By Dana Allin
- Discipleship is more of a journey than it is an event.
- Making disciples is the primary task to which Jesus calls us.
- Many churches know that making disciples is a core value of the church, and will even put it in their mission statement, but are failing at doing it.
- Discipleship, which is helping others love Jesus more, has too often been overcomplicated.
- A reason we’ve failed in making disciples is because we do not have a clear, Biblical understanding of what a disciple of Jesus is to look like.
- If the church helps people love God with their heads and hands, yet not with their hearts, they’re doing a great disservice.
- As churches, we sometimes confront discipleship as everyone needs to grow in the same areas, but that is not always the case.
- We are not only saved by grace, but we continue to grow in grace as disciples of Christ.
- Discipleship is so much more than dispensing information. A big misconception is that the more information we have, the more transformation will occur.
- True discipleship is about being transformed.
- Discipleship transformation does not happen at a microwave speed.
- To disciple, a person should know you care for them and they’re not just a project.
- True growth takes time and intentional effort.
- A mistake in discipleship is feeling you have to be a mentor, which is one who has more experience. It is good to see yourself as a coach, which doesn’t mean you are better than the other person, yet you are drawing out the best of the other person.
- Clarify your goal as where you want the person to be after completing discipleship.
- Be careful as you give advice. Do not try to offer solutions for everything they ask, rather ask questions questions that will help them think through what they need to do.
- If you can help disciples, think for themselves, they will be better prepared to disciple others in the future.