Ev. Emong Willies discipling youths in Rwanda.
The following are lessons about discipleship:
Discipleship is the process of learning to live for the glory of God by faith in and obedience to Jesus through relationship with other Christ-followers over time. It is an ongoing relationship between one believer who assumes the role of mentor and another believer or non-believer who assumes the role of an apprentice
. In most cases, discipleship involves one would-be Christ-follower learning from another more mature Christ-follower. In other cases, discipleship involves two maturing Christ-followers learning God’s ways with one another. (Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Timothy 2:1-8)
In my experience, no two people are discipled in the exact same way because no two people are alike. What you did to help one person grow in Christ won’t necessarily help another person grow in Christ. I have found, however, that there seem to be three broad categories of discipleship. Each of these methods of discipleship works different for each person, but the general principles behind them are the same.
I’ve listed the three types of discipleship in the order in which a person typically experiences them along the journey from non-believer to mature disciple or leader. It’s important to note that as a person matures the mentor does not stop using the previous method of discipleship, but simply adds to it an additional method of discipleship.
1. Person-Oriented Discipleship. This is where most discipleship relationships begin, particularly between a Christian and a non-Christian. In this kind of discipleship, the mentor is focused almost entirely on the apprentice’s personal relationship with and attitude toward Jesus. The goal is to help the person being discipled to believe in and experience the person of Jesus Christ at work in his or her life. It is the most casual kind of discipleship and it often happens as friends in the context of everyday life: at the office, over a meal during your lunch break, playing golf or hanging out while watching the big game. You can think of this as discipleship of the heart.
2. Content-Oriented Discipleship. This kind of discipleship often happens between both a mature Christian and a seriously interested, but not yet converted non-Christian, or a mature Christian and an eager to grow Christian who is typically newer in his or her faith. With content-oriented discipleship, the mentor and apprentice typically spend most of their time reading through books of the Bible together, studying doctrine and discussing specific topics such as the Trinity, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, spiritual growth and obedience. This is the stage in which a person is learning what the Bible teaches, why it’s important and how it should effect his or her life. You can think of this as discipleship of the head.
During this phase, a mentor must be sure to continue with the person-oriented discipleship, while adding to it content-oriented discipleship. A person can’t grow in Christ if he or she doesn’t know about Christ. Content-oriented discipleship ensures that the apprentice is learning about Christ, while person-oriented discipleship ensures that he or she is actually getting to personally know Christ.
3. Task-Oriented Discipleship. Where person and content oriented discipleship are focused typically on the matters of the heart and head, task oriented discipleship is concerned with matters of the hands. In this type of discipleship, the mentor is typically training the apprentice to do a particular task or responsibility such as lead a small group discussion, oversee an area of ministry or serve in a particular way.
The mentor does not abandon the matters of the heart and head, but rather helps the apprentice understand how the matters of the heart should inform the way they think (head) and affect the way they use their skills (hands). Good follow-up and coaching allows the apprentice to not only learn a skill, but to understand how the gospel should inform the way they think about and do that skill.
To be effective disciple-makers we must capitalize on all three kinds of discipleship. This enables us to make well-rounded disciples who not only believe the gospel, but whose lives are shaped by the gospel.