A Simple Discipleship Formula

Sometimes we complicate simple things. Think of jobs or projects from your past where rules and procedures so slowed outcomes down to the point it either robbed joy out of it or caused resentment and caused you to quit altogether. We make up rules and procedures that may look like safeguards but in the end they can easily take us down a path so far away from the original idea that we forget why we are doing what we are doing. Take discipleship, Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20 that we should go into the entire world to make disciples, baptize them, teach them to obey EVERYTHING He taught and as a promise, He'd be with us always. Looking at His ministry life we know that He spent a full night in prayer just to determine who the faithful followers would be who would become His disciples, God's agents of change. Next, He spent 3 years training, teaching, being with and praying for these guys. If it were an equation it might look something like this; Relationship + Spiritual Truth + Teachable Heart + Time = Transformation In our highly connected, socially savy, information revolution we must remember that there are no short-cuts to building/multiplying Jesus followers. Books, blogs, tweets and podcasts can help as long as they are pointing back to the Bible and not just about it. Authenticity and transparency are critical so that disciplers do not set up disciples with the idea that they personally get something out of the Bible every time they read it, or that great faith prayers are prayed that reap huge results morning, noon and night, and that new converts are won every week. I have had the honor of being poured into and been able to pour into others. Success rates climb really, really high when we take the time to dispense practical Biblical truth, over time to people who are teachable and real. Biblical truth can seem pretty overwhelming but an easy place to start are the Red Letters of the Gospels. What did Jesus say? Most people can quote only a fraction of it. And remember in the Great Commission quoted above in Matthew 28, that Jesus commanded us to teach them everything He commanded. We also have the Epistles of Paul where there is plenty to study and apply. We have the entire Old Testament which is full of great treasures of Truth/Gold. This can easily take you all of 3 years. As I have quoted many times from David Watson's classic book - "Called and Committed" "If a gifted evangelist could win 1,000 converts a night, it would take them about 10,000 years to win the world to Christ, not including any population spikes, but if a true disciple of Christ were to win one person to Christ per year and spend that year training and teaching that disciple to do the same it would take aprox. 32 years to win the entire world to Christ." Amazing! Let's make this simple, if you need to be poured into, ask someone around you whose walk with Christ inspires you and you wished to be like to help you become like them. If you are pretty mature and obviously walking with Christ, than you should be looking for someone to approach and pour into. It's simple!

There are No Short-Cuts!

This past Monday night I just finished several months of formal discipleship/leadership mentoring with some outstanding young men, followers of Christ. We met every other Monday night at our house and as each night approached I sensed my own excitement building. I had planned out the 10 sessions way in advance, I asked God what He wanted me to teach, and most nights that planned was followed. There were some nights however when what was planned got changed and that was great, for I love how the Holy Spirit leads like, and I am grateful to hear His promptings and as much as possible, follow them. One of the sayings that I repeated,t "there are no short-cuts!" In matters of spiritual growth, scripture knowledge, a deeper and more effective prayer life, growing more intimate with God and so on - "there are no short-cuts". I remember one of my spiritual/ministry mentors say to me many years ago; "you have as much God in your life as you want, you have as many close friends in your life as you want, you have as much love in your life as you want" and so on. He was and is correct. The question we must all ask is "how badly do I want something?" One of the keys in obtaining it is to make sure you have peace and confidence it is from God, if it is, than He will provide the plan, power and passion to see it through. Right now I am trying to lose some pounds around my stomach, re-gain some muscle, and get more limber, there have been several challenges like injuries, and those have discouraged me. Much of my success or lack of it will depend on how badly I want this. I know that there are no short-cuts. I am grateful for my relationship with God, my love for Him, the joy I get in serving Him and the people of the church I serve for they are a Godly, teachable and passionate bunch! There are no short-cuts in seeing our church become all that He desires. As I finished up our last meeting, I closed in a prayer for each man, a personalized prayer that I hope they get to see become a reality. I then challenged each of them to find 4 men they can mentor and I will do the same, that will become exponential. Come next Fall it will be time to Produce some more Reproducers, four new men will step into our living room and I will lead off with the same true statement - "Men, there are no short-cuts."