In today’s Christian culture, discipleship is a popular word. It sounds hip or modern in our discussions of ecclesiological views and practices. Yet in observing this, I see that the use of modern discipleship is often shallow and simply refers to getting to know one another in church as you would a fellow member in a gym class . This is a great precursor to discipleship, but it is not discipleship in and of itself.
True discipleship is an intentional, multiplying relationship between two believers for the purpose of teaching, training, and caring for the younger believer in her relationship with Christ and in their daily life.
Discipleship is a precious and beautiful concept of unity, love, and growth within the Body of Christ. However, the truth is that it often remains a concept and never a reality. Fear, perfectionism, and lack of biblical understanding paralyze us from partaking in the rewards of these relationships. Sometimes, we don’t know where to begin. Maybe we don’t see our need for discipleship or we’ve been hurt by those who have discipled us in the past. Maybe you are ready to disciple another woman but feel lost as to whom. Lack of education and biblical knowledge might also cause pause and disinterest. All of these sound like great excuses. But they are just that…excuses. The Bible is direct and specific in its teaching that discipleship must be a part of our church.
“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” -Titus 2:3-5 (NIV)
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” -Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” -Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
Everything we see in these verses form the basis and reason for discipleship. God is calling us to be ready to equip and train other believers to observe His commandments by forming an intentional, generational, and multiplying ministry that, as the author of Hebrews explains, must be done in urgency knowing that Christ is coming soon.
At this point, you might be thinking, “Sarah, how in the world do we start a generational and multiplying ministry when the only difference in generations in our small church is 20 years between the members on one side and my husband and I on the other?”
Or maybe it’s more like, “Everyone in this church is related but us! How do we even begin to be a part of the lives of those who live in their own family bubble?”
The small-town church truly does hold difficulties in regards to discipleship. There is not a copious amount of ready and willing believers, many small towns and rural areas have no cute coffee shops to meet at (as we see on the idyllic covers of those discipleship manuals), and pastors’ wives already do everything anyway. How do we fit in discipleship in the middle of church cleaning, Sunday School, and impromptu babysitting for church meetings? I wondered many of these things myself when we moved to our little cornfield and soybean town. Yet, God does not give commands in Scripture without giving a way for us to obey. To say that we can’t disciple is to say God can’t give opportunity or that the Holy Spirit is not active in our little churches. It is not our job to limit God.
After two years, of fledgling Bible studies and off and on personal discipleship in our church, I was slightly discouraged. Any discipleship opportunities I had tried to begin, would quickly pitter out because of unforeseen circumstances. Yet, slowly we began to see God work in the hearts of our church ladies. Through those Bible studies and simply making myself available, it became the norm to talk to one another honestly (see article on transparency here). They began to carry that into their other relationships in the church, and eventually I saw that only two of these now 12 ladies in our group were in a discipleship relationship with me, yet there were actually several discipling relationships within the group. It was a God-glorifying work of the Holy Spirit in these ladies’ lives.
This was a beautiful, grassroots ministry that had, and still has, its ups and downs. Yet, it didn’t just appear out of nowhere. There was intentionality to follow God’s commands of discipleship, and it started through personal preparedness and obedient actions…
Next: Personal Preparedness
Thanks for the reminder that you have to be willing to invest your life into many ladies. Some will drop out but it is so much fun to watch the others growing in their relationship with God and then reaching out to new or other believers. God doesn’t ask us to produce the harvest but to plant the seeds and water them.