Discipleship is what Christians are called to do. Its not an objective that one person can see completed from the giving of the command all the way through the end but rather one that takes generations and generations of dedicated followers in order to see the command completed. Today, the church struggles with the task of discipling its congregants and believers. There are far more people who need to be discipled and trained then we have to do so.
I spoke with Pastor Ricky George, a youth pastor from New Jersey who is actively working to solve a problem that he is confronted with; there aren’t enough disciples for the youth to be discipled. I asked him how discipleship was taking place and his reply was one that we hear frequently but carried a tone of importance. He replied by referencing Paul when he said that it’s sharing the Gospel and sharing their lives, making a large emphasis on sharing their life. “America is very selfish. We’ll share a bible study but we won’t share our lives with them. At that point, we’re just teaching religion,” Said Ricky. He is making a huge effort to expose himself and his family to everyone that they take on as a disciple. I say them because he has been very intentional to ensure that his wife and kids are just as much apart of it as he is.
He looks for those that will follow through with being a disciple. He noted that qualities such as commitment, faithfulness, being responsible, having a desire for discipleship, and an open heart for the spirits guidance are important qualities in those that he chooses to disciple. He used the acronym ‘F.A.S.T.’ (Faithful, Available, Submissive, and Teachable) to paint a great overall picture of the caliper of person that he seeks to disciple.
Discipling someone is a great opportunity but comes with a number of difficulties that frustrate, discourage, and have an overall negative effect on the discipleship process. Things such as an individual’s lack of commitment, the busy schedule of their life, a lack of proper priorities, a lack of desire for further growth and a lack of faith. These can become major problems when trying to disciple someone else, he says. To combat these difficulties, however, he says that there is a considerable amount of time going into in prayer, showing them how to do things in their own life by his (and his family’s) example, teaching the word of God, and teaching the truth.
When I asked him the question of how he assesses growth there was a short moment of pause before he spoke. He didn’t say it, but I was able to tell through inflection and behaviors that this wasn’t an easy question to answer. His answer was very influential on me and made me really think. This was a question that I did not even have partially answered in my own head so hearing anybody else’s answer would surely help me. He first gave an example of two disciples that he’s currently working with and told me that he saw them playing basketball on the court behind the church with teens from the community that don’t come to the church. “They would never have done that before, it’s not like who they were,” Ricky said. This was a great example of what impact the discipleship should have however Ricky went on to say that true discipleship should test them and ask them just how willing they are to serve others. He said that the way he looks at it was through the lens of Galatians chapter 5, the fruit of the spirit. If there is a change in the demonstration of the fruits of the spirit there is fairly solid evidence that the Spirit is working within them.
Lastly, I asked him what resources he used to aid him in the path to disciple those that he was working with and he mentioned two books that were more than important tools in his arsenal. Discipleship Essential by Greg Ogden is the book he uses to minister to those in the large group of disciples and Rehab by Josh Mayo is the book that is used to disciple the smaller group of core leaders.
