ALL IN: BUILDING DISCIPLES

Discipleship is first and foremost, historically and most important biblically, person to person - face to face. There are different forms of discipleship:

  • Systematic (biblical & historical)

  • Organic (biblical & historical)

  • Distance (contemporary option)

The two most effective forms are systematic and organic. The one most familiar is organic. And one most neglected is systematic. The least effective but most common is distance.

Healthy, effective discipleship is not one or the other, it’s an and/both proposition. Let’s look at all three:

Systematic discipleship is a process of learning the basic elements of following Jesus by laying a foundation and then systematically building upon that foundation (ALL IN overview). It is quite uncommon today. It is a clearly defined process that moves through the scriptures to help you understand the principles, teachings (doctrines), and disciplines essential to following Jesus according to the scriptures:

  • How do you understand God?

  • Who do you believe Jesus is?

  • What does He say and teach about God, Himself, you and the world we exist in?

  • How do you see yourself in relationship to God, and what does that mean for you?

  • What do the scriptures teach us about how we are to grow in Christ and be a witness for Him to the world?

Organic discipleship is the most common form of discipleship today. You see this occur either one on one or in a small group.

One-on-one discipleship usually occurs when a person discovers, usually through some kind of life challenge or crises, that they need help! They have exhausted their own resources of wisdom, knowledge, efforts, etc. to solve their problem. It could be:

  • Relational issues that cause difficulty in marriage, friendships, coworkers or bosses.

  • Financial issues and money having too much control in your life.

  • An addiction or a habit that is destructive to you and those around you.

  • Emotional or psychological like depression or anxiety that keep you bound.

  • A general sense of things not working well and being frustrated and discouraged because you struggle to be the person you think God wants you to be.

These are just a few examples of the things that cause a believer to reach out to someone they perceive as being more mature in the faith for help.

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Proverbs 27:17

Small groups is another form of organic discipleship. This is less about solving a problem and more about regularly meeting with other believers, usually varying in maturity in the faith, and usually occurs through:

  • A bible study together, for example going through the book of Romans, chapter by chapter, verse by verse

  • A book study together, for example going through The Bait of Satan (by John Bevere) chapter by chapter

  • A devotion group together where you do daily bible readings and share your thoughts and application of scripture

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. Acts 2:42

Distance discipleship is the last type of discipleship to come on the scene. The advent of the internet and the world wide web have ushered is an entirely new way to grow in your faith.

Distance discipleship is not face to face, but an individual pursuit to grow in your faith. It’s a fantastic way to enhance your faith, grow your knowledge and in some aspects mature your faith. Where it’s neither systematic nor is it organic, it is:

  • To be embraced as a component to a well rounded discipleship

  • Accessible through podcasts of good bible teachers, pastors, and other mature qualified content creators.

  • Available through plentiful and excellent books on virtually every subject relating to Christian faith.

  • Enormously helpful through websites that give tremendous access to historical, cultural and biblical information previously only available to select few.

Distance discipleship is to be embraced as an element of spiritual growth, but is dangerous to be embraced as the only or primary element. It is very easy in an isolated space to drift from orthodox Christian teaching. In isolation from other believers who sharpen one another, and ensure healthy, biblically grounded attitudes and beliefs are being formed, and fringe, new aged, non-biblical heresies are being challenged and avoided. WE NEED EACH OTHER!

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25

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