Dear Friends: This week, we are taking time for a brief review of the first part of our study before beginning to look at the second part. The first part of the study was previewed this spring with two small groups. The second part is new. It is about what kind of person we must be to be a disciple, the importance of a small group that is a part of the family of God and reflects the character of the Kingdom of God, and how we can lead others in a life changing discipling relationship. Blessings to all!

Before we move forward, we need to stop and take a brief look backward. This summer, I had an opportunity to walk the Camino De Santiago in Spain. Every morning, my colleague and I got up with a goal in mind. We even had a map and some instructions. Yet, every day we needed to review where we were and how far we had come. At least a few times we had managed to stray from the path and needed to remind ourselves of the way to our destination. This is just such a pause.

Sometimes it helps to know both where you are headed and where you have come from to make real progress. T4T uses a wonderful graphic called, “The Four Fields Graphic” to outline the entire T4T idea. [1]

There are for fields shown, and we have now covered two of them in some detail: Who is Your Mission Field? and What Do You Share? The second part of this study concentrates on the last two questions, “How do you Disciple” and bringing new disciples into an existing church (Group) and developing them as disciples in community. Finally, we need to both be leaders (disciple who can train disciples) and be aware of developing the leadership ability of those around us (How).

Our Mission Field (Who)

Each disciple of Jesus is called to disciple people somewhere, and that somewhere is wherever we are! However, it is not enough to know our geographic location. We have to know whom it is we know and are called to disciple. Some people have used a Greek term, “Oikos” (which means household”) to describe the social sources of people we might disciple. Others call it our “social network.” In any case, all of us live within a network of human relationships in which we meet people who are open to God. Here is one way to graphically represent this aspect of discipleship:

We all have connections to a lot of people, some more important and
more fruitful than others. Therefore, within our social networks, we are especially looking for People of Peace. People of Peace are those people we think are open to the Gospel for one reason or another. One thing we need to remember: We may not know if a person is a Person of Peace. The Apostle Paul was a Person of Peace, but he was also a persecutor of the church. When I was reached by a lady at a law firm in Houston, I was not looking for God, and did not display many of the obvious characteristics of a Person of Peace. Therefore, we share wisely and loving with those we can leaving it up to God who responds.

The Gospel We Share

Once we have an awareness of whom we should share the Gospel with, we need to have in our minds two very important things:

1. A simple statement of the Gospel; and
2. Our own personal Statement of Faith (our Testimony).

We also need to know as many Bible stories as we can remember, just in case we are able to share a story in the course of a conversation. We also need to be mindful of times in ordinary conversations when people we know may be signaling openness to the Gospel. This is the “What.” The “What” is an understanding of the Gospel, a personal Testimony, and a little understanding of the Bible and the story of God’s Love it tells.

Many people do not think that they are competent to share the Gospel, but they are. We have learned and shared on particular way of sharing the Gospel that is used all over the world. It is embodied in a very simple graphic.

This graphic illustrates in a very easy way the human condition, the bridge that God has provided in Christ so that we may return to close intimate fellowship with God, and the goal of our faith, which is to be untied with God in Christ. We are all separated to one degree or another from God, from our true self, and from others. God, in his wisdom and love, filled with mercy and a desire to repair our relationship provided such a way in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Jesus we see the wisdom and love of God in human form and by faith we can be filled with the Spirit of Love and Wisdom in a life changing relationship with God through Christ.

How To Disciple People

What happens once we share the Gospel with another person and they are brought near to God in Christ? Bibllical discipleshipmaking is concerned with making Great Commission disciples not just getting people to verbally accept Christ. Remember: Jesus said go make disciples (i.e. active followers of Christ, not just believers or admirers of Jesus). This means our job is not done when we have given your testimony, explained a bit about the Christian faith, and helped another person to receive Christ. In fact, in some ways, it has just begun!

When I (Chris) was a new Christian, I belonged to a small group of Christians about my age that met on Friday evenings. We had the very creative name, “The Friday Night Bible Study.” We met about 7:00 on Friday nights. It began with a time of singing and worship. Then we prayed and shared a bit. After a few minutes we broke up into small groups and discussed a Bible lesson. After a bit longer, we came together for prayer requests and a brief closing song. It was in that little group that I first learned what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus. A part of the importance of the group was the Bible study. Yet, a bigger part of the experience was watching more experienced Christians and learning something of how they lived.

If new Christians are to grow, they need a church—a worship congregation—to attend worship with weekly. However, more importantly they need a small group of people to share their Christian life with and with whom to grow in Christ. Therefore, the very first and most important things to do once a person has come to faith in Christ is to bring them into the church and connect them with a small group of disciples with whom they can share the Christian walk.

Expanding the Kingdom of God

The founding pastor of our congregation constantly remarked that the Christian faith was always only one generation from extinction. This was a reminder to our congregation that we cannot just sit on our laurels. The kingdom of God is something that should be constantly expanding. If this is to happen, Christians cannot just sit and be satisfied with our own salvation. We must be constantly expanding the Kingdom of God by bringing others into God’s kingdom of love. This means that we must continue to train others to share the gospel just as we have been trained to share the gospel.

For this to happen, we must be on the lookout for disciplers—people who are able to share their faith with others and who can form and lead discipling groups. American churches, and especially mainline churches have been slow to understand the necessity for going into the world, sharing the Good News, bringing others to faith, and then discipling them to Christian maturity. This means that we must have a way of continually sending those we have empowered into the world as Christ commanded. This requires leadership.

We live in challenging times for Christians. Our culture is not helpful in empowering us to share the Gospel in Word and Deed. Nevertheless, we are called to be faithful in our time. It may not be easy, but it is the most life transforming, life enhancing thing we experience possible–not just for ourselves but for other people as well. God bless you this coming week!!!

 Copyright 2015, Chris and Kathy Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] This graphic is from www.CoopersOnAMission.com (downloaded April 8, 2015).