We are all called to equip and disciple others
In the book of Matthew chapter 28:verses 18-20 it says,
He didn’t tell his disciple just to evangelise, create converts and then leave the new believers to sort themselves out and grow all by themselves. He delegated His authority to them to go and make disciples. Your role in making disciples is more than just bringing people to new spiritual birth. It means you have others following you and mentoring the new disciples on a continuing basis.
The original word that Jesus used here means to have someone following you as a disciple, or someone who is like an apprentice, hearing and following the discipler’s teaching and training. Notice also that Jesus was commanding something practical—the new disciples had to take heed to and obey everything that He had commanded them. And Jesus assured them of His continuing presence with them as they did that.
The disciples of Jesus took Him at His word.
On that great Day of Pentecost, 3000 people turned to the Lord Jesus Christ. So all the disciples of Jesus taught these new believers what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus, too. And then they saw to it that it was worked out in their daily lives, as the rest of Acts 2 shows.
The book of Acts chapter 2: verse42 says,
There were so many people who had believed on Jesus Christ on the Day of Pentecost that all of the 120 disciples who had gathered in the upper room had to become spiritual parents. The new believers needed to be cared for, whether Jesus’ disciples were ready or not! There is little doubt that they did not feel ready to be spiritual parents. So they had to learn on the job. And learn they did, as the rest of the book of Acts records.
You may not feel ready, either. But, just as God was with them and people were being added to the Lord daily, you can be assured that He is with you as you care for new disciples. You will find that God will give you an increase in parental capacity. The more you care for them and nurture them, the more He is adding strength and wisdom to you. Trust Him to give you everything you need to be good spiritual parents. He won’t let you down!
Equipping the Saints
In the book of Ephesians chapter 4, Paul makes it clear that the believers are the ones who do the ministry, not the apostles, the prophets, or the others in leadership. They are the equippers, or trainers. That is what we are doing for you, particularly in Module 4, called “Discipling Others” of the Growing Deep and Strong® series, equipping you so that you can mentor others.
In the book of Ephesians chapter 4 verses, 11-16 Paul says
Organic Church Growth
Paul makes it clear here that the church grows through ordinary believers who bring people to new birth and then disciple them in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is how they can empower them to become functioning members of the body of Christ, but they need to be committed to mentoring, training and discipling them.
Paul clearly states that every member of the body of Christ needs to do their share to build it up, and then it will naturally grow up to maturity. Equipping God’s people means to set things in their lives in order, to mend what has been broken, to see that they are qualified and fitted for the call that God has on their lives.
Traditional church thinking has been that it is the role of the minister and a select few, when in fact, it is the task of every believer as he or she takes on the privilege and responsibility of discipling others. With this in mind, we wrote Growing Deep and Strong® as an intentional Christian discipleship and small group leadership program to help you quickly transform the life of a new Christian.
You can now start your own New Christian Training Centre discipling new Christians with our inexpensive and easy to use, new Christian Discipleship and Small Group Leadership programs. (Click Here to Review our Curriculum) It has been designed to help you take a brand new follower of Jesus Christ to a Small Group Leader discipling others in 12 months or less.
This article is an extract from Growing Deep and Strong®, Coach’s Advanced course manual , called “Discipling Others,” and was written by Carl John Fechner.
Are you ready to take the next step and create your own new Christian Training Centre?
Its never been easier with our simple to use, inexpensive new Christian Discipleship and Small Group Leadership programs.
Carl is a follower of Jesus Christ; Founder and Author of the Christian Discipleship and Leadership program called the Growing Deep and Strong® Series. He is also the Founder and Director of Find Your Destiny™.
His mandate is to be a catalyst and facilitator in developing people who will become leaders and disciplers of others and to create an environment that creates leaders that transform nations.