MODULE 0
Discipleship : Meeting 3
Discuss the following questions from the Discipleship Training Session 2 video.
Questions
1. What stuck with you the most from the video?
2. Pastor Jake listed 5 common fears or excuses to discipleship from J. D. Greear’s book, Gaining By Losing: (1) “I don’t have what it takes.” (2) “Evangelism is just not my spiritual gift.” (3) “I witness with my life.” (4) “I don’t have time.” (5) “Talking about Jesus makes me feel weird.”
Which of these fears and excuses do you identify with the most? Can you think of any other fears or excuses that weren’t listed?
3. Jake said, “We are not the one’s teaching people. God is the one teaching people through us.” Why do you think God uses people to teach lessons to others? How do you expect this to be an important point for your discipleship meetings?
3. Time restraints can be one of the biggest hindrances to effective discipleship. How can you anticipate time conflicts getting in the way? Come up with a plan for how you’ll make up meetings if time conflicts were to come up.
5. Bill Hull said, “Discipleship isn’t a program. It’s a lifestyle.” What do you think this could mean?
6. What was something said during the panel that encouraged you, both as a disciple and discipler? Could you identify with anyone’s story of their discipleship journeys?
7. Caleb from the panel talked about overcoming the fear of needing to have everything together. How do you identify with that fear? How does it encourage you to not have to have everything together to start discipleship?
8. The panel talks a lot about the importance of being “transparent.” Being open, honest and vulnerable about what you’ve gone through is essential to the discipleship relationship—for both the disciple and the discipler. How does the thought of “being vulnerable” make you feel?
ASSIGNMENT: For next week, read the documents below. For the Discipler, read the 10 Tips to Discipling document. For the disciple, read the 10 Tips to Being Discipled document. Take notes, and come back ready to discuss.
For the Discipler: 10 Tips to Discipling
By Jake Thurston, Phil Wiseman, & Megan Koch
Discipling another Christ follower is one of the most rewarding things you could do in your spiritual journey. You get to walk alongside another person’s faith, develop a friendship, and literally watch their life transform along the way. You may even be surprised at how much you grow in the process. There’s truly nothing quite like discipleship.
That said, there are some key things to keep in mind as you’re pouring into your disciple. Below are 10 tips to discipling. Read through them, and make notes of what excites you and surprises you. Bring these notes to your next discipleship meeting.
1. Be All In. You as the discipler set the tone for the disciple. You are his or her example. Make it a priority to show up on time, be available when your disciple needs you, review the material beforehand, and even practice the assignments yourself if they’re new to you! If you’re excited about this, then so will your disciple. You will get out of it what you put into it.
2. Remember the Point. The point of discipleship is for the disciple to become like Jesus. The point isn’t to just encourage your disciple and shoot the breeze over a cup of coffee on a weekly basis. While that’s a part of it, it’s not the point of it. Whatever you and your disciple choose to do for your meetings, ensure he or she is taking strides in growing their faith in Jesus.
3. Commit the Time. The Discipleship Pathway consists of 11 modules of 4 meetings each. Each meeting could consist anywhere between 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the discussion and the disciple’s needs for the week. If you meet once a week, then you’ll finish in 10 - 11 months. However, you certainly don’t have to meet every week. Two meetings a month is the recommended minimum. The point is simply to complete each module at the disciple’s pace. Find a time, put it in your calendars, and adjust your meetings when life happens.
Now, 10 - 11 months might seem like a really long time—but the friendship with your disciple will be unlike any other you’ve had. You’ll be amazed at his or her spiritual growth over the course of the year—and even with your own spiritual growth!
4. Come Prepared. The disciple will be given an assignment to complete by the following meeting, which will include watching videos, listening to sermons, reading articles, and trying new spiritual practices. If your disciple is committing to complete the assignments, then you should commit to coming prepared for your next meeting! While you may not have to do the exercises the disciple has to do because of your own faith practices, at least become familiar with what he or she is doing. Watch the videos, read the articles, practice the exercises on your own, all while taking notes in a journal or note taking app. Your discussions will be much more fruitful when you come prepared.
5. You Won’t Know All the Answers. Your disciple will be introduced to new practices and concepts that could be confusing if he or she has never heard of them before. Chances are great that you’ll get asked a lot of questions! Don’t worry about having all the answers; just speak honestly from your own life experience. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” In the event your disciple asks a deep or heavy question you’re not sure how to answer, reach out to your pastor, or send us an email at contact@discipleshippathway.com. We’d love to help!
6. It’s All About the Outcomes. Each module has a desired outcome the disciple ought to embody. Each meeting’s discussion and assignment are meant to help them establish that outcome in their lives. However, as a discipler, you have total freedom to adjust the assignments and discussions. If there’s something you’d like the disciple to experience, use it! If you feel like you need to spend more time in a module, do it! Add questions, take out questions, suggest a video, read a book—whatever it is, just make sure it will accomplish the outcome. The Pathway is designed to be flexible for whatever your disciple needs.
7. Do Life. One of the most transformative parts of discipleship for your disciple is simply getting to spend time with you. Feel free to develop your friendship outside of the Discipleship Pathway meetings. Have him or her over for dinner, attend a sporting event, go out for ice cream, have a family play-date. Most importantly, you get to be a guide for the disciple if anything comes up in his or her life in which they need guidance. Sometimes you will need to take a meeting just for your disciple to process through a difficult or heavy scenario. That’s all a part of discipleship.
8. Practice What You Preach. What you will immediately start to realize as you work through the Pathway with your disciple is how it keeps you accountable. When you’re talking about prayer, or fasting, or confession, you’ll become much more aware of how you can be implementing these practices into your own life, as well. You get to practice what you preach!
9. Multiplication Is Essential. The point of all this is to make disciples who make disciples. From day 1, make sure the disciple knows that the goal is that they would one day do the same thing with someone else. This cannot be emphasized enough! Once your disciple is ready to make a disciple and go through the Pathway, you can work through the Make Disciples module at anytime to prepare your disciple to become a discipler!
10. Be Open & Honest. Don’t ever feel like you have to have your life together or have all the right answers to adequately disciple someone. God has always used inadequate people to win disciples to his kingdom. So don’t sweat it! Just be you! Rest in your story, and let the Holy Spirit work through you. Some of the most powerful moments for your disciple will be hearing your own shortcomings and difficulties in figuring things out.
A Final Word: “Brush the Dust Off.” Occasionally, a discipleship relationship may start out well, but over time the disciple loses interest or doesn’t take it as seriously as he or she ought. The point is this: You should only give your time to a disciple who is serious about being discipled. If he or she consistently doesn’t show up, complete assignments, or show any progress, do not feel bad about ending the discipleship relationship. This may sound a bit harsh, but it’s true. Jesus told his disciples that if they encountered someone who wasn’t willing to hear their message, they should “brush the dust off their feet” and move on to someone who’s more eager to be discipled. However, you should only do this if all other attempts to encouraging the disciple to be responsible with their assignments and meetings hasn’t produced any fruit. If you should ever encounter this issue, reach out to your pastor, or send us an email at contact@discipleshippathway.com. We’d love to help!
Lastly, keep us in the loop! We want to help you and hear how your discipleship is going. Email us at contact@discipleshippathway.com if you have any questions or comments.
For the Disciple: 10 Tips to Being Discipled
By Jake Thurston, Phil Wiseman, & Megan Koch
Being discipled by another Christ follower is one of the greatest things you’ll ever do in your faith journey. It’s extremely rewarding, but also challenging. Your discipler will push you in your spiritual growth and teach you things you never would’ve considered on your own. You’re going to be amazed at what God does in you through this discipleship journey!
That said, there are some key things to keep in mind as you’re being discipled. Below are the top 10 tips to being discipled. Read through them, and make notes of what excites you, surprises you, and whatever questions you still have. Bring these notes to your next discipleship meeting ready to discuss.
1. Be All In. You will get out of your discipleship what you put into it. Your discipler is putting a lot of time into this, and they are doing it for you. So you should give the same amount, if not more energy into making this relationship work. Show up on time. Be available. Do your assignments. Commit, commit, commit—chase this thing, and you won’t be disappointed. It’s going to change your life.
2. Remember the Point. The point of discipleship is to become like Jesus. The point isn’t to just be encouraged and develop a friendship over a cup of coffee on a weekly basis. It’s to become more like Jesus, so that you can help others become more like Jesus. That’s what matters most!
3. Commit the Time. The Discipleship Pathway consists of 11 modules with 4 meetings per module. Each meeting could consist anywhere between 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the discussion and your needs. If you meet once a week, then months. However, you certainly don’t have to meet every week. Two meetings a month is the recommended minimum. The point is simply to complete each module at your pace. Find a time, put it in your calendars, and adjust your meetings when life happens.
Now, 10 months might seem like a really long time. However, the friendship with your discipler will be unlike any other you’ve had, and you’ll be amazed at your spiritual growth over the course of the year.
4. Do Your Homework. After each meeting, you’ll be given an assignment for the week. These assignments will include watching videos, listening to sermons, reading an article, or introduce you to a new spiritual practice. It’s crucial you commit to doing each assignment every week, as you will be discussing it with your discipler during your next meeting.
5. Keep a Journal. You’ll be asked to reflect on many things through your discipleship journey. Keeping a journal of your thoughts will help you be prepared for meaningful discussions with your discipler. Get a journal, notepad, or even a note taking app, and bring it to each meeting!
6. Ask Questions. As you go through the Discipleship Pathway, you may be exposed to a weird practice or a confusing concept. In fact, as you grow through this journey, you may find you’ll have more questions than answers. That’s okay! That’s what your discipler is here for. Keep a list of your questions in your journal whenever you think of them.
7. Go Deeper As You Need. Although each module includes 4 meetings (1 meeting per week for 1 module per month), feel free to go deeper on a subject you struggle with or are passionate about. Each module includes recommended books, blogs, and sermons for you and your discipler to go deeper into any subject.
8. Be Open & Honest. You can’t be discipled unless you’re honest about what you’re going through. While some modules will have you do new practices and teach you new lessons, others will ask you to get vulnerable about where you’re at, what you’re struggling with, and even some painful moments of your past. Although it might seem scary at first, you’ll come to find that much of your spiritual growth results from opening up about your struggles. In fact, feel free to take a whole meeting to talk through a tough situation you’re going through at anytime. It’s all a part of it.
9. It’s Not Just About You. On one hand, discipleship is about digging deep in your spiritual growth. For the next several months, your discipler will be praying for you, and pouring into you so you may grow in your faith. But remember: it’s not just about you. On the other hand, discipleship is about reaching out to others whom you will disciple, just as you’ll be discipled. Start praying today about who God may ask you to disciple when the time comes.
10. Make Disciples. That said, you can make a disciple and invite them to go through the discipleship pathway at any time. The only condition is you’re at least 1 or 2 modules ahead of them. Once you’re ready to reach out and make a disciple, let your discipler know. You can work through the Make Disciples module at anytime to prepare you as a discipler!
Lastly, keep us in the loop! We want to help you and hear how your discipleship is going. Email us at contact@discipleshippathway.com if you have any questions or comments.