Biblical Discipleship
…We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. –Col 1:9-12
Although the Bible gives us no clear definition of discipleship, the above verses give us an idea of what it should produce: (1) ever-increasing knowledge of God and His will, (2) a life pleasing to God, (3) works that bear fruit, and (4) endurable strength and patient joy. Some churches’ discipleship programs do a decent job in one or maybe two of these areas. In my observation, very few do well in all these areas.
In my previous article, I wrote about some of the reasons that our discipleship efforts fail. If you look again at the reasons I listed, you’ll notice that all of them rely on some type of classroom setting. Why? Because most of our discipleship efforts depend on a teacher-audience environment. Our default mentality is that discipleship—when it occurs at all—happens in a classroom. It may be a comfortable classroom—like a small group meeting in someone’s home—but the context is still a class.
Is the classroom context biblical? No doubt, we can attend classes as part of discipleship. But discipleship is so much more than just a class we attend. Discipleship happens in various settings, with different emphases, and diverse teacher-disciple structures. But since the classroom environment is the one we’re most familiar with, let’s start with it.
Jesus used a classroom-type environment for discipleship on several occasions. He would instruct His disciples in private or otherwise teach small gatherings. This provided an opportunity to interact with a small group on an intimate level. It wasn’t always a rigid lecture, but usually allowed the disciples to ask questions and have discussions. He often used these small-group opportunities to provide deeper explanations about more general teachings He had earlier provided to larger groups.
But the small-group, classroom-type gathering was only one avenue Jesus used for discipleship. We hear a lot about mentorship because it’s a business practice that we try to import into the church, but in some sense it does have a biblical basis. Jesus used smaller teams for even deeper discipleship. For instance, He would take Peter, James, and John aside for special revelations. When He sent out the twelve apostles and when He sent out the larger group of 72 disciples, He sent them in pairs of two. Smaller teams of two to four people allow for deeper relationship-building and closer instruction.
One other thing we notice about the way Jesus discipled: it was as much about doing as it was about learning. He instructed the disciples in large group and small group settings. He modeled behavior for them that He wanted them to follow. He had them assist Him while He oversaw them. Then He sent them out on their own. We learn by listening to instruction, watching others in action, apprenticing under them, then going out on our own. Listen, watch, help, then do. Only some of this can actually be accomplished in a classroom. The rest involves hitting the pavement, initially under a teacher’s guidance and then in small groups or two- to four-person teams.
Is this the kind of discipleship we see in the modern church? Are you being biblically apprenticed? Does someone help you literally put into practice what you learn in a classroom? Do you go out and live the Gospel with other Christians who are being discipled along with you? As a disciple, are you preparing to make other disciples in turn? If discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you, can you say you’re making significant progress?
These are great questions to ponder as we consider the general methods Jesus used for discipleship. Next in this series, we’ll dig a little deeper and look at specific examples of biblical discipleship in action.