Share Jesus shared who He was through words and deeds.
Connect When people accepted his message, He invited them to connect with him in a relationship.
Minister As these disciples matured, Jesus trained them to minister to the lost and to his other followers.
Disciple Finally, after Jesus rose from the dead, he deployed His followers to disciple others.
According to this, discipling others means:
- Sharing our time and life with them for a period of time.
- Inviting them to spend time with us.
- They will watch how we handle situations in life.
- See how we relate to God and His Word.
- See how we treat our husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, parents and children.
- See how we handle our time, money, and spare time.
- This means we will be under the microscope, open to judgment.
- We will need to give up precious time, and some privacy, for someone else, for their benefit, to the glory of God.
- We must not only connect with our disciples but allow them to connect to us.
- We open ourselves to the possibilities of things going wrong.
- Just as Peter denied Jesus in His hour of need, discipling can have its problems.
- But, also as with Peter, when Jesus restored him, our disciples will become more useful to God as they learn to give up their old ways, and put on the new.
- Through discipleship, we can train men and women, who will then be able to be used in the service of God.
- They will learn from us that it is not hard to serve God.
- The will learn that serving God means ministering to others.
- They will learn that loving God means more than some just lip service.
- As our disciple watch us and see us minister to others, they will mature and develop the confidence they themselves need to start ministering.
- This way God can use them to further minister to others in their lives.
By Jesus training twelve disciples, He managed to impact the entire world. By training just a few disciples, you could impact the lives of hundreds, if not thousands. The main point is, you can teach other best by how you live than with all the words you can speak.
I have included a poem on the next page which I believe will better illustrate the importance of showing, as compared to telling.
I’d Rather See A Sermon
Edgar A. Guest
I’d rather see a sermon
than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me
than merely tell the way.
The eye’s a better pupil
and more willing than the ear,
Fine counsel is confusing,
but example’s always clear;
And the best of all preachers
are the men who live their creeds,
For to see good put in action
is what everybody needs.
I soon can learn to do it
if you’ll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action,
but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lecture you deliver
may be very wise and true,
But I’d rather get my lessons
by observing what you do;
For I might misunderstand you
and the high advice you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding
how you act and how you live.
