What does a disciplemaker need to be? Need to know? Need to do? Create a three-column chart and consider each category. Everyone’s list will be a little bit different, and that’s okay.
Helping clients define discipleship
Being
What does a disciplemaker need to be? Reflect here on character qualities. How do you experience the person? To what degree have they worked on problems and challenges in their lives? How have they surrendered to God with humility? Disciplemakers don’t need to be perfect, but they do need to be people who can reflect Jesus well to others.
Knowing
What does a disciplemaker need to know? Be sure to set the bar low here. Someone doesn’t need to have attended seminary or Bible college in order to make disciples. They don’t even need to have been a Christian for even a year. What do they need to know? The life and basic teachings of Jesus, his death and his resurrection. Another helpful category may be knowing how to ask for help when needed.
Doing
What does a disciplemaker need to do? Consider the ways in which people need to live as Jesus did, and love as Jesus did. Effective disciplemakers need to know how to reach out to other people, ask good questions, and be intentional about engaging others. Disciplemakers need to overcome fear of getting involved or being inconvenienced. They need to avoid the trap of being too busy to help others. They need to avoid being controlling, but trust in the Holy Spirit to do his work. Brainstorm and consider other behaviors disciplemakers would need in order to be effective.
Coaching Tips
The goal of ministry is to make disciples who go on to make more disciples—and don’t let the chain end with them. To make this happen, it’s necessary to be proactive about thinking through the essential qualities of a disciple.
Disciple-making disciples don’t just happen. First you need a framework for getting it done. Second, you need to create the personal commitment and resilience necessary to see the vision turned to reality. Third, once you have a clear framework, you’ll need to think through how you can create habits that foster those qualities—both in yourself and in others.
Resources
The Discipleship Difference*- Every person is different and we all reflect God in different ways. So why is our typical approach to discipleship the same across the board? The Discipleship Difference lays out an intentional, holistic, and relational approach to discipleship that is individualized to meet each person wherever they are and help them take their next best step toward God.
Guide for Discipling- This set of 8 discipleship guides then is essentially an expansion of chapter two in The Discipleship Difference, where Bob discusses the 8 qualities Jesus built into his disciples. Guide for Discipling is written from a coaching perspective so open-ended questions are the backbone of the 40 lessons covering the 8 dimensions of discipleship. (Link directs to Logan Leadership)
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