Firstly - come out tomorrow from 4-8PM for Chili Night to support missions and stick around for a few minutes after church for our Annual Meeting on Sunday...
That out of the way - I had a great evening with those who came Wednesday Night to our dinner. We had great discussions about the IN of UP, IN, and OUT. Part of what we talked about was discipleship. It's the vehicle that drives the IN. Discipleship is the process of followers of Jesus intentionally making other followers of Jesus. As you may be aware, we're beginning a push to encourage our church to take steps toward becoming a discipling church. Keep in mind we’re still in the beginning process of this. We'll get there. But we have to start somewhere, and that somewhere is expressing interest. Interest helps us understand the current demand so we can fulfill the supply (coming down the road, we’ll identify and equip leaders to start building groups). Patience will be a virtue for all of us here. That being said, some of the feedback I received Wednesday and in the last few days went something like this:
"I'm already in a discipleship group - I'm in:
A bible study
Young at Heart
I come to church every week
Have a Christian friend group of church people who meet regularly to do life together
Involved with Men's or Women's Ministry
In a prayer group
So today, we'll talk about what we mean by "discipleship group."
First, let's talk about what defined Jesus' involvement with others. We know Jesus had different circles in which he engaged others. Let's clarify those.
The most expansive group were those he engaged with in short periods: those in the temple, those he ate with, those Jesus preached to, and those he healed/performed miracles…this group was sometimes hundreds of people at a time. You could almost call them acquaintances. This group had limited access to Jesus.
Then Jesus picked his twelve disciples (Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot). They lived with him in close proximity, and Jesus ramped up the invitation and challenge with them. He showed them his rhythms of Up, In, and Out and demonstrated a life lived perfectly, sinlessly. He taught them information, invited them to imitate his life, and provided an immersive faith environment. They had a lot of access to Jesus.
Even smaller still, Jesus had his inner circle: Peter, James, and John. These men had extra access that the rest of the disciples didn't have. Think of the special occasions and events Jesus gave them exclusive access to: being present during Jesus' transfiguration in Mark 9:2-3, witnessing him raise a girl from the dead (Luke 8:49-56), and perhaps tellingly, inviting them to accompany him in one of his darkest moments - his prayer time in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-38). These three saw the brightest and darkest moments of the life of Jesus. They were indeed his inner circle and closest of friends.
What do we learn from these three concentric circles of involvement? The smaller the group, the more intimate and involved he was with them - the more access and invitation he had to his brightest and darkest moments, and likewise, the more challenge and encouragement to grow they received. Also, the smaller the group, the more hands-on Jesus is in his selection process. And most importantly, the expectation of the twelve and the three was that they would replicate the process with others as they built the early church. Jesus tasked them with that in the Great Commission.
Where does that leave us? To form groups that model how Jesus discipled others, we must develop them as he does. Here are the non-negotiable markers, inspired by Jesus, for a discipleship group:
Invitation only
Has one clear disciple maker and a group of disciples. One teacher, and a few learners, one leader, and a few followers.
Between three and eight in the group (if Jesus can handle twelve, it's safe to say we should aim for half of that)
High invitation(full access to each other's lives - the brightest and darkest moments)
High challenge (to responsibly live into our identities as sons and daughters of God)
Not a group you come to when you feel like it or when it's convenient - you build your schedule around it
Not a group primarily based around one aspect of our faith - studying a book(s) of the Bible, prayer, mission, etc. Rather, it's a comprehensive, intentional time to learn the rhythms of Jesus and grow to emulate them in real-time (which does include scripture study, prayer, mission, etc.)
MUST include a plan for replication/multiplication
The group is only for a "season of life" (roughly a year).
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let me say this: there are elements of discipleship in your bible study or your women's/men's/youth/young at heart group. Those groups are fantastic and aren't going anywhere. Don't leave them. Don't think I'm scoffing at them - I'm not. However, we need to supplement them with groups that do focus solely and intentionally on teaching and learning the rhythms of Jesus for a season, groups that disband after about a year so the disciples can become the disciple makers and start their own groups. Discipleship must include replication. This is how we become a discipling church.
