Too Important to Miss - Discipleship

QUESTION:
Okay, I understand discipleship is important. But what does it actually look like?

ANSWER:
1. Join a church.

2. Arrive early at church gatherings and stay late.

3. Practice hospitality with members of your church.

4. Ask God for strategic friendships.

5. If possible, include a line-item in your family or pastoral budget for weekly time with fellow Christians. Discuss this matter with your spouse. If possible, provide such a budget line for your spouse as well.

6. Schedule regular breakfasts, lunches, or some other culturally-acceptable social engagement with teachable individuals (of the same sex). Depending on the person, you may decide to meet once, indefinitely, or for a set number of times (say, five). If you and the individual share a pastime, look for ways to share that pastime together.

7. Ask them about themselves. Ask them about their parents, spouse, children, testimony, job, walk with Christ, and so on. In asking questions, however, do so in a manner that’s appropriate for your cultural context (don’t scare them!).

8. Share about yourself.

9. Look for ways to have spiritual conversations. Maybe decide to read the Bible or some other Christian literature together.

10. Consider their physical or material needs. Would they benefit from your help?

11. Pray with them.

12. Depending on your home situation, invite the person to drop by your house or spend time with your family. Let them watch you live life.

~from @9Marks

I shared this on Facebook a couple days ago, but I thought I'd write something about it too, since I feel it is too important to miss.  If there's one thing that everyone in the church can do and is called to do, it is discipleship.  Jesus tells us that we are to "go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19) but many of us are not doing that, or are not doing it well.  I think the above points are an excellent starting point.

We may feel that we are not equipped, or don't know enough or something like that, but look again at the points above - do you see anywhere in there that says you need to have a degree in Biblical studies?  Anything that says you need to be super spiritual or really smart?  I'll save you the time to look - there isn't anything about that.

Discipling is not necessarily about teaching others about the Bible, it is about living life together in a direction towards God.  That means this is not just for mature Christians mentoring immature ones, it is for every Christian.  As we say to each other - "let us pursue Christ together", we will lead each other closer to our Lord and Saviour.

While most discipling is physically done outside the church, all effective discipling is done in the context of the local church.  As a family of believers, we are walking this road together in unity and with accountability.  Discipleship outside the context of the local church can be a case of the blind leading the blind, with both of them falling into a pit, but when it is done within the context of the church (that is, regular attendance, fellowship with the entire church family, being discipled yourself and membership) while holding to the standard of scripture and Jesus as our guide, we find the path leads not to a pit, but to Christ.

I want to encourage you to think about this, pray about it and act upon it.  Who can you walk with and who can walk with you as all of us at ALAC seek to Grow in Christ and Love our Neighbours.