Disciple

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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."

Matthew 28:18-20

Five Misconceptions of Discipleship

Discipleship takes place when people attend church programs.
In fact, much good teaching can take place during church, but it is often too general and not targeted to the special needs of a new Christian.

Discipleship just happens.
In fact, we must go counter cultural and instruct others personally and lovingly about the ways of Christ. We need to ask the hard questions and get involved into the process of why they do things.

Discipleship is only for new Christians.
In fact, discipleship is a process that should be occurring all through our lives. A disciple always follows his master's life. Once a disciple, always a disciple.

Discipleship is a program.
In fact, discipleship is a lifestyle. We are Christ's disciples and this Christian life calls us to learn and live like Him. This will require significant changes in the way we think and live.

Discipleship is only for certain parts of our lives.
In fact, Christ wants to teach us in each aspect of our lives from our parenting skills to handling finances. This differs from some cults which will actually make your decisions for you! Mentoring is a term that describes the training of a person in one or more specifc areas.

True discipleship must take all of Christ's teaching and implement them into our lives in such a way that we live like Christ did. We must not be content with only the passing on of knowledge and tradition and assume conviction and belief just come. Instead we are to live out the life before those we instruct, just as Christ did. There is a great difference between the modern student and a disciple.

Key questions to ask in discipling another person

We want to think through these stages with you so that you can take an active part in God's great discipling program throughout the world! Here are some questions to begin to get you thinking:

What areas of growth are we hoping the disciple to grow in?
Rate the person's willingness to grow in those areas of need. What has showed you his interest?
How have you grown in these areas? What has God taught you? How has He taught you?
Where is that person right now in those areas of his or her life?
By God's almighty power and grace, where should that person ideally be in those areas? Where should you be?
What steps are needed to bring that person to those goals?
Under this last crucial step, we might approach it from different perspective such as:
   - Truths a person needs to learn
   - Activities needed for fostering growth
   - Areas in which we are praying for discernment

Concepts of Discipleship

We must start at the heart. First go to the Key of Discipleship and then look at the concepts below.

Concepts for Discipleship has 3 parts:

> Defining Discipleship (Defining the concept of discipleship)
> Describing Discipleship (Spiritual disciplines and discipleship)
> Designing Discipleship (Designing discipleship curriculum)

We must fight the 'independent' attitude today in which we let everyone learn by himself. Christ said we need to make disciples. As a church we need to think through where we want our people to be in areas of giving, discipling, evangelizing, family care, loving of neighbors, etc. We can no longer assume people know the right thing to do.

For example, you as a deacon might have a great concern about taking further steps in protecting the people against the immoral teachings infecting the church. You then need to go to your leaders in prayer with a thought out plan. It is easy to tell people what not to do, but we need to go back to the questions above and focus on where we are bringing the people and how by God's grace we can do this.