Discipleship is one of those $20 words. That means you don’t have to be theologically wealthy to understand it, but if you’re ignorant of its meaning it’s just big enough to make you look foolish.
The charge to disciple others sits there in Jesus’ Great Commission as big as a 12-inch cup on a temporary green. But if two of us sitting down to lunch both said we were active in making disciples, we wouldn’t agree on how to get it done and what the finished product looks like. We don’t know if it’s a reading program, a church-going program, a service program, all of those together, or something else entirely. Some churches offer discipleship classes, while some ministries promote discipleship resources.
Confused? That’s OK. So were the very smart people at Lifeway Research. Which led them to getting busy in figuring out if there really is a better mousetrap when it comes to discipleship.
Before we dig into all that, though, we want to be sure you know exactly where we’re headed, because we think that a sneak peek will be a very important factor in keeping you reading. Here it is: Disciples are what Jesus wants us all to be. Even more so, he wants us to be disciple-makers. And according to Lifeway’s findings, Links Fellowships play a vital part in the activity of making disciples.
What is a disciple?
Although we can’t all land on the same idea about how to make a disciple, there is widespread agreement that a disciple (mathētēs in the Greek) is a learner. In the time of Christ, men would place themselves under the tutelage of a rabbi, or a teacher of the Torah (what we know as the Old Testament). These rabbis would help their disciples make sense of God’s words in Scripture and to make application of these words in their lives.
Jesus was a rabbi, too, but his disciples were not the usual suspects. Rather than academically minded men or those whose families were most respected in the community, Jesus called disciples from the lower ranks. Among those whose professions we know, he chose fishermen and a tax collector. To these he said, “Follow me.” And they did. They were not always quick studies, but they were loyal, and little by little they came to understand who Jesus was: the Son of God. Eventually, one of the fishermen, Peter, said to Jesus, “Lord, where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” On another occasion he proclaimed Jesus’ authority when he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter and the others still had big mistakes to make, but they slowly came around.
You want them to move from earnest inquirers to faith-filled believers to diligent students and eager evangelists, then finally to becoming those who lead and disciple others.The concept of time is important to discipleship. “Little by little” and “slowly” are not indicative of an ill-chosen pace. Rather, they suggest that we will be learning all our lives if we submit ourselves to the lordship of Christ. If God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts, it makes sense that we are in for a lifetime of learning. Disciples grow till they go!
Now here’s an important question: What do disciples of Jesus learn? By his Word, they learn who he is and what he would have them do. By his Spirit, they are guided in applying his instructions in each moment. By God’s gifted leaders and their friends in the faith, they are exhorted to keep up the good work, not growing weary in well-doing.
If we do these things, we will mature in the faith and come to look more and more like Christ himself. We will bear the traits of elders and be of increasing value to the body of Christ. This is where Lifeway’s research comes in. As they interviewed leaders in ministry as well as hundreds of followers of Jesus, they came to recognize eight traits that kept showing up in these mature believers: Bible engagement, obeying God and denying self, serving God and others, sharing Christ, exercising faith, seeking God, building relationships, and unashamed transparency. You can have two responses to someone who shows such maturity. You can be scared to death of such a person, threatened by the holiness that exposes your own need to keep growing up in the faith. Or you can welcome such a person, knowing their wisdom forged in experience will become a remarkable asset in your own development. If you are a leader of a Links Fellowship or similar small group, you will recognize the value in having people like this in your Fellowship. They are champions in mutual ministry.
The value of small groups
Let’s make an assumption now: As you lead a Fellowship, one of your principal goals is to see the men or women in your group mature in their relationship with Christ. You want them to move from earnest inquirers to faith-filled believers to diligent students and eager evangelists, then finally to becoming those who lead and disciple others. There will be some comingling of the stages in this progression, but as disciples keep growing, we will see more and more of the eight common traits displayed in their lives.
So the question becomes whether there are certain practices that can promote (maybe even accelerate) the growth of a believer. And again Lifeway helps us out, because their research found that three factors play a prominent role in the development of mature disciples.
The first of these is Bible reading. Intent studying is good, but the research revealed that a practice of plain reading, particularly when done every day, contributes greatly to a disciple’s development.
The second contributing factor is regular attendance at worship services of a local church. During this time, attendees engage in corporate worship and prayer, as well as receiving teaching from Scripture and gaining opportunity for introductory fellowship. How often does this need to occur? The more the better! A real jump forward occurs when a person attends worship services four or five times per month.
And third leading factor in forming mature disciples is especially important for our conversation as those leading and participating in Links Fellowships. It is regular attendance in a small group setting, again with a big advantage going to those who participate in such a group four or five times per month. In fact, small group junkies can often find several groups per week to attend. What they gain in these groups is an opportunity to ask questions about the application of Scripture passages and the chance to hear closely from those who have “gone before” or are “going through” sticky matters of life. They learn of service opportunities and sometimes participate in these together with others in the small group. And they pray for one another when they are together and when they are apart, checking in on the answers and continuing as the needs continue. There may be no better place to practice faithfulness in all the senses of that word than in small groups.
We think this is thrilling news, because it means our Fellowships and their leaders have a key role to play in the discipleship of men and women around the game. The S in our LINKS acrostic is “Share Christ through the great game of golf,” and it is directly linked to Jesus’ Great Commission that we go and make disciples. If you’re engaged in a Links Fellowship, you have every chance to respond to that commission!
Recommended reading
If you are interested in reading further about small groups and disciples, we recommend these two resources:
Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow, by Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation
No Silver Bullets, by Daniel Im