth group, from reading Christians books,
from going to retreats and conferences, but don’t have a way to give out that
knowledge, we will become “fat Christians.”
And if we are just taking in more and more knowledge, then we will
actually become “fat-headed Christians” with small hearts and small limbs and
small unhealthy bodies. Not a pretty
sight!
Where to start:
·
if you haven’t already taken initiative to find
a group or a discipler who will take personal interest in helping you progress
in your walk with God, do it now. Initiate with someone who you can help to
grow. You could start with 1 person or
meet with a group of several believers who want to grow together in their
relationship with Christ.
What should you go over?
There are lots of good resources, but we recommend these sets of
materials:
o
Follow up:
written to help establish believers in the foundational truths about their
relationship with God
o
РОСТ: topical studies designed for discipleship of
the whole person [sorry, not available in English]
o
CruComm :
similar topics as РОСТ, but
they tend to focus on one larger passage of Scripture or book of the
Bible.
I can promise that you will find that you will grow faster
and deeper in your walk with God because you are helping others to grow in
their walk. It’s such a delight and a
blessing to be used by God to help others grow and help to transform the world
with Christ while doing your part in helping to fulfill the Great Commission!
