Eternal Perspective

What does it mean to have an 'eternal perspective?' Campus Crusade's training material, Compass, is great!  Eternal Perspective is a great study or discussion group resource that gives a good overview of this topic.

How We Disciple Others

Here is a great article on discipleship by Jason Weimer:

Discipleship is developing someone in the character and actions of Jesus, and equipping them to develop others. It is simply passing on to others what you’ve learned and been trained in. To be a discipler, you first need to be a disciple. You need to be growing in order to help others grow.

The next question one might ask is: How exactly do I do this? How do I effectively pass on what I’ve learned to those I’ll disciple?

 

There are five essential elements in discipleship: Evangelism, Fellowship, Teaching, Training, and Prayer. These are the nuts and bolts of your discipleship appointments, the mechanism through which you can pass on what you’ve learned. We’ll take a look at each one individually.

 Evangelism - It has been said that “discipleship without evangelism is just counseling.” If we aren’t taking our disciples out to share their faith, we become nothing more than a counselor trying to help sort out their issues and problems. Jesus called us to “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19), and the first step in making disciples is sharing the Gospel with those who don’t yet know Christ. We need to be teaching our disciples how to share their faith with others so they can effectively reach others with the Gospel. The most practical way to teach someone how to share his faith is to actually go out and do it. This can be by taking him out to a dorm or the student union and doing spiritual questionnaires with people or just hanging out with a non-Christian friend and having a conversation about spiritual things. But it is essential that we take our disciples with us and share our faith together.

Fellowship - It is important to be a friend to the people we’re discipling, so part of discipleship is developing that friendship. This can be inside or out of the set “discipleship time,” but a deepening friendship is important in developing an environment of vulnerability and growth.

Teaching - This element deals specifically with teaching someone Scripture: what it says, what it means, how it applies to him or her, etc. It can be teaching a passage that addresses a struggle or issue your disciple has or simply a lesson on Biblical history or doctrine to help her gain a greater knowledge of the Word and how it applies to her life. Teaching someone Scripture helps develop heart, mind, vision, and character.

Training – this element involves training someone how to minister to others.  It could be training him how to lead a Bible study, how to disciple someone else, how to share the Gospel, etc. It is different from teaching in that teaching addresses your disciple’s personal development, while training addresses how he can minister to others.

Prayer - Of course, prayer is a vital part of discipleship. A discipler should pray regularly for his or her disciples, as well as pray with them. This is the most vital of all the elements, because it is the Lord who will cause our disciples to grow, not us, and we need to be praying for them and praying that God will use us as a vessel to help them grow.

A discipleship appointment can be a combination of all 5 of these elements, or just a few at a time. Sometimes it is good spend the whole appointment sharing your faith with others, or teaching on a critical issue in your disciple’s life, or even just hanging out and playing sports or sharing a cup of tea. Most appointments probably will have a mix of several elements.

In order to have an effective, life-changing discipleship relationship, you need a healthy balance of all 5 elements coupled with a healthy dose of reliance on God. You need to be taking them out to share their faith, teaching them from the Word, training them how to minister to others, praying for them and with them as well as being a good friend.

One of the most important things to remember is that discipleship is much more than just a regular appointment - it is demonstrating the Christian life to your disciple on a day-to-day basis. Most lessons you’ll teach to your disciples will be outside your regular appointments - they will learn from you through seeing Christ in you as you walk by faith. Jesus simply lived His life in front of the 12 disciples and modeled to them how to live. Most people learn best by observing and experiencing than by being directly taught. So, make discipleship more than just a regular meeting on campus - make it an exciting experience and a deep relationship!

Getting Started

Let’s briefly touch on how to get started and make it long term. One of the best ways to begin a discipleship relationship is by having a getting-to-know-you conversation. Ask what he or she struggles with, what he or she is passionate about, what he/she is afraid of, what he/ she has experienced in life, what he/she wants to see God do in his/her life through discipleship, etc. Make note of what your disciple says. Write things down if you have to. This will give you a good starting point on how to help her grow and develop.

One great thing to include in your first meeting is a “growth circle.”  This is an exercise that will help you and your disciple determine what areas of development you can work on and when to work on those things.  (Look for the “Growth Circle” in the coming weeks.)

After you’ve done this, prayerfully formulate a long-term plan of action from what you’ve learned and observed from him/her. A semester is a good length of time to try to plan for. You might want to consider using a chart like the one below.  Using a chart like this is a good way to look ahead and see what you want your disciple to grow in through the semester and how you plan to help him/her grow.

  

Semester Discipleship Plan
Date	Prayer	Evangelism	Fellowship	Teaching	Training
9/3	Pray together			assurance of salvation	how to share the Gospel
9/10	Pray together	go sharing		eternal perspective
9/17	Pray together	go sharing			how to transition to Gospel in conversations
9/24	Pray together		go out for pizza
10/1	Pray together	go sharing		authority of Scripture
10/8	Pray together			Quiet Times	how to share w/ friends
etc…	etc…

  

This is a resource from GodSquad (www.godsquad.com)  2004 Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc. Permission granted to copy for personal or ministry uses, provided this credit line is included and content remains unchanged.

What to cover in discipleship

I think the scariest thing for me when I, as a student and a new believer, was first encouraged to start discipling people.  I had the fear because of not knowing what to do.  That fear paralyzed me for a few months until I finally confessed to the person who was discipling me about my fear.  She gave me a few tips and pointed me to some materials and told me to not trust in my own abilities or inabilities, but to trust in God to disciple others through me.  It’s a joy and a privilege for me as I continue to help others grow in maturity in Christ!

What to cover

Matthew 28:18-20

o    Jesus commands us to teach others about Him and His commands

o    press upon those you disciple the necessity of obedience

o    help them apply Christ's commands in their lives 

Matt.4:19

o   help others follow Him (deepen in commitment to walk with God)

o    let Him make them ‘fishers of men’ (to become able to tell others about Him)

Col.1:28-29

o    completeness/maturity in Christ (help them grow in likeness in Christ)

2Tim.2:2

o    if we aren’t passing onto other generations the truths about God, then how will Christianity continue to grow?!

Where to start

Are you feeling a little overwhelmed by these topics?  I know that I am. 

1.    Don’t pass over the foundational truths!

Keith Davy, a staff member with Campus Crusade in the United States, points out, “I have seen that spiritual growth requires establishing a solid foundation and building on that foundation. It is living and breathing the basics…” 

I started out meeting with believers for Bible study – we began with the foundational truths of Christianity.  Some good materials, if you are looking for something to use, are: Your New Life in Christ or Life Concepts.

We occasionally met between our small group Bible study times to talk about what God was teaching us through the study.  It can be a smaller group of people or it can be a one-on-one time. 

2.    …moving onto more ‘solid food’ (1 Pet.2:2)

Keith continues…”The word disciple means that we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ.  We are discipling and being discipled to be lovers and learners of Jesus.  He is our foundation and our focus.” 

         

After a few weeks, we began to delve a little deeper into God’s Word to discover what it   means to be a lover and a learner of Jesus and what it means to be apprenticed to our Master.  And we began to meet more often outside of our small group time to discuss the truths we were learning, specifically how to apply them specifically to our daily lives. 

Need something more practical?

Is this still too elusive for some of you grasp?  I’m the sort of person who needs clear tracks.  Attached are 2 documents which list out some of the more important things to cover in a discipleship relationship. 

·     Discipleship Training Chart - Col.1:28-29

·         Помогая другим расти в их отношениях с Богом [sorry, not available in English]

Even more practical!

CruComm basics and CruComm training are specific Bible studies that cover many good topics that our disciples need to understand.  Don’t feel like you need to go through these lessons in the order presented – ask the Holy Spirit to direct you in choosing which lessons to go through.  Listen to your disciples – they are probably giving you some very good hints as to what they need to learn (or learn again) as they share what is going on in their lives right now.

Over the years I have had the privilege of helping many believers as they grow in their love for Jesus and in their usefulness as His servants.  It has been one of my great joys (it bears repeating) and I pray that the Lord gives you many disciples who will bring joy to your hearts as well.