Discipling Methods The Challenges We Face Making disciples as Jesus commanded can seem like a daunting task. We may not feel qualified to disciple because we don t have any teaching experience or public speaking skills and we think we need these in order to make disciples. We are not sure we can deal with the uncertainty of discipling others. What questions will they ask? Will I be able to answer their questions? We lack self confidence or have fear of speaking in front of others. We are concerned what others will think about us. Making disciples is a great spiritual challenge for all of us. But you will be amazed what the Holy Spirit can do through your life if you will submit to Him and let Him disciple others through you. The original disciples were common men, many of them fishermen. They had no formal education and were not trained teachers. Yet because of the Holy Spirit they were able to go and make disciples as Jesus commanded. Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Lesson Truth Making disciples is simply teaching others how to live the truths that you are living. It is teaching them to obey everything I have commanded. 1 Series: Making Disciples Lesson: Discipling Methods Version 1.0
Lesson Goal The goal of this lesson is for you to develop you own personal approach to making disciples that works for you by using the One Step series and your own unique talents and experiences. Lesson Discussion Being able to disciple others is simply a process of learning how to share what you are already living. There are many ways to do this and you will develop your own approach over time. There are tremendous blessings in store for you as you step out in obedience to the call of Jesus to make disciples. Your own personal transformation will be accelerated when you disciple others and your own faith will be strengthened. The important thing to remember in making disciples is to keep it simple and let the Holy Spirit have complete freedom to operate how He chooses. We have to be careful not to get so focused on methods and principles that we lose sight of what disciple-making is all about. Every interaction with those we are discipling has one and only one goal to help them establish and maintain their own personal relationship with the Master so they too can go and make disciples. Methods and approaches don t transform people, the Holy Spirit does. Learning to rely completely on the Holy Spirit as you explore and implement a disciple-making approach is critical. You will learn more about how to depend on the Holy Spirit in the next lesson, Holy Spirit Reliance. In this lesson we are going to look at several guidelines, principles, and methods that can help get you started with your disciple-making sessions. Remember to be flexible and openminded, and not become married to any one approach in making disciples. 2
Keep It Simple The first important principle for making disciples is to keep it simple. You can do this by staying focused like a laser beam on what you are trying to accomplish in each disciple session. There are so many approaches to teaching and so many ways to teach, that it is easy to let methods become the focus of your teaching. Avoid this like the plague. The sole focus in making disciples is spiritual transformation of those you are discipling. You should already have a good understanding of what spiritual transformation looks like because of the spiritual transformation that has taken place in your own life. As you disciple others you are simply helping them develop a life-changing relationship with the Master. Your approach must keep this goal at the forefront at all times. Whether you are going through the One Step lessons, mentoring, coaching, or counseling, the focus must always be on the person s relationship with the Master and helping him overcome his problems through that relationship. As you integrate your own personal approach to making disciples with the One Step lessons and learn to rely on the Holy Spirit, people will begin to be transformed into the image of Jesus. Those you are discipling must learn to know Jesus personally for themselves through prayer, reading the Bible, and living the fundamental truths Jesus taught. They must learn to make Jesus both Savior and Lord in their own lives. Helping people to transform spiritually means you must teach them how to trust in and be obedient to everything Jesus commanded. You help them establish and maintain their relationship with the Holy Spirit by learning how to walk in the Spirit. 3
You must keep your disciple sessions focused on the primary goal. Add to your discipling approach only those things that help facilitate a day-to-day relationship with Jesus and following Him. The focal point and outcome of every session is for those you are discipling to learn to experience more of Jesus in their daily life through moment-by-moment trust and obedience. Real Life Examples One of the best ways people can understand concepts and truths is by relating these to everyday things. Jesus talked about things that were common in His day. The teachings of Jesus included a man sowing seed, flowers in the field, weeds, bread, yeast, wine, soldiers, landowners, and many other items familiar to His audience. He would relate these simple concepts to a particular truth He was teaching. You can find similar examples in your life today. Many of the examples Jesus used are still well understood today. Relating truth to something people understand will help them grasp important truths. As you read the One Step lessons and the Bible, and as you come to understand an important truth, try to think of illustrations from everyday life that create a picture of what that truth looks like and how it works out. Write down your ideas in your Disciple s Field Manual. Everyday Examples Hear are some examples of illustrations from everyday life: (1) Yeast and its importance in making bread is something most people are familiar with. If you do not put yeast in the dough, it will not rise and cannot become a loaf of bread. 4
The Holy Spirit is the facilitating agent in our lives that transforms us as we submit to Him. In like manner, the yeast is the facilitating agent in the dough that transforms the dough as it submits to the action of the yeast. (2) Our loyalty and relationship to Jesus can be compared to marriage. Every man and woman expects their spouse to forsake all others after they are married. How many people would be okay with the fact that their spouse says, Well I love you and want to be your spouse, but I also love this other person and want to be their spouse too? No one wants to live in such a relationship, and neither does God. We have been bought with a price and we belong to God now. Our loyalty, devotion, and commitment must be to Jesus above all others. Yet we try to split our loyalty with Jesus and the things of this world. How happy do you think God is with that? How happy would you be if your spouse had other spouses and split his or her loyalty, devotion, and commitment between them? (3) One way to understand trust in God is to look at the life of a child. Adults have a hard time trusting anything. But a little child s chief characteristic is trust. Take a two-year-old, for example. How much worry and doubt does she have about who is paying the rent, where the next meal is coming from, what kind of clothes she needs, or who is going to take care of her today? A child s life is simple and carefree. Their whole existence revolves around discovering and learning, not worrying and stressing. They are content because they have no concern or concept of tomorrow or what may or may not happen. Somewhere along the way we lose that child-like trust, and until we come back to that same type of trust in God, we will have to live with worry, fear, doubt, and stress the rest of our lives. 5
That is not how God intends His disciples to live. Anytime you have worry, fear, doubt, or stress, you have a trust problem with God. Over time you will run across good illustrations from the Bible, other books, or other disciples. Don t forget to record them in the Disciples Field Manual for future reference to use when discipling others. Teaching One Step There are different approaches for using the One Step study in a small group or in one-on-one sessions. The approach that will work best is the one that you are comfortable with and that works well for those you are discipling. The goal of discipling others is for them to know the truth, to believe it, and to begin living it daily. If they are not willing to live the truths they know or are not willing to make time for discipling, they cannot follow Jesus and their spiritual transformation will be slowed or even stop. One approach to using the One Step study is to take turns reading a paragraph or two and then pause to see if you or anyone else has a particular thought or question about the paragraphs you just read. Some of those you disciple may not be comfortable speaking in public, whether it be reading One Step, praying, or even participating in the discussion. This is not unusual, but over time these folks can be encouraged to participate. You should also encourage those you disciple to read ahead and go through the lessons at their own speed outside the disciple sessions. But often you will find that most of the reading will happen in the session. The goal is for them to hear the truth and then be challenged to live it. You should try to move through the One Step lessons at a regular pace. You might want to aim for finishing a lesson every four weeks. Then you will know how much you need to 6
cover in each session. However, be sure your students know that they cannot consider the lesson completed until they have completed the action step. You might read the entire planned section of a lesson first, then go back and discuss and address important points. That will ensure you don t get bogged down and end up spending many months on one lesson. It is important to stay focused on the lesson goal. Always relate the discussion back to that goal. This is a good way to keep from getting off track. Another approach is to assign reading before the session. Then discuss the lesson during the session. However, if those you are discipling are not doing their homework, you may have to use a different approach. Get Them Thinking As you are discipling others, don t feel like you must always have the answer when you are asked a question. If you don t know the answer, tell them you will research the issue and get back with them. You should also encourage them to do their own research and suggest some ways they might do that. When you don t know the answer, it is okay. None of us knows the answers to every question. Be sure to defer to other senior disciples when you need answers to questions. Your students need to think for themselves and wrestle with the truths they are learning. Teach them how to get at the truth for themselves. They don t need more spoon-feeding of the truth. One of the biggest problems in the church today is that most believers do not take the time to get at truth for themselves. We want instant truth and we want to understand it without having to study it for ourselves. The Bereans in the New Testament searched out what they were taught to make sure those things were so. 7
Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. We have the Holy Spirit who guides and leads us into all truth. But the Holy Spirit is not going to just satisfy our curiosity. The outcome of truth must be obedience. If we are not living the truths we already know, we will find the Holy Spirit strangely silent. People tend to go to others first to try and get answers rather than getting at truth for themselves. They have never been taught how to receive guidance and instruction from the Holy Spirit. Help them learn how to embrace truth for themselves. If those you disciple have been born again, they have the same Holy Spirit you have. They must learn to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit before they will receive more revelation knowledge about anything. Revelation knowledge is when something becomes clear to you. You suddenly get it. It simply means something that was hidden from you is now clear. Constantly encourage your students to read the Gospels every day and to have their daily devotion time with the Lord. You might encourage them to share what God is teaching them through the Gospels. Sometimes I will present something I have read recently that is discipleship focused, and share my thoughts and insights about the teaching. I read Oswald Chamber s writings regularly and sometimes share insights I receive from those readings. 8
Spending sufficient time in personal prayer before you start the session is important. Having a time of prayer with those you disciple is also important. Pray for each other and the needs of others. Remember to keep your approach as simple as possible and rely on the Holy Spirit and prayer in preparation for every session. Discipline yourself to spend at least thirty minutes in prayer with the Holy Spirit before each session. Try to stay within your allotted time for each session, but be careful not to box the Holy Spirit in by developing a rigid time schedule within the session. Discipling Takes Plenty of Time Everyone is at a different place spiritually. Rather than slow down the group for one person, you should work with them one-on-one to help them move forward. They must commit to removing spiritual barriers and unbelief before they can progress in the disciple life. Those you disciple will not make progress if they do not live the truths they have learned. They must begin to wrestle with and clearly understand the truths they say they believe. If the only time they are involved with discipleship is through the person discipling them, they will have difficulty living the One Step truths. Some of those you disciple may get stuck and not be able to move on. You will need to rely heavily on the Holy Spirit to help in these situations. The Holy Spirit always knows why. They may have unbelief in some area of their life and this must be dealt with before they will be able to go on. Be sure to spend time in prayer individually for and with those you disciple. If they are stuck spiritually and you cannot seem to help them move on, contact a senior disciple for assistance. Even after all is said and done, some of those you are discipling may resist moving forward and you will just have to trust the whole situation to the Holy Spirit. 9
Making disciples takes time, often a lot of time. But remember, each disciple is responsible for his own forward movement. The disciple maker cannot do it for them. The disciple maker s sole responsibility in making disciples is to live the truth and show others how to live those same truths. Let them be entirely responsible for their own spiritual transformation. If a person has difficulty getting to God in some aspect of their life, it may be because they don t really intend to. How Many Disciples How many individuals should you attempt to disciple at one time? There is no easy answer for this. If you are just starting out, you may want to disciple one person you know and are comfortable with. A lot will depend on the time you are willing to commit. I have taught One Step in groups as large as ten. I prefer small groups of five or less. The key is that you must be able to spend time with each person individually, so as to coach and mentor them through their individual struggles and unbelief. Each person will progress through the One Step truths at their own pace and it can become a challenge in a small group to know where each person is in their disciple walk. By spending time separately with them you can get a better idea where they are at spiritually. You might consider having lunch with them or inviting them to dinner. These can be opportune times to find out how they are doing and where they are struggling. One thing you need to be careful of is discipling someone of the opposite sex. In a small group setting, this is okay. But individual discipling should only be done with the same sex to avoid serious potential problems. 10
Guiding the Session When you are teaching a One Step session, keep the focus of the session on the truth that is being taught. As people ask questions and discuss the points in the lesson, always bring it back to the lesson truth. The purpose of One Step is to make disciples. The goal is personal spiritual transformation. If you are frequently off track with the lesson truth, it can hinder the transformation process. It is good to spend a few minutes letting people share about things that have happened to them during the week. But most of the time should be allotted to learning how to follow Jesus. Don t let the disciple sessions become primarily social time. In a small group session you may often find side discussions going on or the session may get off track. Gently, but firmly, bring the focus back by restating the purpose of the session and the need to keep the discussion related to the truth at hand. If a question comes up that cannot be appropriately handled in the session, commit to meet with the person(s) afterwards to pursue the discussion. Then restate the purpose of the session and continue with the session. As you near the end of the session, reinforce the need for them to read a chapter a day in the Gospels, to spend daily time in prayer, and to continue reviewing the lesson truth they are learning to live. One Step for Living This Truth The foundation of the One Step series you have been reading is to be able to live God s truth, one truth at a time, one step at a time. Next we will suggest the specific action step you can take 11
to allow the truth taught in this lesson to be lived in your own personal life. You only have to do this one step to master this lesson. Your focus and effort should be to make sure you consistently and persistently do the one step as directed. The goal is to make sure you are living this truth before you go on to the next truth. The goal for this lesson is to develop a teaching method that works for you. The bottom line is that you are teaching others what you already know and are living. Develop your own approach that helps you to accomplish that. ACTION STEP You must continue to spend at least thirty minutes a day in prayer and in the Word of God. You will not go very far in making disciples without a strong, active prayer life and lots of time in the Word. Spend time each week examining your own approach to discipling and developing an approach that works well with your own strengths. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance as you develop your approach to making disciples. Continue this step until you have a good basic approach to discipling others. You can also ask other disciple makers for ideas and what has worked well for them. Have another disciple maker attend your sessions on occasion to help you improve your method and approach. Often they can see things you will not notice and this can improve your sessions. 12
You will have completed this lesson when you have taught at least five sessions with your teaching approach and you have had at least one disciple maker sit in on a lesson and give you feedback on your approach. You do not have to wait to complete this lesson to go on to last lesson in the Making Disciples series. But you must continue with the action step in this lesson until you have completed it. Continue to read a chapter in the Gospels each day and encourage those you disciple to do likewise. 13