The Church’s Great Omission: The Pattern of Discipleship, Part 2 (Philippians Sermon 17)

Introduction: The Quiet Beginnings of the Mighty Church

We are focusing today on Philippians 3:17 and we’re looking at a pattern of discipleship for the second week, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Philippians 3:17, partner verse is Philippians 4:9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.” If you were to trace the mighty Mississippi River back to its origin, you would find it begins as a trickle flowing out of Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota. From there, the river grows and flows 2,348 miles until it dumps into the Gulf of Mexico below New Orleans.

Millions, and millions, and millions of gallons of water. The Mississippi River drains 33 states, its watershed covers one half our nation. Fosters cities, commerce, transports people and goods, provides habitat for fish and all kinds of animals, and it’s an immense thing created by God. And it all starts with a tiny little trickle up there at Lake Itasca. I’ve never seen that trickle, I’d like to go and visit it someday. But if in like manner, you were to trace the human origins, human origins now, of the mighty river which is the Church of Jesus Christ. It began one afternoon around the time of the Ministry of John the Baptist, this mighty thing called the Church of Jesus Christ, which has already spread to almost every tribe, and language, and people, and nation, began in an afternoon.

It was an exciting time at that point. The Ministry of John the Baptist was really taking off and there were Jews coming from all over the nation, coming there to hear this wild man preach, to look at him and to be baptized. What a strange thing that John would be baptizing Jews. That was an initiation rite for us dirty pagans. As gentiles, if we wanted to become Jews, we would be washed and cleansed of all our pagan idolatries. But John was baptizing Jews, and so there were huge throngs coming to hear, and preach, and to see the baptism of repentance for sins. One day at a small place called Bethany beyond the Jordan, a day like any other during that time in Israel’s history, an obscure man stood in front of John, and if you had been near John and knew him well enough, you would have noticed an incredible change in his demeanor.

John looked perhaps stunned or overwhelmed, amazed as this unknown man stood in front of him. And perhaps only a few people around John heard the change in his tone of voice, a sense of wonder and awe, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” And the response by this obscure stranger would have been incomprehensible, “Let it be so now… we must fulfill all righteousness.” That would have gone over your head. You would have said, “What are they talking about?” And then like everybody else, the obscure stranger submitted to baptism. And the next day the Church began. Jesus was just walking along and John saw Him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” That’s all. And two of John’s disciples, his daily followers that John was teaching at that point, heard him say it, and they followed Jesus.

Jesus turned around and saw them following and asked them a question. Jesus is always asking questions, one thing you learn about Jesus, He’s always asking questions, and here He asked them a question, “What do you want?” And they said, “Rabbi,” which means teacher, “Where are you staying?” “Come,” He replied, “and you will see.” And so those two disciples went and they saw where He was staying, and they spent that day with Him. It was about the 10th hour, now the Jewish clock begins at six in the morning so that would be about four in the afternoon by my understanding. About four in afternoon, they went and spent some time with Jesus. That’s how it started.

This is the quiet beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church that would spread from shore to shore began with what the British would call “an afternoon tea.” A little time with Jesus spent wherever it was he was staying. And now it’s spread from shore to shore, to almost every tribe, and language, and people, and nation. And it began with a simple concept, discipleship focused on time spent with Jesus. And Jesus in the end would call to himself 12 who he named apostles, and he would pour himself into those men, especially three in particular, and he would build a church on that. And He would command them to follow his same pattern of discipleship to the ends of the Earth.

Now, I believe that the apostle Paul was following that pattern. I believe he was calling others to, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” Kind of do ministry the way Jesus did. “That’s what I’m doing,” the Apostle Paul would say. To some degree, we’ve come at this topic backwards. Logically we would really begin with Christ’s pattern of discipleship, and then we’d go to Paul’s, but I thought it’d be better to start with Paul because we’re following him in Philippians. And we’ve seen that Paul said in verse 17:3, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” And verse 9:4 again, “Whatever you have learned, or received, or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you.” Last week from this, we saw two aspects of discipleship, a pattern of doctrine resulting in a pattern of Godly living. Doctrine, transforming life, and the two of them indispensable. Not just doctrine, not just lifestyle, but doctrine resulting in lifestyle, the two of them together, a pattern of discipleship. This we saw was supported by many scriptures.

1 Corinthians 11:1, I’ve already alluded to several times this morning, “Join with others,” he says there, “Be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ. I’m following Christ, you follow me.” We saw also last week in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and following, “Now we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you receive from us,” very strong word. Just like we have in Philippians 3:17, the tupos, the type, the pattern of life in Philippians 3:17, we have what was passed on, the tradition of life as we talked about in 2 Thessalonians 3. And then, 1 Corinthians 4:15 through 17. Again, from last week, “Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ,” said Paul to the Corinthians, “you do not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore, I urge you to imitate me. For this reason, I’m sending you Timothy, my son whom I love who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus which agrees with what I teach in every church.”

The pattern of doctrine resulting in a lifestyle. And he said, “I’m sending you Timothy because he kind of knows what I do. He’s my son in the faith. And so he imitates me very well, and so he’ll help you imitate me as well.”

Now, I talked to you last week about how audacious all of this is, that any sinner, any human being would stand up and say, “Follow me and God will be with you.” But I think this is exactly what our church needs. This is exactly what not just this local church, but the church in America needs, is men and women who are willing to say the same thing. Not just with their mouths, but with their lives. There is such a great divide I think in the American church between doctrine and living. We believe a bunch of things and we have a hard time living them out. And I think that God’s answer is discipleship. It’s bringing the two together so that doctrine results in transformed lifestyle. And I think there are some things that you really can’t learn from a book. I think you just learn them by living them. You learn them by seeing it exemplified by having somebody with the courage to say, “Follow me and I’ll show you how to do that.” And I think we need that in our church.

I. Christ’s Pattern of Discipleship

Now, this is all review, Paul’s pattern of discipleship. This morning, I want to spend time on Christ’s pattern of discipleship. In John 13:15, Jesus said, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” Now, there he’s talking about the foot washing, but I think it’s not a stretch to say that this was intended in many more areas than just foot washing. He intended to give us an example. We know this, definitely in 1 Peter 2 in which he intended to give us an example of how to suffer in a Godly manner. And so also, I think he came to give us an example of how to build a church. “You build a church the way I have.” Well, how did Jesus build the church? Well, that is the central question the two books that have changed my life sought to answer. One of them this AB Bruce’s book, “The Training of the Twelve.” Now, Bruce’s book, “The Training of the Twelve” is about 100 years old, his son FF Bruce, the great commentator on scripture well known to many, but it was his father who wrote this book and basically, all he’s doing is just a New Testament study on how Jesus discipled the 12. And he just goes through the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and just puts it together in how Jesus shaped and molded the 12.

The cover art from the book is on the cover of your bulletin. I’ve used it one other time before, but I love it. I’ve never forgotten it. It’s the master’s hands shaping the clay on the wheel, and how Jesus was just using every interaction to just shape the lives of the 12, shaping their lives, preparing them for what was to come. A wedding together of incredible doctrine with perfect example, and Jesus just shaping them at every moment, preparing for what was to come. And that affected my life greatly, The Training of the Twelve. But even more I think in a clear way is Robert Coleman’s book, The Master Plan of Evangelism, first published in 1963. And I’d just like to give you kind of a summary of the eight steps that he notices in Christ’s pattern of discipleship. You really should read the book. You could read it in about two hours or less. It’s a very short book, and brief, and to the point. In it, he looks at eight things that Jesus did, eight steps, which together I think formulate his pattern of discipleship. Selection, that is he chose men to work with. Association, that is he spent time with them. Consecration, he totally devoted himself to them and to the Father on their behalf and expected them to devote themselves as well to him, consecration.

Impartation, he gave himself away, Christ did, gave of himself. Demonstration, that is he lived it out in front of them and did not expect them to do anything that he hadn’t first displayed in his life. He lived it out by lifestyle, demonstration. Delegation, he gave them work to do, he gave them projects, sent them out to do things and then came back and assessed how it went, delegation. Supervision, he didn’t just send them out and then when they came back they were on to something else, but he worked with them and trained them based on their experiences. He supervised them, he didn’t just cut them free. Jesus said later, ” I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.” There’s a sense of intense training there. And then finally, reproduction. He expected them to be fruitful and do the same thing in other people’s lives which he had done in theirs. That’s it quickly.

But let’s look in a little more depth at each of these. First selection. Jesus’ methods were not programs. It was not techniques, it was not marketing. His strategy was men. He was working with these twelve men. He was the initiator in the relationship. In Matthew 4:18 and 19 “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers. Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.'”

Who initiated that? It was Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee. They followed, He initiated. At the core of this was selection. He chose them for this task. It says in John 15-16, “You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” And so Jesus selected them. He chose them. It says in Mark 3:13 and 14, “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted, and they came to Him. He appointed twelve, designating them to be apostles so that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.” He chose these 12 at the specific leading of His Heavenly Father. Luke tells us that He spent all night in prayer before He chose the 12.

And so He was with them all night and then He came down and those were the ones He had selected. His principles for the selection were he was looking for men who were willing to learn, who were willing to be consecrated to Him, willing to pick up their cross and follow. We’ll talk more about that in a moment, but there were reasons why He chose these men. They are not the men the world would have chosen. You’re not going to choose these 12. But Jesus works in a different way than we do. God’s ways are not our ways and neither are Jesus’ ways our ways. And so he chose these men.

Now, this is where I think the church needs to be like Jesus. Jesus always was ministering to the masses. But his strategy for the world was this; the 12 apostles, and specifically within them three, Peter, John and James that he worked with especially and poured himself into. They were with him in Gethsemane, they were with him on the Mount of Transfiguration. They were with him when Jairus’ daughter was raised, the three in particular. So there were kind of concentric circles in Jesus’ ministry. Pouring himself into the three, a little less so but still intensively into the 12 and then the disciples that were kind of following him consistently and then the multitudes or the crowds around.

And Coleman puts it this way. He says, “I’m not in any way dismissing the mass evangelistic rally,” which is so popular and is kind of the strategy, I guess, of some for reaching the world. We need a set piece room were people come in and listen, get the thing and go out and then you bring in the next group. And this is not God’s way. This is one that wasn’t Paul’s way and it wasn’t Christ’s. Instead there was the multiplication approach that he sought to use.

Coleman said this, “This is where we must begin just like Jesus. It will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by people at first. But the end result will be glorious,” listen, “even if we don’t live to see it.” We’re in such a rush aren’t we? We want it now, we want to see results immediately. Jesus was going after quality and then quantity. Did he care about quantity? Of course he did. Every tribe, and language, and people, and nation would be represented ultimately by a multitude that no one could count. But his approach was quality first. He was building into these key folks.

Secondly, association. The basic concept here is pretty simple. He stayed with them, he spent time with them and did it constantly. We’ve already seen this in John 1, the whole thing began with an afternoon with Jesus. We’ve seen it also in a verse I just quoted but moved through quickly, but take a minute and listen to it again. In Mark 3:13-14, “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted and they came to him. He appointed twelve, designated them apostles,” listen, “that they might be with him.” Secondly, “and that he might send them out to preach.” There’s a definite order there. First they’re going to be with him, and then they’re going to go out to preach. They’re going to just spend time with Jesus and you’re going to see this in Acts when Peter and John are there so bold and courageous. The Sanhedrin looks down and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Their lives had been shaped and molded for three years by the master and they were ready now for their preaching ministry.

We were talking recently about the prices of various seminaries. And one of the wonderful things about being a Southern Baptist is that the cooperative program greatly reduces the cost of going to seminary. Very difficult to get out of seminary with a big debt. Because for the most part you won’t and shouldn’t be making tons of money in the ministry. And so as a result, to have a huge educational debt is a big problem. We were talking about this topic of how much seminaries cost and the encouragement of cooperative program. And we got to talking about the cost of Jesus’ seminary. What was the cost of three years with Jesus?

Well, in one sense it was free. He didn’t charge anything. But in another sense he said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” You want to follow me, you want me to disciple you, you may not know when you’ll eat next actually. You know any time I can turn the stones into bread but I’m not actually going to do that frequently. I’ll feed the 5,000, you’ll have plenty to eat that day. But maybe a few days later you’ll be walking through the grain fields and picking heads of grain and eating them because you haven’t had anything in a while.

And you may not know where you’re going to sleep tonight because you’re going to be maybe out in the stars with a rock for your pillow. That’s the price tag of enrolling in Jesus’ seminary. And more than that, he’s going to break you down, he’s going to bring you lower than you’ve ever been in your life. Think about Peter after he had denied knowing Christ. The lowest point of his life. And then he’s going to build you back up again and use you like you could never imagine that we would. That was the price. I think it was the cheapest and most expensive seminary in history. The cost of following Jesus. And Jesus spent time with them, he taught them constantly. His lessons were woven together in a way of life. I mean, they’d be walking through the fields and he’d say, “Consider the lilies of the field… Look at the birds of the air.” They were out there all the time. He spent time with them.

And all the more as the time drew near for Him to die, He actually kind of closed up shop on the masses and withdrew from them and spent intense time with these 12. In John 11:54 it says, “Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews, instead He withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim where He stayed with his disciples.” So there He is, kind of withdrawing, on retreat, as it were, and really pouring Himself into these 12. John 13 through 17 is Jesus’ private ministry to His own disciples. He washes their feet. He instructs them about love, and the Holy Spirit, and suffering, and the persecutions that are going to come. And then He prays for them in a lavish and loving way, intensely pouring out prayer, not just for them, but for the world that will hear through their ministry. Pouring himself out on them.

Thirdly, consecration. Jesus required total obedience. He gave himself fully to them and expected them also to give themselves fully to him. Jesus, it says in Hebrews in a very mysterious way, learned obedience from what He suffered. Well, they watched that. They watched him suffering in order to obey. And so he expected them to do the same. “If you’re not willing to take up your cross and follow”, said Jesus, “you are not worthy to be my disciple.” They understood completely what this meant, a consecration to the task. Coleman put it this way:

“We must learn this lesson again today. There can be no dilly-dallying around with the commands of Jesus Christ. We are engaged in a warfare, the issues of which are life and death. There could be no insubordination in his command. No one knew better than Jesus that the satanic forces of darkness against them were well organized and equipped to defeat any half-hearted effort of evangelization.”

Satan can knock us aside if we make a half-hearted effort to reach the world for Christ. Half-hearted won’t do it. And he is well equipped to knock it aside. Instead Jesus said, “We are going to pour into these 12 and get them ready for the real war that’s coming.”

Fourth, impartation. Christ gave himself away to his disciples. He gave himself totally. I think of Jesus at the cross, you know that this week the movie “The Passion” is coming out and a number of folks are going to see it. But if you were to see that image, whether you see the movie or not is not important, it’s still the Scripture that converts, not a movie. Keep that in mind. But at any rate, there is going to be a depiction of Christ when you read the Scripture. Now, when you think about that, think about Jesus dead on the cross and ask, “What more could he have given for his disciples? Was there anything left?” I mean, they already gambled away his clothing in fulfillment of Scripture. There was nothing left, he had given everything he had, and that principle was there throughout his ministry. What I have, I give to you, for your benefit. He imparted himself to them. And then all the more after his resurrection when he breathe on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He gave of himself directly into their souls through the Holy Spirit. He imparted himself to them. So therefore, in effect, discipleship must be of the same type. Impartation, what I have, I give to you.

Fifth, demonstration. And this has kind of been the point as we’ve looked at the pattern of discipleship, we see that this is kind of a central theme here. That Jesus didn’t command his disciples to do anything that he didn’t display or demonstrate before them. It’s interesting to know how long he is with them before he finally sends them out to preach in Matthew 10 and then in Luke 10 also. There is the ministry of the 12 going out in Matthew 10, and all the instructions there. And then in Luke 10. But he has been with them, by some calculations, at least a year, and they have seen him do many things before he sends them out. So he is demonstrating them. You see this, I think, especially with prayer, don’t you? In Luke 11 it says, “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place…” And they are watching him pray, that must have been something. It must have been something to watch Jesus pray. To watch the look on his face, to watch his body language, the intensity with which he poured out his heart to God. Obviously the highest of this was Gethsemane, but Jesus prayed many times. And as a matter of fact, in some places he even says, “I’m praying for these people that are watching, so that they may know that you sent me.” This kind of thing. He is praying so that they can watch him pray. He wants them to have a hunger for prayer.

And so, one time he was praying in a certain place and the disciples came and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, the way John taught his disciples.” And so Jesus at that point teaches them in Luke, it’s in Luke 11, the Lukan version of the Lord’s Prayer, and then there is couple of parables on prayer and a bunch of other instruction. Do you see the beauty of it? There is lifestyle leading into a question in which doctrine is imparted. What a beautiful thing that is. Jesus did it all the time, but especially with soul winning. Especially with soul winning. He would go from place to place and interact with a rich young ruler and see how he would handle that. He’d interact with a Zacchaeus who was too short, and he is up in the tree, and he spent time with him, the tax collector. Or he’d interact with 10 lepers who he’d healed and then one came back, and he would interact with him. Or he’d interact with the money changers in the temple, and how he would deal with that? I mean, they saw him in a variety of settings and focused on winning souls for the Heavenly Kingdom.

I just think that evangelism isn’t really ultimately taught in a classroom. You have to go out and do it. And that is why we every month make available opportunities for you to witness. I don’t want you ever to say in the end, “My church didn’t give me an opportunity to go out and witness.” We do it every month. Every month. We even provide ever increasingly wonderful meals, although I’m not one to tell you that because I don’t want you coming for the meal, but they really are good. But then you get to do the work of the Father. All right, you get to come and witness. And I just believe that there’s just a beautiful dynamic of going out and having experiences and then coming back and saying, “I’ve got some questions.” and then wanting some training out of that. And Jesus did that.

Six, delegation. He didn’t just keep showing them. Ultimately he gave them work to do. It says in Luke 9:1, “When Jesus had called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. And he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” So he sends them out. He sends out the 70 in Luke 10. He sends out the 12 in Mathew 10. Then at the end certainly with all the great commissions he definitely sends them out. “As the Father has sent me, even so I’m sending you.” So definitely he intended them to go out. He gave them work to do. But before the final great commission there were kind of miniature commissions and work to do along the way. And it wasn’t just those mission trips, but there would be little tasks or different things that he would give them to do.

Seventh was supervision. As he gave them these tasks he would keep a check on them. He constantly followed their progress. And real life situations would bring up issues that would then be discussed. Great example of this is in Mathew 17, when Jesus is up on the mountain with his inner circle of three on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, John and James. And they’re coming down. So the nine other apostles are still down there waiting for them to come off the mountain. And during that time a father brings his demon-possessed son and they, the nine apostles, are not able to drive out the demon. Now this is already after he gave them authority to drive out demons and they’d returned and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.” And they’re so excited. But now, this time they just can’t do it because Jesus isn’t there or something.

And the father comes to Jesus as he’s coming off the Mount of Transfiguration and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.  I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”  And then you get this from Jesus, “O unbelieving and perverse generation. How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” And he drove out the demon. Afterward the disciples came up quietly and said, “why couldn’t we drive it out?” We did try. We did pray. He said, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith like a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move.”

Do you see the dynamic there? The situation would never have popped up in a classroom. It was out in life. And then there was a feedback loop, and a discussion, and further training, supervision.

And then finally reproduction. Christ expected them to reproduce. What he was pouring into them, he wanted them to do for others. He wanted them to grow numerically through this kind of reproduction. This was the goal of the gospel work. And Coleman said it ultimately was the acid test of his ministry. If they didn’t reproduce, the whole thing is a failure. But it’s not going to be a failure. No way. In the end the spirit will guarantee that they will reproduce in this way. And it has been continuing ever since.

II. The Modern Church’s Failed Pattern of Discipleship

But for me as I look at the church, I want to assess, are we doing this? We looked at these eight patterns that Coleman gave us, and even if you don’t necessarily buy all the details of Coleman’s analysis, I think that these eight things were things that Jesus did. And my question is, is the modern church doing this? Now I touched on this last time. Some have noted two different approaches toward education. One of them the Greek model and the other one the Hebrew model.

I think a beautiful display of the Greek model is in Acts chapter 17 where the Apostle Paul is here to preach to the Athenians. And Acts 17:21 says this, “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.” That’s the kind of Greek style of teaching. They would sit around and discuss, and debate, and argue over the latest points of ethics, or philosophy, or morality, whatever. And they would kind of work it over and talk about it, and then they’d go home. And then they’d come back the next day and they’d do it again. And they just loved to sit around doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas. That is kind of the Greek pattern. And interestingly, I think it eventually affected the universities of Europe and the American educational system. It’s basically, withdraw from life, sitting in a place dedicated to the educational process and impartation of a bunch of information, sitting around listening to it, and then you’d go home and try to do it. That’s kind of how it works. The Hebrew model is a little bit different. Now I have my understanding or assessment of why these are different. But listen to the Hebrew model.

I think you’re going to see this most clearly in Hebrew 6… Sorry, Deuteronomy 6:6 and 7, Deuteronomy 6:6 and 7 in which parents are told to disciple their children, (parenthetically, the best discipleship in the world are Godly Christian parents working with their kids and bringing them to a full and mature faith in Christ. Nothing better than that. We’ll talk more about that in a moment). But in Deuteronomy 6:6 and 7, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” There’s content. You see it? Commandments are to be on your heart. You’re to know the law of God. “These commandments are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children.” That’s like through repetition. That’s that word sharpen. Sharpen them into your children. Impress them on your children. “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you get up.” Doesn’t that sound like Jesus? It’s just a kind of a lifestyle instruction, a weaving together of instruction with what’s really going on in life.

Now my theory is that the Greeks thought that the physical world was evil and that the world of the mind was good. And so what we ought to do is get away from the physical world and kind of sit and talk about pure ideas. But the Hebrew model is that everything God made is good. We know that sin has entered the world, but it’s still a good world, and we want a wisdom that’s rubber-meets-the-road-ish, if that’s a word. Anyway, it’s just involved in life, woven together in the way you’re really living. We want that kind of a wisdom. Now, let me ask you a question. As you look at the church today, which of those two models more accurately describes what we do for discipleship? I’ve already asked that question, and I come up with the Athenians, and not the Book of Deuteronomy.

I’ve come up with kind of us withdrawing from life, sitting in a kind of a dedicated room, talking about content, and then expected to go out and live it. “Do your best. Be praying for you.” All right? And then hope that you’ll grow. Now, I don’t want to sell us short. I believe that many churches and individuals in churches have a mindset of discipleship and things go on throughout the week to that end. Believe me, I’m not minimizing the importance of good, solid teaching and doctrine. The Apostle Paul rented the lecture hall of Tyrannus, and worked and poured in doctrine. There must be there… I’ve nothing wrong with dedicated rooms in which doctrine is communicated, I’m just saying there’s another component that I don’t see and it troubles me.

And that is the role modelling woven together with life that was such a big part of what Jesus did and what Paul did. Now, I think, today in evangelical Christianity, parachurch groups do it best. Especially on the college campus. Groups like Campus Crusade for Christ, and InterVarsity, and Navigators, have a vision for discipleship. It’s a little unfair because I have to say that college students have the greatest freedom and possibility in one sense to be discipled. But it’s not unfair because I think that’s great. Use it. Be discipled now. This is exactly the time to do it. When you have a mature mind and freedom in life to just have your life shaped and molded by a mentor.

But I just feel like the church should do it. And so I’ve been trying to think about that, and how it works. Trying to work it together. How is it that we can be a community of faith? And there is a community involved here. It isn’t just one man discipling one younger man, and one woman discipling a younger woman, etcetera. But there is a mutual discipleship that kind of goes on all the time in the community. But, I’m arguing for a man discipling a younger man and a woman discipling a younger woman, more than it’s happening. Much more than it’s happening.

What’s going on? Well, I think the modern lifestyle is the enemy of discipleship. We’re too busy. And we’re really busy people. And it’s almost a mark, or a badge of, I don’t know affluence or importance or something, that we’re this busy. “Well, I have something on Monday night, and then something again on Tuesday night, and something… ” Woah. And there’s no room for this. And actually I almost got kind of a sense from some folks in the church, “Is this like another thing we’re going to have to do? Kind of on top of all the other things that we’re going to do?” And I’m saying, “Do you hear what’s going on? What is the great commission?”

“All authority in heaven and Earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” I want to keep on doing, through generation after generation what I’ve done for you 12. Teaching them, that’s content. To obey, that’s lifestyle. That’s the great commission. And if we’re too busy for that, we’re too busy. We have to look again at it. So, I gave myself one more week… This wasn’t originally a two part sermon, originally it was just one. But I needed more time to pray through what it is we’re supposed to do.

IV. Suggesting a Remedy

And I’m not done answering the question. I’m not done thinking it through. I just see a difference between what I read in these books, especially in Scripture, and the way we’re really doing discipleship here. Somebody comes to faith in Christ in our church, what do we do with them? Do we have an idea of how to work with them? Do we have an idea of how to take somebody that says, “Look, I really feel myself to be very young in the faith and I want to grow. What do I do? Do you have an answer for me?” And I’d be convicted by that kind of question. I have a kind of a jumbled answer but I want a clear answer of what it is that we’re going to do.

I’m encouraged by the strong word “pattern”. Join with others and follow my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern. The typos, the type that we gave you. We knew what we were doing. We weren’t making it up as we went along. We understood how to disciple somebody. Five steps, I think, toward a remedy.

Step number one for the church and perhaps especially for those that are called to lead the church, is to identify this pattern. Doctrinally and lifestyle, what is the pattern of discipleship? What is a one year, two year, three year pattern that would be reasonable discipleship?

What doctrines do you need to know, in order to be mature? How do you move from milk to meat and at a certain point you’ll be fully trained? Doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about Christianity, you’ll never know that. The more I study the Bible, the more new things I learn. But that doesn’t mean that I’m insufficiently trained in order to disciple somebody else. That’s a cop-out. There comes a point which you know enough doctrine in order to mentor, to disciple somebody else. So, what is that? What is the pattern of biblical content to impart? And along with that what is the pattern of Godly character and lifestyle that goes with that?

In five sub-areas that I’ve got. Godly personal habits, that is Bible intake, memorization, meditation, consistent prayer, fasting, active church life, family devotions, these kind of things. These are the spiritual disciplines that are foundational. A well ordered lifestyle, discipline in sleep, and eating, and lawful pleasures, good ordered home, discipline in speech, faithfully working at your job, these kinds of things, put order to the life, putting sin to death by the Spirit, a regular pattern of facing temptations and seeing victory over that by the power of the Spirit, putting sin to death, an active ministry in which you’re using your spiritual gift finding a place of service and using it, in the context of ministering to the body. Passion for missions and evangelism, all that active ministry, and then stewardship. Time, money, relationships, the stuff of life using it like a steward. Those are the kind of five areas I thought that would go into the lifestyle. If you can think of more, come and tell me. I’m learning more and more, but these are the kinds of things we’d want to kind of figure out, when is a person fully trained, so that they understand these things and they’re kind of in their lives? So step one identify a pattern of discipleships,

Step two, assess yourself. It says in Romans 12:3 that we should think of ourselves neither too highly nor too lowly but with the measure of faith that the spirit gives. And so you have to assess yourself. Assess yourself, “Do I need to be mentored, or am I really ready actually to be mentored?” Not, “Am I… ” or to be a mentor. “Am I perfect?” That’s not the question. We already answered that in Philippians 3 earlier. No, you’re not. As long as you’re here on Earth you’re not completed, you’re not perfect. We’re not looking for perfect people. We’re looking for people who are willing to step forward and say, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” If on the other hand, you say, “Really I am not, as I look at these areas, there’s some disorder or disarray and I’m not ready. I need actually to be trained.”

Step three is to choose somebody. Pray that God would give you somebody that you could mentor or disciple if you’re ready. And if not, then come to us, come to me or some of the other leadership in the church and say, “I want to be trained. Is there somebody who can do that for me?” Or if you know somebody, come and ask them if they would be willing to do it.

Set up the relationship. Step four, either be discipled, or disciple someone, for a set amount of time. That’s so important. I know that we could go on and on and on, and we should go on and on in friendship, but in terms of intensively meeting and training, Jesus did it for three years. And then they were ready. And then continue to meet.

And then step five, follow Christ’s pattern as set out in Robert Coleman’s book. Or if you’ve got another approach use it, but understand what you’re trying to do. The goal is spiritual multiplication. I want to close with a couple of insights. I don’t believe that anything in this area is going to change unless we’re willing to make some sacrifices. I think we’re going to bump into reality. We’re going to say, “I’m too busy for this, I can’t do anything like this, etcetera.” We’re going to keep going on. I think instead we have to start thinking strategically. We have to say, “Okay, I’m going to go to that conference, is there somebody I can bring with me?” All right? “I’m going to go out witnessing on Sunday afternoon, I’m planning on being there. I’m going to call somebody and bring them along.” Now, the somebody, somebody, somebody, after a while I think for strategic sense should be the same person, the somebody you’re focusing on. You see?

But I’m just saying you’re laying somebody’s life on top of your life. Instead of adding another thing to your life, you’re going to make an extra phone call and pick somebody up and go with them. If you have a day full of errands and you know that there’s single guy or girl that’s got a little freedom on Saturday, you invite them over and say, “Be part of my family. Be part of my thing while I do… Let’s work together. Let’s spend some time together.” Use the present church activities. We’re not… Believe me, we’re not trying to increase. We don’t want to look like the federal government, folks, and we’re not always looking, adding more ministries, more subcommittees and all that. That is not where we’re heading. Actually praying the opposite direction, trying to simplify so we can do these kinds of things. Hard to do. Hard to do, but that’s what we’re trying to do. So use church activities. If you’re a busy family… Look, I’ve got four kids growing up in my home. We are busy. We are. We’re probably kind of at peak busy-ness right now in my life, is my guess.

All right, does that mean I cannot disciple? No, it doesn’t. But what it it means is that we have to be strategic about that and have people into the home, so that they can observe the way that we do family life, let’s say. I mean, how valuable would it be, for a godly couple that’s got kids growing up, etcetera, to take a newlywed couple and say, “Be with us for awhile. Let’s do family life together, so that you can see how we do it.”? Would that not be valuable? I mean it’s so much better than reading it in a book. Senior adults have as much flexibility, if not more in some cases, than college students. We really do need godly seniors to say, “You know, follow me as I follow Christ”, and to spend time with a specific individual, passing on a pattern of discipleship to them.

Now we have some good ministries in our church right now. Heart to Heart started a few years ago as a mentoring ministry, and I think it’s doing a wonderful job. I know it could be better, because I know that some of the women set up their meetings but never meet, actually. Well, that won’t help, obviously. I don’t mean to say that un-gracelessly, but to set up a relationship and you never get together will not accomplish anything. All right, neither will it accomplish as much as if you get together and are just friends together and don’t talk about spiritual content. So you don’t have a pattern of doctrine and a pattern of godly lifestyle. There’s got to be, you know, up at a higher level I think there in some of the relationships. But the men don’t even have the organized ministry set up, and that’s something we’re praying toward, and something we very much would like to see.

I would like to close by just asking that you pray with me for further wisdom in this matter. I mean, I want our church to make disciples, disciples that will last, fruit that will last. If you are here today and you’re listening to me talking about this and you realize that it’s not a matter of discipleship for you, you’re not a follower of Christ, you’ve never come to faith in Christ. Won’t you trust in Christ today? Won’t you believe in him for your salvation? Say, “I need to follow Jesus Christ just for salvation.” Come and talk…

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

Introduction: The Quiet Beginnings of the Mighty Church

A.    The Headwaters of the Church

If you were to trace the mighty Mississippi River back to its tiniest origins, you would find that it begins as a trickle flowing out of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. From there the river flows 2,348 miles until it pours into the Gulf of Mexico below New Orleans. The Mississippi River drains 33 states and its watershed covers one-half of the nation. It fosters cities and commerce, transports people and goods, provides habitat for fish plants and wildlife, and enriches human life with natural and recreational opportunities.

In like manner, if you were to trace the human origins of the mighty thing called the Church of Jesus Christ, you would find that it began one afternoon in an insignificant portion of Palestine called Bethany on the far side of the Jordan River.

It was an exciting time for the Jewish nation… thousands of people were flocking to hear John the Baptist preach and to witness his bizarre and compelling practice of baptizing natural-born Jews in the Jordan River. It was a shock originally, because the ritual of baptism was usually reserved for the cleansing of filthy idol-worshipping Gentiles who wanted to become Jews. But John made no distinction and baptized Jews, a baptism of repentance for sins.

One day at a small place called Bethany across the Jordan, a day like any other during that time in Israel’s history, an obscure man stood among the throngs to be baptized by John. John looked stunned, overcome with emotion. Perhaps only a few people around John could see the radical change in his demeanor, the awe-struck look on his face, the reverent tone in his voice:

I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?
And the stranger’s answer was beyond their comprehension:

Let it be so now… we must fulfill all righteousness.

The next day, the church began in the quietest way… it would not have been noticed even by the most astute observer there. But Jesus began to gather His church together. The most massive things sometimes have the tiniest and least impressive beginnings… God delights in making small things eternally significant.

It began when John saw Jesus passing by and made a prophetic statement about Him to two of his own disciples who were standing nearby:

He said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

This quiet beginning started it all… the church that would spread from shore to shore, the mighty throng of children of God who would one day trust in Christ and worship Him as their God began with a quiet afternoon spent with Jesus, spending the late afternoon, starting about 4:00 I would guess, just being with Christ.

Since that time, the church has grown to reach every political nation and the vast majority of the people groups of the world.

And it all began with a simple concept: discipleship of ordinary human beings by spending time with Jesus… a quiet afternoon of discipleship by the greatest discipler the world has ever seen

B.    Review of Last Week’s Sermon

1.    Paul’s Pattern of Discipleship

Philippians 3:17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

Philippians 4:9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me– put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

2.    Two key aspects of discipleship:

a.    a pattern of Christian doctrine

b.    a pattern of Christian lifestyle

3.    Supported by MANY scriptures

1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

[NASB] 2 Thessalonians 3:6-9 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.

1 Corinthians 4:15-17 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

I.     Christ’s Pattern of Discipleship

John 13:15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

Two key books: A. B. Bruce: The Training of the Twelve… an in-depth look at how Jesus actively shaped and prepared His Apostles for a world-changing ministry… His wisdom in guiding them through all aspects of their training

His careful lessons for them on the nature of the divine kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount; His teaching on and example of faithful prevailing prayer; His teaching on and example of unimpeachable personal holiness; the way He modeled ministry for over a year before entrusting to them any particular responsibilities; His example of self-denial and of loving compassion in ministering to the physical needs of countless hungry, sick, poor people

Having received the best doctrinal instruction in the history of the world, they were then trained in practical ministry as He sent them out two by two to preach the gospel and to heal…

This is the content of A. B. Bruce’s book, The Training of the Twelve…I have never forgotten the cover art, which is also on the cover of your bulletin

The second book is the one we will follow even more closely:

[Robert Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism, first published in 1963]

A.    Selection

B.    Association

C.    Consecration

D.    Impartation

E.    Demonstration

F.    Delegation

G.    Supervision

H.    Reproduction

A.    Selection

1.    Jesus’ method were MEN… He didn’t work with programs or techniques… He chose Twelve MEN through whom He would change the world

2.    He was the initiator in the relationship…

Matthew 4:18-19 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

3.    At the core was SELECTION

Mark 3:13-14 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.

He appointed twelve– designating them apostles–that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit– fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

4.    He chose them at the leading of the Father

Luke 6:12-13 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles

5.    Principles for the selection: men willing to learn concentrated upon just a few

Coleman notes that the “mass evangelistic revival” is not necessarily a bad thing… but Jesus’ central method was concentrated discipleship of Twelve… and especially of the core THREE (Peter, John and James)

“Here is where we must begin, just like Jesus. It will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by men at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don’t live to see it.”

B.    Association

1.    Basic concept: He stayed with them constantly

a.    already seen in John 1: the whole church began with an afternoon spent with Jesus

b.    also seen in verse above

Mark 3:13-14 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve– designating them apostles–that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach

c.    this was the price of admission

Matthew 8:19-20 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

In effect, to be my disciple, you have to be willing to say goodbye to earthly comforts and relationships

My training will be the best in the world… but the price is the willingness to go to bed with a rock as your pillow and with little to eat

2.    Jesus taught constantly, lessons woven together with life

They learned from Him as He walked along the road, as He sat down in the field, as He urged them to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air… they saw with their own eyes His tears as He wept over Jerusalem, His power as He raised Jarius’s little girl from the dead, His anger as He drove the moneychangers from the temple

They got private sessions of explanations of His parables, they got private encouragements at their successes, and private rebukes at their failures

Everything happened while Jesus was living with them constantly… the whole world was a classroom

3.    As the end drew near, He spent even more time alone with them

John 11:54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

John 13-17 is Jesus’ private ministry just to His close and loved ones… His Apostles; He washed their feet, taught them intense and private lessons about love, the Holy Spirit, the coming persecution, the future glory; and He prayed for them powerfully and movingly

4.    This kind of discipleship took lots of time… He sowed the seed deeply in their lives

Coleman: “When will the church learn the lesson? Preaching to the masses, although necessary, will never suffice in the work of preparing leaders for evangelism. Nor can occasional prayer meetings and training classes for Christian workers do this job. Building men is not that easy. It requires constant personal attention, much like a father gives to His children.”

5.    Modern application

Coleman: “Clearly the policy of Jesus at this point teaches us that whatever method of follow-up the church adopts, it must have as its basis a personal guardian concern for those entrusted to their care. To do otherwise is essentially to abandon new believers to the Devil. This means that some system must be found whereby every convert is given a Christian friend to follow until such time as he can lead another. The counselor should stay with the new believer as much as possible, studying the Bible and praying together, all the while answering questions, clarifying the truth, and seeking together to help others. If the church does not have such committed counselors willing to do this service, then it should be training some.”

C.    Consecration

1.    Christ required total obedience

2.    The way of the cross was clearly understood and followed

3.    Disciples had to count the cost before following

4.    Not many would be willing to follow Him even to the point of death

5.    The way of growth was the way of obedience

6.    YET this pattern of total obedience was constantly MODELLED by Christ

Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered

John 14:31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

John 8:29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”

7.    Modern application

Coleman: “We must learn this lesson again today. There can be no dilly-dallying around with the commands of Christ. We are engaged in a warfare, the issues of which are life and death. There could be no insubordination in His command. No one knew better than Jesus that the Satanic forces of darkness against them were well-organized and equipped to defeat any half-hearted effort of evangelism.”

The church is defeated in its efforts at evangelism primarily because it is unwilling to bear the cross and obey Christ commands unquestioningly

D.    Impartation

1.    Christ gave Himself away to His disciples

2.    Even more, Christ gave directly of His Spirit

John 20:22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

3.    To love means to give… the more you love the more you will give

4.    Jesus was willing to sacrifice everything He had for the benefit of His disciples… nothing He had did He withhold from them

5.    Christ’s gift of the Holy Spirit becomes the key power for the evangelism of the world… the power of disciplemaking is the power of Christ’s imparted Spirit working in us

6.    By the Spirit of Christ we walk in the Way of Christ… the gift of the Spirit is the permanent imparting of Christ moment by moment to every disciple

John 16:13-15 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

7.    Modern application: disciplers must give themselves away to their disciples, especially in their personal relationship with Christ by the Spirit

self-sacrificial giving love openness and transparency

generosity of time and other resources: “You get the best I have”

constant reliance on the Holy Spirit… your disciples should be experiencing your love relationship with Christ

E.    Demonstration

1.    Jesus never expected His disciples to do anything that He had not already modeled for them

2.    Key test case: prayer

a.    constantly let His disciples see Him pray

b.    His obvious delight in prayer became a motivator for them

Luke 11:1-10 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ‘” 5 Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

3.    Constant training in Scripture

a.    Jesus constantly was explaining and reasoning with them from Scripture

b.    culmination of this was post-resurrection forty-day seminary

Luke 24:44-45 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

4.    Above all else, soul-winning

a.    practically everything Jesus did focused on winning the lost

b.    evangelism class was always in session the Rich Young Ruler

the demon-possessed man of the Gadarenes

the Samaritan woman… and the whole village later the crowds of Jerusalem

Simon the Pharisee

5.    Modern application: EVANGELISM CANNOT BE TAUGHT ONLY IN A CLASSROOM… in this area more than any other, we need courageous role models

F.    Delegation

1.    Jesus assigned His disciples work to do… He entrusted specific tasks to them

Luke 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Several missions during the three years with Christ… they would go out, have certain experiences, then come back and get further training based on those experiences

2.    Full instructions: Matthew 10

3.    Also the mission of the seventy in Luke 10

4.    Supremely in the various “Great Commissions” at the end of each Gospel and the beginning of acts

John 20:21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

5.    Modern application: very important for disciplers to entrust key tasks to their disciples, allowing them to succeed and fail, then training them based on the outcome

G.    Supervision

1.    He kept check on them… He constantly followed their progress

2.    There was a pattern of constant review and application

Matthew 17:14-20 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.”Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

3.    Jesus asked them probing questions and caused them to reflect on their own lessons

4.    He didn’t just let them coast, or “assume the best” about them… He kept very close to their successes and failures

5.    He always kept His final goal in mind: their own spiritual maturity in the work of the Gospel

H.    Reproduction

1.    Christ EXPECTED them to reproduce

2.    This was the whole goal of the gospel work… the reproduction of the image of Christ in people all around the world

3.    This would in the end be the acid test of His ministry… if the disciples were not successful at reproducing themselves spiritually through evangelism and discipleship, His ministry would fail

4.    This was the essence of the Great Commission

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

A.    Selection

B.    Association

C.    Consecration

D.    Impartation

E.    Demonstration

F.    Delegation

G.    Supervision

H.    Reproduction

We have now seen Christ’s pattern for discipleship and that of the Apostle Paul… and they are one and the same:

A body of doctrine resulting in a pattern of godly lifestyle… resulting in multiplication… more and more disciples

II.     The Modern Church’s Failed Pattern of Discipleship

A.    The Greek vs. Hebrew Model of Training

1.    Greek model

Acts 17:21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

Focus on content, a constant desire for knowledge

Debate, discussion, argument… all done by a leisure class who had the time to probe the depths of some concept to see that it was internally self-consistent

Logic and reason were used to develop a system of ethics which was thoroughly discussed in the cognitive sense The disciples were then go out on their own and try to live it

Greek wisdom was an abstraction, and the assumption was that life would be changed and molded according to a pure understanding of philosophy

2.    Hebrew model

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 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.

Constant interactions with real-life situations made wisdom a daily life matter

The physical world was created good by God, so life was physical and wisdom had to engage the physical life in which they lived

The Modern Church follows the Greek model, not the Hebrew model

3.    Jesus’ discipleship was CONSTANT and out in the real world

Mark 3:14 He appointed twelve– designating them apostles–that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach

Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

4.    The church’s discipleship is OCCASIONAL and removed from the real world

We meet in dedicated buildings, sit and listen to learned teachers, take in data, information… and go home

B.    Critique of Modern Discipleship

1.    Remember the Great Commission

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

a.    teaching them… there MUST be content

b.    TO OBEY… there must be a lifestyle of obedience, or the Great Commission is not completed

c.    “I am with you always”… the same as with the Twelve… Jesus wants to teach you constantly

2.    The Great Omission

a.    lifestyle discipleship

b.    role models and mentors who will say what Paul said

Philippians 3:17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

Philippians 4:9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me– put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

c.    detailed discipleship in which daily life Christianity is taught and modeled

·       how to pray with fervency and scriptural knowledge

·       how to study the Bible and rightly divide it

·       how to win the lost to Christ

·       how to behave in church… worshiping in spirit and truth

·       how to glorify God in everything you do, whether you eat or drink

·       how to discipline yourself for godliness

·       how to live as a Christian family

·       how a man should treat his wife and Christ does the church

·       how a father should train his children up in the nurture and fear of the Lord

·       how to handle money as a steward of the Kingdom of Heaven

·       how to bridle your tongue, using it only as a fountain of blessing

·       how to handle lust and worldly temptations

·       how to live a disciplined life in eating and earthly pleasures

·       how to work hard with your own hands and provide for your families

·       how to maintain a good reputation with outsiders

·       how to care for the poor, both inside the church and outside

·       how to suffer persecution with eternal joy

·       perhaps even how to die with dignity and for the greater glory of Christ

Where are the role model disciplers? I don’t just mean godly people who are doing well in their Christian lives… I mean men who will become fully trained themselves, and pass on their knowledge and godly lifestyle to a disciple; I mean women who will become fully trained themselves and pass on their knowledge and godly lifestyle to a disciple?

We desperately need this… there is too wide a division between the soaking in of knowledge from good teachers and the translation to a healthy Christian way of life

C.    The Role of the Community of Faith

1.    Discipleship is meant to be done in the context of a community of faith… a local church

2.    It isn’t meant to be just one man and one younger man; or one woman and one younger woman

3.    All of us must take a responsibility for the Christian lifestyles of our brothers and sisters

4.    Spiritual gifts come into play: exhortation, giving, service, teaching, prayer

5.    Harder aspects come in as well: correct, reprove, rebuke, with great patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 3)

6.    In this area we are also very weak… some of our Sunday School classes seem to take barely a notice when someone hasn’t been there in a few weeks…

D.    Modern Lifestyle: The Enemy of Biblical Discipleship

1.    TOO BUSY!!!!

a.    way of life discipleship takes a great deal of time and commitment

b.    people have to hold down jobs

c.    extracurricular activities: every advantage for children… music lessons, sports leagues,

2.    How to relate to the family

3.    Personal sin… skeletons in the closet… don’t want people to get too close

IV. Suggesting a Remedy

Step 1: Identify a Pattern of Discipleship

1)    Biblical content to impart: knowledge of milk and meat doctrines

2)    Godly character and lifestyle to impart

·        Godly personal habits: Bible intake, memorization, meditation; consistent prayer, fasting, active church life, family devotions

·        Well-ordered lifestyle: discipline in sleep, eating, lawful pleasures; good order at home; discipline in speech; faithfully working at employment

·       Putting sin to death: regular pattern of mortification of the flesh by the Spirit

·        Active ministry: full use of spiritual gifts, passion for missions and evangelism

·       Stewardship: time, money, spiritual gifts, relationships, opportunities

Step 2: Assess yourself through prayer and godly input from spiritually mature people: ask “Am I spiritually mature enough to disciple someone?” or “Do I need someone to help prepare me further?”

Step 3: Choose someone: Seek God in prayer concerning making a commitment in a discipleship relationship, and follow the leadership of the Lord.

Step 4: Set up the relationship: either be discipled or disciple someone for a set amount of time; make a covenant together to meet for a year (or longer or shorter, as the Lord leads), then reassess; be consistent

Step 5: Follow Christ’s pattern as set out in Robert Coleman’s book The Master Plan of Evangelism

Some insights:

·        Be willing to sacrifice in order to involve people in your life… open your home in hospitality; think “How can I involve the person I am discipling in this or that activity?” Take someone with you when you go on errands or to Christian conferences; purposefully organize your life so you can pour yourself into someone

·        Busy families: understand your primary discipleship is going toward your children… don’t neglect them to disciple someone else

·        BUT: families can open themselves up enough to put their patterns on display to a younger couple…

1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

·        Godly and spiritually mature senior adults should be flexible and willing to go to younger and busy families to get involved in their lives and help disciple them if needed