Discipling

Introduction

For decades now, seminaries have been teaching prospective pastors to think of the local church as a consumer service provider. Church conferences, books, articles, and denominational strategists were all well ahead of seminaries on this front… and most American Evangelicals now simply assume it’s true.

Most church members and pastors act and speak as though the local church is a product to be marketed or a service to be provided… Make the customer happy, and your church will grow!

You want your church to grow, don’t you? Well, then apply these strategies:

Do a demographic study of the population nearby.

What kind of person lives within driving distance of your church?

What hobbies to they have?

What are they interested in learning about?

What are their specific felt needs?

Once you have this information, design your ministry programs accordingly!

Are there a lot of men nearby who like to fish and hunt? Then start an outdoorsy men’s ministry.

Are there a lot of stay-at-home moms with young children? Then start a mothers’ day out program.

Are there a lot of young adult singles nearby? Then start a singles ministry with lots of fun activities and events.

Now, I’m not saying that this kind of targeted ministry approach is entirely wrong… but I do wonder if it doesn’t inevitably teach people the wrong thing about the church… about Christianity… and about the gospel.

I think targeted ministry programs, segregated by age and personal interest, will unavoidably teach people to think of church as a consumer service.

But church isn’t about you having fun or meeting your felt needs… It isn’t a consumer-based business, competing with others for your time and money.

If you’re a senior citizen or an empty-nester or a young married or a single adult or a teenager, then church is about you rubbing shoulders with other people who DO NOT share your personal interests and life-stage!

Church is about you gathering with a group of Christians, many of which are completely unlike you, so that the gospel of Christ might be our common bond… and so that the gospel of Christ might be shown to be THE greatest message and power in the world… What else could unite a hodgepodge group of folks who don’t have anything else in common except love for Jesus and love for one another?!

Friends, for more than 6 years now, I’ve avoided promoting any ministry program… not because I don’t want church members to be active, but because I want us all to be actively spending time and effort on discipling… which can take shape in any number of ways in our lives.

If you’re a member of this church – especially if you’ve been a Christian for more than 5 years – then it’s very likely that you sometimes wonder “What can I do?” or “Where can I get involved?”

It is very likely that you’re thinking like a consumer… “What church program can I jump into?” or “What group best fits my demographic?”

But I want to blow up that kind of thinking this morning… and I want to help you think about the church like most all of your Christian ancestors did.

Before there were church-growth strategists and before there were well-oiled ministry programs, local church members had been making disciples for centuries… Sinners were converted, Christians matured, existing churches grew, and new ones were planted.

And all of this happened by God’s power, of course… and through everyday Christians discipling one another.

Let’s look together at Colossians 3… and let’s consider what the Bible says about Christian discipleship and discipling.

Scripture reading

Colossians 3:1–17 (ESV)

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Message

1. Discipling is Part of Discipleship

A. Remember the Great Commission

a. Jesus came to His disciples and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them… [and] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” (Matt. 28:18–20).

i To be a disciple is to be commissioned as a disciple maker!

b. In his book, Dever says, “The Christian life is the discipled life and the discipling life... Christianity is not for loaners or individualists. It is for a people traveling together down the narrow path that leads to life. You must follow and you must lead. You must be loved, and you must love. And we love others best by helping them follow Jesus down the pathway of life.”[1]

B. Discipling is Fundamental to Discipleship

a. The point I’m trying to unpack and hammer home today: “Discipling is me helping others follow Jesus, and it’s fundamental my own discipleship.”

i Dever wrote, “discipling is basic to Christianity... We might not be his disciples if we are not laboring to make disciples.”[2]

b. Conversion (“getting saved”) is the entry point into a life of discipleship (following Jesus), and part of what it means to follow Jesus is to embrace the responsibility Jesus gave to His people to make disciples (be discipling).

i We must stop pretending that there is a two-tiered Christianity, where some Christians are worldly and self-centered while others are striving for holiness and showing genuine love and care for fellow Christians.

2. What is Discipleship & Discipling?

I want to point out 3 distinctions of discipleship from our passage:

(1) Taking on a distinct perspective, and helping others do the same.

(2) Putting on a distinct identity, and helping others do the same.

(3) Focusing on a distinct knowledge and practice, and helping others do the same.

A. Taking on A Distinct Perspective, And Helping Others Do the Same

a. This world now is less attractive… because the final day is in sight.

i “If then you [pl] have been raised with Christ… you have died [with Him, and to the world], and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (v1-3).

ii “On account of these [that which is ‘earthly’ and sinful] the wrath of God is coming” (v6).

b. The world yet to come grows more brilliant in view.

i “When Christ…appears… you [pl] will appear with him in glory” (v4).

c. Peace and gratitude are our present possession, despite the troubles and difficulties of this world.

i “Let the peace of Christ rule in yourhearts, to which indeed you [pl] were called in one body. And be thankful” (v15).

d. Brothers and sisters, we need help to take on this new perspective!

i We need others to remind us about the coming wrath of God, so that we will love sin a little less today.

ii We need others to tell us about their growing hope in the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that our own hope will not die today.

iii We need others to help us count our blessings, so that we will not be overwhelmed by our trials today.

e. The Christian perspective is not natural to us. We need help from others to take on this distinct perspective, and we must help one another.

B. Putting on A Distinct Identity, And Helping Others Do the Same

a. The Christian is spiritually alive.

i Notice the play on “life” and “death” in this passage.

α. One is either alive to the world and dead to God, or alive in Christ and dead to this world.

ii The Christian “has been raised with Christ” (v1).

b. The Christian is no longer identified with sin but with God.

i “In these [the ‘earthly’ and sinful] you… once walked” (v7). But now “you have put off the old self… and have put on the new self, which is being renewed… after the image of its creator” (v9-10).

c. The Christian is identified specifically with Christ.

i “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (v11).

d. The Christian is identified with Christ… AS PART OF CHRIST’S BODY.

i “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (v11).

ii All of the imperatives in this passage are based on a collective union with Christ.

α. “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices…” (v9).

β. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility…” (v12).

γ. “Let the peace of Christ rule in yourhearts, to which you were called in one body…” (v15)

δ. “Let the word of Christ dwell in yourichly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” (v16).

e. Brothers and sisters, we need help putting on this new identity!

i We need others to remind us that we are no longer identified with sin, so that we will not despair because of the sin that still remains.

ii We need others to call us “brother” or “sister” in Christ (people who know the significance of such words and people don’t use them lightly), so that we will be encouraged and edified as part of God’s family.

C. Focusing on A Distinct Knowledge And Practice, And Helping Others Do the Same

a. The Christian pursues heavenly doctrine.

i “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is” (v1)… “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (v2).

b. The Christian pursues a life of growing holiness.

i I say “growing holiness” not as a constant upward trajectory, but as a constant pursuit of growth with regard to holiness.

α. I’m not asking if you’re better this year than you were last year… I’m asking if you’re still pursuing genuine holiness in your life.

β. We aren’t going to achieve perfection… we may not even see a tremendous amount of growth in our lives… but we must always be pursuing growth.

ii Notice how heavenly doctrine and growing holiness are connected.

α. “Set your minds on things that are above” (v2)… “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness” (v5).

β. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (v16)… “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (v17).

c. Yet again, brothers and sisters, we need help focusing ourselves on this distinctly Christian knowledge and practice.

i We need others to ask us Bible questions to which we don’t yet know the answer, so that we will be prodded to study and to learn.

ii We need others to help us find answers to questions, so that we don’t end up too far off outside of historic orthodoxy.

iii We need others to show us the connections between our doctrine and our practice, so that we won’t just be spinning our wheels in the area of behavior modification.

iv We need others to urge us on toward holiness, so that we don’t become lazy in our habits and give greater opportunity to sin in our lives.

Discipleship is us following Jesus… with a new perspective, a new identity, and a new focus on what to believe and how to live… and we all need help.

3. Four Practical Considerations

A. Discipling is Fundamentally Others-Oriented

a. I’m talking about an entire paradigm shift for some of us… Biblical Christianity (i.e. discipleship) is incompatible with consumerism.

i Dever wrote, “If you have never seen pigs come to a trough for mealtime, you can probably imagine it. Pushing. Shoving. Snoring. Swallowing as much as they can with no thought for others.

Here’s a funny question worth thinking about for a moment: Is that how you attended church last Sunday?

No, I’m not calling you a pig. But stop and consider: Where did you park? What time did you get to church? Where did you sit? Who did you speak to? Each one of these decisions provided you with an opportunity to give yourself to others and so join in the work of Christ. Or they provided you with an opportunity to look out for yourself, and to do what is best for you.

So, which is it? Did you consciously strategize how to bless others with each one of those decisions?”[3]

b. May God help us all to focus less on what we like or want… and focus more on what might be a help or benefit to someone else.

B. Discipling and Evangelism Overlap

a. There’s a sense in which “evangelism” falls under the category heading of “discipling,” since “discipling” is me helping other people follow Jesus… and “evangelism” is the very beginning of that effort.

b. However, your “discipling” efforts with a Christian are going to look and feel a bit different than your “discipling” efforts with a non-Christian.

i With the Christians in your life, you should extend trust on credit, you can expect mutual spiritual benefits (both giving and receiving), and you should expect mutual accountability (both praising godliness and challenging error).

ii With the non-Christians in your life, you should expect sinners to sin (both around you and against you), you should expect to give yourself away without any return on your investment, and you should expect that your pursuit of godliness and your resistance against sin will seem odd and even sometimes offensive.

iii Try to know which one you’re dealing with and adjust your discipling expectations accordingly.

C. Pray for Love

a. One of the biggest reasons we don’t make discipling efforts is because we don’t actually love others as much as we should.

i If I loved my wife as I should, I’d selflessly give myself away to cherishing her and leading her well… as Christ has exemplified with His Bride – the Church (Eph. 5:25-33). But I’m a selfish and sinful man, and I don’t always cherish her as I should, nor do I always lead her as I should.

b. Friends, if you’re struggling to find time or motivation to invest yourself in the lives of others, then pray that God will help you love them more.

D. Pray for Humility

a. Genuine Christianity, which includes discipling efforts, is a life lived in the open… and that is going to require humility.

i If you’re always wanting people to think you’re better than you really are, then your discipling efforts will self-destruct.

b. If we want to teach others, we must show them how to learn by modeling it… Don’t cover up your ignorance; admit it and be willing to learn.

c. If we want to see spiritual growth in our lives and in the lives of others, then we will have to confess sin and areas of weakness… The good news is that modeling confession of sin is a win for everyone.

4. Eleven Practical Means of Discipling

A. Be present on the Lord’s Day

a. So much of what Christians believe and how Christians live is centered around what happens in the main gathering on the Lord’s Day (Sunday).

i Do you want to disciple your kids to value prayer, Scripture, and Christian fellowship? Do you want your non-Christian neighbors to know you highly value such things? Then show them you do by prioritizing the Sunday gathering!

b. To a slightly lesser degree, our monthly Sunday evening gatherings should also rank high on your priority list.

i On those Sunday evenings we spend more intimate time as a church family singing together and praying together.

ii We also sit under a special time of preaching, where less experienced preachers are encouraged to grow, where occasional topics of importance are addressed, and where we all are deeply reminded of the power and centrality of God’s word.

c. As a congregational church, we also put a lot of weight on our members’ meetings.

i 4-6 times a year, we make big decisions about church membership, leadership, doctrine, and practice.

B. Eat Meals Together

a. Invite a co-worker to lunch and make an intentional effort to ask about how he/she is doing spiritually.

b. Invite a neighbor over for dinner and ask if there is anything you can be praying for him/her about over the next week or so.

c. Invite a fellow church member over for a meal and ask him/her to tell you the story about how he/she came to Christ… how he/she came to be part of FBC Diana… how he/she has been doing in the Lord over the last month.

C. Do Chores Together

a. Invite a fellow church member to help you with a home renovation project.

b. Invite a church member to come along with you when you’re running errands or driving a long distance in a short time.

c. Invite a fellow member to take your kids off your hands for a while, and then offer to take their kids for bit on some other day.

D. Schedule Meetings/Calls

a. Discipling efforts can be spontaneous, and you can also plan times of discipling on the calendar.

b. Schedule to meet or call a fellow church member on the same day each week or month. Make time for catching up with each other generally and also for asking probing questions with regard to spiritual matters.

c. If you are going to schedule a time to meet or call, here are several discipling methods you can use during those times.

E. Read the Bible Together

a. Plan to read the Bible straight through with someone… talking about what you read as you go.

b. Read a book of the Bible with someone who is also interested in studying the book a bit more deeply… Read a portion each on your own, and then prepare some thoughts and questions to discuss when you meet together.

c. You can also add the reading of some other book to help you both understand the book of the Bible better.

F. Read a Book Together

a. What subject interests you right now?

i Doctrine: Baptism, ecclesiology, justification, predestination, heaven?

ii Christian living: Parenting, spiritual disciplines, Christian engagement in the workplace, a biblical perspective of retirement?

iii Church history: Luther and the Reformation, Augustine and the fall of the Roman Empire, the revivals of the 18th century and the revivalism of the 19th century?

b. Ask a fellow church member about their subject of interest and pick a book to read through together about it. Agree to meet or call one another to discuss it and to stay on track.

G. Study a Catechism Together

a. Are you a newer Christian? Or, are you an older Christian who never learned basic Christian doctrine?

i Ask a fellow church member to meet with you and go through the New City catechism from the church bulletin each week of this year.

b. Are you a parent or grandparent?

i Ask me about the kids’ books of the New City catechism.

H. Pray Together

a. When you meet with someone regularly for the purpose of discipling one another, don’t forget to pray!

b. Pray that you both won’t lie as much, or that you both won’t lash out in anger so often, or that you’ll both keep striving to love your respective spouses well.

c. Pray that God will bless each of your respective families, that God will provide for each of your needs, and that God will help you both remain faithful.

d. Pray out loud… and pray in front of each other.

I. Share Your Budget, Your Calendar, and Your Goals

a. If you are a mature believer, then it will show in the way you spend your money, your time, and yourself… For the love of others, don’t keep such things to yourself! Share what you’re doing! Teach someone else how!

b. If you are struggling in the area of money or time management, then you are not likely to get any better at these if you keep it a secret… For your own good, don’t keep such things to yourself! Share what you’re doing! Learn from someone else!

J. Praise Holiness & Obedience

a. When you see other Christians doing well, praise them for it!

b. Tell them you thank God for the way they show kindness… for the way they give themselves away to others… for the way they teach… for the way they encourage… for the way they lovingly confront error… for the way they humbly serve the Lord.

c. Tell them how you’ve been inspired or challenged or instructed by the way they live or talk or act.

d. When you see other Christians growing, praise them for their efforts.

K. Confront Sin & Challenge Error

a. When you see other Christians foolishly toying with sin or naively believing something that’s not true, confront sin and challenge error.

b. Ask direct questions, and lovingly probe to the bottom.

c. Seek instruction and correction from the Bible, and make it a point to leave opinion or preference or personal experience out of the conversation.

Friends, discipling is me helping others follow Jesus, and it’s fundamental my own discipleship… So, let’s all be disciples who both give and receive discipling efforts among this church family.

Let me leave you with this practical challenge: Who and What?

Who do you have or who will you invite into this kind of relationship?

And what specifically will you do together for mutual spiritual benefit?

Bibliography

Dever, M. (2016, May 30). Retrieved from The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/4-ways-to-make-disciples/

Dever, M. (2016). Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Endnotes

[1] Dever. Discipling. Introduction. [2] Dever. Discipling. Introduction. [3] Dever. Discipling. 27.