Foreword

Years ago, a man in the church I planted asked me if I would disciple him. I told him, “Yeah, I’d love to. Let’s get together and talk about that.”

Turns out I was lying to him, because I had no intention in talking any more about it. The truth was I didn’t know how to disciple him, and that was incredibly embarrassing for someone involved in pastoral ministry. What I did know was how to invite people into my own life that would hopefully result in them figuring out how to follow Jesus on their own. After all, that had been my experience.

Now, to be fair, there were several godly men in my life who had invested in me spiritually, but none of those relationships resulted in something I could reproduce on my own. As I have discovered is the case with many others - Bible studies, worship services, fellowships, outreaches, mission trips and camps were my ‘Disciplers.’ Now, I thank God for those things, but I wish someone would have taught me to follow Jesus the same way that my dad taught me to ride a bike out on the street together, him running with me as I wobbled, coaching me to keep pedaling, cheering my successes, allowing me to crash down the hill into a tree, and tending to my scrapes afterwards. But when it came to personally helping someone grow in their faith, I didn’t have a clear model to follow and no one I talked to could explain how to do it either.

Thankfully, things are different now. A couple of years back, I met some incredible men and women serving the Lord in Canada who introduced me to a disciplemaking pathway called Stages, where the Curious, the Believer, the Disciple and the Disciple Maker can not only discover where they are in their journey, but they can find the next steps to move them forward in their faith journey. For someone who really didn’t have a very organized plan for how to disciple people, it was and has been an invaluable tool.

I will never forget that discipleship can feel like an overwhelming task, but it is not a task we have to walk alone. Today, I’ve seen disciples make disciples who make disciples, and I am reminded that soon after Jesus’ command for us to make disciples, He tells us that He will be with us “always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). You are not alone; God is with you and will provide all you need to complete the task He has assigned you. All He asks is for your obedience, and He will do the rest. To God be the glory!

Scott Ridenour