Casual Discipleship
There
are so many discipleship programs available today. And most of them contain
very valuable material, but is the concept of a discipleship program for all
Christians Biblical?
In
Deuteronomy 6 we read:
“These
commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on
your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the
road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands
and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses
and on your gates.”
In Old Testament times Israel’s
children were to be taught the laws of God ‘casually’. Not in formal classes or
lessons, but as they sat at home with their parents, when they went to bed,
when they rose again in the morning. They could always overhear their parents’
conversations, and learn as they lived their everyday lives. These laws were
always ‘visible’ -- tied on the forehead, written on the door frames and gates.
Wherever the children went, whatever they did, there were opportunities to
learn and talk about God and his laws.
If they were helping dad look after
the sheep, they might have the opportunity to talk about how God is a Shepherd
over all of Israel. When they helped mum cook the bread, they could talk about Elijah
and the Widow’s bowl of flour which was never used up. As opportunities came
along, the parents were supposed to use that opportunity to teach their
children about God and his ways.
In the same way, in New Testament
times -- Jesus used the same technique to train his disciples. As far as we
know he didn’t run a twenty-six week Wednesday evening study group. He
basically lived his life with them and in front of them for a few years and
used every opportunity available to teach them more.
New Christians are Spiritual
children. The best way for them to learn about God is to ‘hang out’ with older
mature Christians who are always talking about God’s character and his works,
and how they relate to us in our walk with each other and with him. While the new
Christian helps you shop for the food for dinner, you could talk about
Spiritual fruit. If they are around for afternoon coffee and share something
about a good looking student at their school, there is an opportunity to talk
about God’s principles for relationships. And not just an
opportunity, but one which is immediately relevant to them because of their
current life situation. No need to wait for week seven of the ‘Studies
for Christian Disciples’ before you can talk about it.
The best learning is learning which
is relevant to the students’ needs. Sometimes these needs are obvious, but
usually you have to really get to know a person before their needs become
apparent. Growing a deep relationship in 1-2 hours, one night a week, with
fleeting greetings on Sundays is extremely difficult. But growing a deep
relationship with someone you hang out with all the time is almost unavoidable.
Learning about fasting because it is
now week 13 of ‘The Study’ could well be a waste of time. But learning about
fasting because they have just read Matthew 6 and the Spirit is prompting their
hearts could lead to deep life changes.
By all means we (mature Christians)
should have a plan of what we want to impart to our disciples, but the issue is
really when and how we impart it. When is simply as the need related
opportunity arises. How is by developing a deep relationship as a foundation
for effective teaching. Of course a lot of what we want to teach will be simply
caught by them as they live with us. (We probably won’t have to teach them much
about how to pray because they will pray with us so often). But of course this
also means we have to know our stuff. We might not get three weeks notice for a study on Spiritual Warfare. It might
rise out of a sudden crisis in the life of a disciple. We might need to say,
“Come around again tomorrow night and we’ll study it together”, but we need to
know at least the basics now, and we certainly can’t ask for two weeks to
prepare, by then the warfare might be over, and the disciple may have already
fallen.
Like Jesus — having disciples will cost you a lot more than just
an hour a week on Wednesday night. At times it may well be inconvenient, but
the next generation of the church needs our attention now more than ever. The
world is becoming an increasingly busy place, and this style of discipleship
might not suit your lifestyle. You might not have time to spend together with
them ‘doing nothing’, and just building relationships. But what is more
important? Your lifestyle or the next generation of Christian
leaders?
Having weekly studies may well be
part of discipleship, but if you are a mature Christian, then sharing your life
with your disciples will transform your discipleship (and their spiritual
growth) to a whole new level.
Share
your life with your disciples. Share your music, your books, your secrets, your self. Build a deep
relationship with them and teach them at every opportunity in a relevant and
empowering way.