Dear friends
Our mission is to mobilise and motivate believers to be effective disciple-makers. The very best way to do that is to disciple others in such a way that they would be able to do exactly the same with people who cross their path in life. This is what Jesus did, this is what He taught his disciples. The early church was built on this personal and face to face discipling process. Taking a few people by the hand and leading them step by step to follow the path that Jesus still shows us today as risen Lord, is what discipling is all about.
This should still be the primary strategy! During COVID we had to adapt and much of our discipling was done on-line in various formats. There was also a real desire amongst pastors and other ministers to attend training workshops and much of our effort was directed towards more formal training – with great results in many cases.
An interesting pattern began to emerge. Believers not in formal ministry seem to find it much easier to actually put what they learn into practice and share it with family members, their friends or even a small ministry group that could be part of their regular church activities. They became not only disciples following Jesus, but disciple-makers, discipling others by reading with them step by step through the gospel of Matthew in exactly the same way it was demonstrated to them.
Pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and others in formal ministry used the material as a preaching resource and as basis for their own workshops with people in their circle of influence. This is excellent of course as the seed is sown widely and in an efficient manner. What they found to be difficult was to actually practice what they preach and guide a small group of people through the whole book of Matthew even though it would take at least a year or longer.
My own experience was that the learning process as a disciple does not stop when I discover new information about the Bible that I can share in a sermon or training event. The real discipling happens when we as a disciple group read the Scripture together, follow the Lord Jesus together and minister to each other together. It is possible to teach ABOUT discipling without being a disciple-maker.
We as pastors, teachers, missionaries, evangelists so easily fall into the trap of our own expectations about our role in ministry as well as that of others, that we often miss out on the joy and discovery of putting into practise what we expect from others.
Follow Jesus, not only by teaching as He did, but by putting it in practice the way He did.
May you have much joy in being a member of a disciple group following Jesus.
Your brother,
Piet