Discipleship

Good Morning,

Discipleship - the word is not in the Bible.   



As a verb, the word disciple is never used in the Bible. It is a noun that refers to a person who is a disciplined follower. 



Today, many churches use the word discipleship as a verb—something one does or an activity in which someone is involved: often used in place of the words training or instruction. The word discipleship is often used to describe a program in which one enrolls in to become a "disciple." 



Any leader wants new converts to learn, but historically (and biblically), this term was not used among great church builders. The idea of DISCIPLESHIP is a more recent addition to church programs. 

A good family moved into our area, and within a few weeks, the father was out soul winning with me. He said that in his last church, they attended a multi-week class on how to witness to various cults or religions. When the class ended, no one went out witnessing; they had received their information, but putting the instruction into practice was not part of the program. Then, he said, “Here, you don't do any instruction—you just take us out to talk with people.”



He was new and did not understand that the "do" came before the "know." 



John 7:17 “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine…"



Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Following is the first step. Sitting in a classroom like a college student is not wrong, but it is not a biblical method. 



We must be careful to not judge our ministry's success solely by the amount of time we spend in a restaurant or classroom teaching the Bible one-on-one. Thank God it happens, and it is wonderful when a young Christian begins to learn, but maybe we should put extra effort into following the Bible's method. 



Titus 1:3 “But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching…”



God manifests His Word through preaching. Get your converts to church and under the preaching of God's Word, and God will open His Word to them. I believe that both new and seasoned Christians will learn more from sitting under strong preaching than they ever will in one-on-one "discipleship classes."  



The Bible method is to go soul winning, get new converts to church, and take new converts out soul winning.  

 Pastor