BASICS OF DISCIPLING
Discipleship is trying to grow in Christ by obeying his commands. It takes: 1. Knowing why we should obey them; 2. knowing what they are; 3. Being willing to obey them; and 4. once willing, finding the strength.
Knowing why is the easiest, since Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Since he said the greatest commandments were first, to love God with all our hearts, souls, strength and minds, and second, to love our neighbor as ourselves, we know that our first task is to love God. And loving him means that we will try to keep his commandments.
To know what the commandments mean, we must know the scriptures. We must also understand them as best we can, sorting through all the disagreements.
Being willing is an enormous step, needing constant renewal.
Being able takes more strength than we have. It also takes knowing where to find strength, and using the help God has provided.
God has given us what we need. Those who can explain why we should obey him. The Bible to tell us his commandments. And the Bible, prayer and the church to help us find the willingness and strength to obey. It is up to the disciple to use them. It is up to the discipler to point the way.
The things needed for discipleship are like the hand sketched below. (From “Basics of Being a Christian.”)
The hand and wrist are “Obedience to Christ” and the fingers and thumb are the enablers of obedience. Two fingers for Bible – “alone” and “together.” Two fingers for prayer – “alone” and “together.” And the thumb as the church. For teaching and instruction, primarily Bible and church. And for willingness and strength to obey, all three.
After 3 decades of one-to-one evangelism, and both one-to-one and group discipling, here is how I have used these for making and growing disciples.
Prayer “alone” should be a discipline. However much one prays during the day, there should also be prayer at the same time every day. As a rule, that will be the most productive of our prayers.
Prayer “together,” usually in small prayer groups, is experienced in powerful and different ways. I have seen many times more healings from group prayer than from individual prayer. Jesus said “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them” and “If two or more of you shall agree on earth as touching anything, it shall be done for you.”
Why should we be surprised at the power and nurture of praying together? I myself was surprised by finding my first prayer group (though in prison – see http://www.outoftheironfurnace.blogspot.com/, Ch. 16) to be the most up-building, nourishing Christian experience I ever had.
The difficulty in praying together is about praying out loud. Most people would rather not. They feel they cannot pray flowery, fluent prayers like they hear in church. But the cure is quick and easy. Just start off telling them everyone is going to pray in turn, but only one sentence, even if all they say is “thank you God for a beautiful day.” Soon they will be doing it, and will even save their most earnest prayer request for that time. (The reason for praying aloud is simple: it is so the others pray for the same thing at the same time as the one praying.) Everyone needs a regular prayer group.
Bible “alone” is simply disciplined reading of the Bible. (Also, memorizing special parts of it.)
In the strongest church I ever knew, the pastor had almost the whole church reading the Bible all the way through once a year, every year. I have seen bigger churches, but never stronger.
In most Bibles, that takes only 3 pages a day, or about 15 minutes a day. You are “inputting” the Bible into your mind. Soon parts begin to pop out just when you need them. After several complete readings, you begin to know it so well that you can usually say accurately when something is not in the Bible. (My mother read hers through over 100 times. I stopped counting after my 41st time.) Repeated Bible reading is not a substitute for studying it; but done this way, it is powerful for growth.
And why should that be surprising? The Bible, even alone, can convert, disciple and correct, as “powerful as a two-edged sword.”
Bible “together” means studying with a teacher. Not as theology, or Bible origins, etc., but for what it says and what that means. (As a pastor, I tried to always stay in Bible classes taught by others.)
For those, like myself, who started out with disdain for the “institutional church,” repentance is needed. The church brought Christianity down to us. The church preserved the Bible for us. Christ died for the church – “loved the church and gave himself for her.” Who are we, then, to disparage the church? The keys of the gates of heaven are given to the church, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Who are we, then, to underestimate her?
We see her with all her warts. But she is so strong that nothing and no one has ever been able to wipe her out. The church is the bride of Christ, his gift to us, our major source of strength. The Bible commands us “not to neglect the gathering of ourselves together.” Just as a flaming stick taken out of a campfire will lose its fire long before the campfire dies, but catch fire again when put back into the campfire, so we too need the flame of the church. We are not meant to function alone, but together in the church. We are to build it up and help it evangelize and disciple.
Someone led us to the Lord. Someone discipled us. It is our turn to do the same.
(Next time – Abnormal Discipling)
Knowing why is the easiest, since Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Since he said the greatest commandments were first, to love God with all our hearts, souls, strength and minds, and second, to love our neighbor as ourselves, we know that our first task is to love God. And loving him means that we will try to keep his commandments.
To know what the commandments mean, we must know the scriptures. We must also understand them as best we can, sorting through all the disagreements.
Being willing is an enormous step, needing constant renewal.
Being able takes more strength than we have. It also takes knowing where to find strength, and using the help God has provided.
God has given us what we need. Those who can explain why we should obey him. The Bible to tell us his commandments. And the Bible, prayer and the church to help us find the willingness and strength to obey. It is up to the disciple to use them. It is up to the discipler to point the way.
The things needed for discipleship are like the hand sketched below. (From “Basics of Being a Christian.”)
The hand and wrist are “Obedience to Christ” and the fingers and thumb are the enablers of obedience. Two fingers for Bible – “alone” and “together.” Two fingers for prayer – “alone” and “together.” And the thumb as the church. For teaching and instruction, primarily Bible and church. And for willingness and strength to obey, all three.
After 3 decades of one-to-one evangelism, and both one-to-one and group discipling, here is how I have used these for making and growing disciples.
Prayer “alone” should be a discipline. However much one prays during the day, there should also be prayer at the same time every day. As a rule, that will be the most productive of our prayers.
Prayer “together,” usually in small prayer groups, is experienced in powerful and different ways. I have seen many times more healings from group prayer than from individual prayer. Jesus said “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them” and “If two or more of you shall agree on earth as touching anything, it shall be done for you.”
Why should we be surprised at the power and nurture of praying together? I myself was surprised by finding my first prayer group (though in prison – see http://www.outoftheironfurnace.blogspot.com/, Ch. 16) to be the most up-building, nourishing Christian experience I ever had.
The difficulty in praying together is about praying out loud. Most people would rather not. They feel they cannot pray flowery, fluent prayers like they hear in church. But the cure is quick and easy. Just start off telling them everyone is going to pray in turn, but only one sentence, even if all they say is “thank you God for a beautiful day.” Soon they will be doing it, and will even save their most earnest prayer request for that time. (The reason for praying aloud is simple: it is so the others pray for the same thing at the same time as the one praying.) Everyone needs a regular prayer group.
Bible “alone” is simply disciplined reading of the Bible. (Also, memorizing special parts of it.)
In the strongest church I ever knew, the pastor had almost the whole church reading the Bible all the way through once a year, every year. I have seen bigger churches, but never stronger.
In most Bibles, that takes only 3 pages a day, or about 15 minutes a day. You are “inputting” the Bible into your mind. Soon parts begin to pop out just when you need them. After several complete readings, you begin to know it so well that you can usually say accurately when something is not in the Bible. (My mother read hers through over 100 times. I stopped counting after my 41st time.) Repeated Bible reading is not a substitute for studying it; but done this way, it is powerful for growth.
And why should that be surprising? The Bible, even alone, can convert, disciple and correct, as “powerful as a two-edged sword.”
Bible “together” means studying with a teacher. Not as theology, or Bible origins, etc., but for what it says and what that means. (As a pastor, I tried to always stay in Bible classes taught by others.)
For those, like myself, who started out with disdain for the “institutional church,” repentance is needed. The church brought Christianity down to us. The church preserved the Bible for us. Christ died for the church – “loved the church and gave himself for her.” Who are we, then, to disparage the church? The keys of the gates of heaven are given to the church, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Who are we, then, to underestimate her?
We see her with all her warts. But she is so strong that nothing and no one has ever been able to wipe her out. The church is the bride of Christ, his gift to us, our major source of strength. The Bible commands us “not to neglect the gathering of ourselves together.” Just as a flaming stick taken out of a campfire will lose its fire long before the campfire dies, but catch fire again when put back into the campfire, so we too need the flame of the church. We are not meant to function alone, but together in the church. We are to build it up and help it evangelize and disciple.
Someone led us to the Lord. Someone discipled us. It is our turn to do the same.
(Next time – Abnormal Discipling)
posted by Old Neocon at 11:34 PM
2 Comments:
Is it a coincidence that your hand-model resembles the Vulcan salute?
Yes, it is a coincidence. And also that it resembles - or so I have been told - the Jewish blessing. Sorry your other comment did not show. Can you post it again? I liked it, and thought it was very useful guidance, especially for new Christians whose families were not Christian. Blessings, Gerry
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