8 minute read
ReThinking How We Make Disciples
by Lance Finley, CGGC Executive Director
What comes to mind when you hear the word discipleship? For most of us in the church, we tend to think that discipleship is something that happens after conversion or a commitment to follow Jesus. When someone comes to Christ, discipleship helps them learn how to read the Bible, pray, understand the doctrines of the church, grow in their faith, discover their spiritual gifts and find ways to serve in the body of Christ. Of course, all of that is a part of discipleship, but does discipleship actually begin at conversion or does it start long before that important moment of the journey?
We often consider everything before conversion as evangelism and everything after conversion as discipleship, but I’m not sure that’s the way Jesus saw it. When you study the life and ministry of Jesus, He called men to follow Him and they became His disciples. When were the disciples converted? When did they cross from unbelief to belief, from unsaved to saved? That’s a little less clear. In Matthew 16 there’s the account of when Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” There were several answers and opinions, but in verse 16, Peter answers, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” It certainly seems like Simon Peter is on the right track at that point. But here’s the problem, as Jesus began to relay to the disciples what was coming with the cross, it was Peter who took Jesus aside and said, “This shall never happen to you!” Of course, this led Jesus to rebuke Peter with the words, “Get behind me, Satan,” in verse 23. It certainly seems as if for Jesus, discipleship began long before conversion took place.
How do we need to rethink discipleship in response to Jesus’ example and in light of the present realities of our North American context? Most of us grew up in a world where evangelism was largely event driven and worked within a context that was familiar and even warm to the idea of Christian faith. If discipleship really does begin before conversion, how do we make disciples in an environment that has less familiarity or interest in spiritual matters? How do you make disciples when you don’t have any relationships with folks who aren’t already Christian?
This past October, we brought several leaders together from across the CGGC to spend a couple of days focused upon multiplication through disciple making. We were fortunate to have Steve Pike of Urban Island Project (urbanislandsproject.org) facilitate our time together. One of the most helpful pieces Steve presented was around the idea of reimaging discipleship and the idea of discipleship starting long before a person ever experiences conversion. I’d encourage you to pick up a copy of Steve’s book Next Wave: Discovering the 21st Century Church (https://nextwave.community). You will find the book incredibly helpful, particularly the second chapter: Reimagine Discipleship.
Steve lays out a framework that helps us rethink how we make disciples in an increasingly post-Christian context. Rather than start with what happens following conversion, Steve explores key elements that must happen to join Jesus in His mission of seeking and saving the lost. How do we help people move toward faith in Christ? There are four stages of pre-conversion discipleship that need our intentionality if we are going to truly make disciples: 1) Awareness, 2) Connection, 3) Relationship, and 4) Spiritual Conversations.
Awareness happens when a person becomes aware of you in a positive way. Think about your average day. How many people do you cross paths with in a given day? How many folks do you interact with through your ordinary activities? How many of those folks are aware of you in a positive way? Did you tip your server generously or handle their mistake kindly and graciously? Did you welcome a stranger warmly? Did you look the gas station attendant in the eye and offer a warm thank you? Everyday, most of us have multiple opportunities to create a positive awareness. Each of us probably have opportunities to “not be a jerk” and create a positive awareness with someone else.
Connection happens when you know the name of a person and they know you know their name, and you are regularly praying for them. Take your neighbor next door, Bob. You know Bob’s name and he knows that you know his name. What would it take for you to pray for Bob each week? What if you were to pray for Bob regularly and ask God to work in his life, to bless him, to stir a spiritual hunger in him and to position you in his life in ways that are helpful? This doesn’t mean that Bob is your new best friend, he’s just a connection and you’re praying for him.
Relationship happens when you know the story of a person and they know you know their story and you connect with them at least once a month. Imagine that you invite Bob over for burgers and you learn a little bit about his life: that he grew up moving a lot because he was an Army kid and that he moved to your neighborhood because of a job transfer from Texas. You know that Bob loves rodeo and misses his kids who live with their mother in Texas. What would it look like for you to connect with Bob on a regular basis? Could you invite him over every few weeks for dinner or spend some time with a common hobby like golf or bull riding?
Spiritual Conversations happen when a person you’re in relationship with becomes aware that you follow Jesus and that you would like to help them follow Jesus. Over months of spending regular time with Bob, he becomes aware of your commitment to Jesus and you’re able to help him explore following Jesus. He grew up going to church but hasn’t ever made a commitment to trust Jesus. You’re able to be a safe person when he has difficult questions about faith.
Do you want to make disciples? The first step for a lot of us is to try not to be a jerk! How are you going to create a positive awareness with the folks you have the opportunity to interact with today? Are you going to tip well? Are you going to offer a kind word? Are you going to scowl or huff and puff? Are you going to look at someone with a look of disdain?
How many names of others do you know who know that you know their names? How many of your neighbors do you know by name? How about the barista at your favorite coffee shop? Are you regularly praying for these folks?
How many relationships do you have right now? It doesn’t have to be a big number. Who are you connecting with regularly and building a relationship with where you know their story and have opportunities to share some of yours as well?
How many spiritual conversations have you had in the past month? Who is someone who has a relationship with you and how many times have you had spiritual conversations or had the opportunity to bring your own faith into a conversation in a helpful way?
We know that we’re supposed to make disciples, but I think most of us struggle to know where to start. Some of us fret over not having enough Bible knowledge or being able to answer deep, theological questions. Others get stuck because we think we need some complex, all-inclusive plan in order to help someone else move toward faith in Christ.
I’m convince we need to start our discipling efforts in a different place. Start with stop being be a jerk (at least for some of us). Start with a little kindness and grace. Begin to learn some names of folks that you encounter on a regular basis and start to take a genuine interest in them and their lives. Pray that the Holy Spirit would allow the connections to grow into relationships and that spiritual conversations would grow out of those friendships in a way that allows you to bless your friend as you help them move toward faith in Jesus.
Let’s start to rethink how we approach discipleship and, more importantly, let’s start to live with some intentionality about how we make disciples.
