You still haven't done it have you? You're just skipping that question, don't, do it now.
Are you ready for the silver bullet of discipling others? Get your pens out… There... isn’t one. Discipling others is a life long joy-filled, heart breaking, encouraging, discouraging journey. It’s messy and complex. It’s often circular rather than linear. But it is ultimately worth it. Paul writes to the Thessalonians “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” (2v19)
The joy of discipling others is seeing them turn from idols to Christ, go on and grow and persevere until they reach the finish. Paul looks forward to, and longs for, the day when he stands before his Saviour and is filled with joy at seeing those he’s preached the gospel to and discipled there with him. Knowing, seeing that they completed the race. Discipling others is long term. It’s a life long investment. It’s not like teaching a class for a year, or 5 years and seeing them graduate. Some discipling will be for a season, but in our communication era most will continue even then at a distance and in a less intense way. But most discipling is life-long and involves ups and downs, highs and lows, laughs and losses.
I had the privilege of discipling a young guy in our church from the age of about 15. When he chose as his email address ‘nofearindeath’ I was a bit surprised. But I remember not 10 years later doing the marriage prep for him and his fiancé when they discovered he had cancer. I then spoke of his faith at his funeral not many years after preaching at his wedding. Heart breaking? Yes. But he ran the race. He finished the race and there was joy with the grief.
The real heart-break of discipling comes when someone turns their back on their faith. Paul writes of Demas “Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”(2 Tim 4v9-10) Sometimes those we disciple drift or are lured away; growing cold, attending irregularly, and then falling in love with something or someone else. This shouldn’t surprise us in some ways, just think about the parable of the sower, but it should hurt us, just as it did Paul.
Discipleship isn’t about programmes it’s about people, it’s about faith lived out in real relationships. And that means progress isn’t linear, it’s messy and complex, it’s stop start, it’s progress and regress. It’s hard and yet it’s what Jesus calls us to.
Francis Chan writes“Why is it we see so little disciple making taking place in the church today? Do we really believe that Jesus told His early followers to make disciples but wants the 21st century church to do something different? None of us would claim to believe this, but somehow we have created a culture where the paid ministers do the ministry and the rest of us show up, put some money in the plate and leave feeling inspired or “fed”. We have moved so far away from Jesus’s command that many Christians don’t have a frame of reference for what making disciples looks like.”
So how do we disciple one another? That's what I want to think briefly about in the next couple of posts. But if you didn't answer that question at the start, can I encourage you to do it now: How have you been discipled? What was good, bad, and ugly about it?
Are you ready for the silver bullet of discipling others? Get your pens out… There... isn’t one. Discipling others is a life long joy-filled, heart breaking, encouraging, discouraging journey. It’s messy and complex. It’s often circular rather than linear. But it is ultimately worth it. Paul writes to the Thessalonians “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” (2v19)
The joy of discipling others is seeing them turn from idols to Christ, go on and grow and persevere until they reach the finish. Paul looks forward to, and longs for, the day when he stands before his Saviour and is filled with joy at seeing those he’s preached the gospel to and discipled there with him. Knowing, seeing that they completed the race. Discipling others is long term. It’s a life long investment. It’s not like teaching a class for a year, or 5 years and seeing them graduate. Some discipling will be for a season, but in our communication era most will continue even then at a distance and in a less intense way. But most discipling is life-long and involves ups and downs, highs and lows, laughs and losses.
I had the privilege of discipling a young guy in our church from the age of about 15. When he chose as his email address ‘nofearindeath’ I was a bit surprised. But I remember not 10 years later doing the marriage prep for him and his fiancé when they discovered he had cancer. I then spoke of his faith at his funeral not many years after preaching at his wedding. Heart breaking? Yes. But he ran the race. He finished the race and there was joy with the grief.
The real heart-break of discipling comes when someone turns their back on their faith. Paul writes of Demas “Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”(2 Tim 4v9-10) Sometimes those we disciple drift or are lured away; growing cold, attending irregularly, and then falling in love with something or someone else. This shouldn’t surprise us in some ways, just think about the parable of the sower, but it should hurt us, just as it did Paul.
Discipleship isn’t about programmes it’s about people, it’s about faith lived out in real relationships. And that means progress isn’t linear, it’s messy and complex, it’s stop start, it’s progress and regress. It’s hard and yet it’s what Jesus calls us to.
Francis Chan writes“Why is it we see so little disciple making taking place in the church today? Do we really believe that Jesus told His early followers to make disciples but wants the 21st century church to do something different? None of us would claim to believe this, but somehow we have created a culture where the paid ministers do the ministry and the rest of us show up, put some money in the plate and leave feeling inspired or “fed”. We have moved so far away from Jesus’s command that many Christians don’t have a frame of reference for what making disciples looks like.”
So how do we disciple one another? That's what I want to think briefly about in the next couple of posts. But if you didn't answer that question at the start, can I encourage you to do it now: How have you been discipled? What was good, bad, and ugly about it?
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