Episode 19 - Discipleship

Introduction

What’s up, guys!

This is Josh with Shepherd’s Cast and I want to welcome you to the podcast where I talk to you about the things that I find important. My content is meant to inform, educate, puzzle, or be funny. If it does something other than what I’ve just said, then Soli Deo Gloria, we will just call it providence. All of what I say is read from blog posts that I have written and can be found on my website with the link in the show notes.

So, anyway, yeah, here we go…

Topic

Today’s podcast is an interruption to the series in Matthew and it will be based purely on the idea of something I find extremely important and otherwise lacking in many churches today. That is a broad and generalized statement that is really aimed more toward churches that have larger congregations. The topic I’m referring to is discipleship.

Now, there are multiple different levels of discipleship. For instance, you have the formal idea of discipleship which would take place during the gathering on the Lord’s day or in any subsequent church event. This type of discipleship is more akin to a teacher and a student. While there are chances to ask questions or to learn away from simply the gathering, it is more aimed toward teaching the congregation as a whole rather than simply the teaching of a single person. You also have less formal discipleship that may exist among small groups or life groups. For this type of discipleship it is more personal where you can have a discussion with one another about certain biblical topics. This is more akin to a study group and is most likely done in a group of your own peers. The final type of discipleship, and that which I want to focus on, is the one-on-one style of discipleship where an elder or older Christian is encouraged to take a younger Christian under their wing. As in, a tutor, if we are staying within the confines of the original illustration.

Now, if you’re not going to a church that faithfully exposits the word or your church, though being larger, does not have breakout groups or you do not have a community of believers you can reach out to, you have another problem on your hands larger than the one I want to present. If, however, you do have that in your life and you are simply looking for a discipleship mentor, of sorts, then pay attention because I want to cover a couple of different biblical examples that show both the importance of this in our churches as well as the fruitfulness of such relationships.

Now, I’m not saying that if you don’t feel the need to be discipled you’re in any way wrong, nor am I suggesting that if you don’t feel the need to mentor someone you’re otherwise wrong. I simply want to propose a problem that I have personally seen visible in the church and why I believe mentorships or one-on-one discipleships would be beneficial.

I wanted to begin with reading the Great Commission given to us by our Lord before He ascended to the Father. Matthew 28:19-20 says “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” While it is important to share the gospel with all, fulfilling half of this command, it is also important to go forth and make disciples. You are to go forth, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” As in, if you go out and share the gospel but leave the newly converted Christian to their own devices you are only fulfilling half of the great commission. Even giving them a Bible without any discipleship can leave them wanting - as it leaves out all of church history and any sort of guidance that may be necessary.

Before I really dive in I want to define what discipleship means. Dictionary.com defines “discipleship” as “the condition or situation of being a disciple, a follower, or a student of some philosophy, especially a follower of Christ.” Let’s put this into even more understandable terms. Discipleship, in a Christian sort, would be to train someone up in the truth of the Christian faith. As in, a mentor would encourage the reading of the bible while they would assist in filling in the gaps that historical context may have left. As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, with a scripture saturated mind, the mentor can engage, rebuke, reprove, and encourage their disciple in the ways of the Christian faith. In other words, following the teachings of One, Jesus Christ, until you become, like the One, or conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. In theory, this would create an endless stream of disciples and disciple-makers, conforming each to the image of Christ.

In order to tackle this topic I am going to use a couple of different Scriptural examples:

The first example we are going to encounter actually comes from defining this idea of discipleship and it comes from Titus chapter two. “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” So, this idea of a discipleship chain didn’t really start in any modern sense, rather, it is something that is depicted in the word of God. Older women are to teach the younger women how to go about their godly lives, loving their husbands, and raising their children in a manner that glorifies God. And it’s not done simply in a spiritual sense, although that is clearly part of it. A good mentor would literally teach practical things that their disciple may need to know to simply go through life.

This, the practical wisdom, is one of the many reasons why it is important that an older person reach down to lift up a younger person. The practicality of specific life events must be taught, especially when the person who needs a mentor doesn’t have a great family system to fall back on to learn these things. While, in a perfect world, yes, these things would be extremely evident due to the teaching of our parents, but maybe the way our parents did it wasn’t exactly, one hundred-percent correct. What if, in learning that the way our parents did it is not correct, we go out searching for the way that is most God glorifying. What better way to give such knowledge than through the wisdom of the church.

This is not to suggest that the church should be a closed circuit, never getting any new information. Rather, wisdom gained through years of Christian living is immeasurably valuable, and the God who we worship never changes, Malachi 3:6 - and though the world seems to change before us in our short time, we must remember what the wisest of all men said - there is nothing new under the sun, Ecclesiastes 1:9-10.

We must rid ourselves of two views if we are to find benefit and be open to personal discipleship. First, the younger person who needs discipleship, no matter if they think they do or not, must value the knowledge and wisdom that can come from such a person. It would be egregious to believe that the wisdom they have to offer is of no use when they’ve already lived through this life, or, have at least progressed further than the one seeking wisdom. And, likewise, for the older person, it should burn in your mind that what you have to say and what you have to offer does have worth and it should be gifted to the younger person. Rather than seeking it from untrustworthy self-help articles online, we should seek knowledge from our elders at the local church body.

The second example I want to focus on is more of an entire book, or two, overview rather than a passage. The relationship I want to focus on for this next example is that of Paul and Timothy. In the first book of Timothy, Paul literally calls Timothy his “child in the faith,” 1 Timothy 2:2. It isn’t really safe to assume that Paul took part in Timothy’s conversion, whereas it is probably more likely that Paul ordained Timothy for the ministry. It is quite clear from this letter, and the following letter, that Paul and Timothy had a discipleship/mentor relationship. So, what can we gather from the examples found in these letters?

First, and foremost, we must remember that these epistles were aimed at Timothy as the primary recipient but were also meant to be read aloud to the church of Ephesus. These epistles focused mainly on instruction for Timothy’s pastoral ministry but also included quite a few personal touches that showed the relationship and the true love that Paul had for Timothy. So let’s take a look at a few different things that show the fruit of such a relationship.

To begin with, as mentioned before, Paul refers to Timothy as his child in the faith multiple times. Since we have already touched on this, however, let’s continue on.

Next, Paul makes sure to mention that Timothy should not completely abstain from alcohol due to his stomach problems in 1 Timothy 5:23. Now, this does not add or subtract from the debate of completely abstaining from alcohol; it is simply the call to use alcohol for some form of medicinal use. It would seem that this piece of advice is a bit disconnected from the other verse, however, in the context of purity, it is entirely possible that Timothy completely refused anything other than water for the sake of his own purity. Paul would have known this being so close to his child in the faith, and would have wanted to warn him not to remain strictly with water only as it would not affect his purity.

Next, in 2 Timothy 1:3-7, Paul explains how he prays every day for Timothy and how he fondly remembers Timothy’s sincere faith. He then makes mention of the faith of Timothy’s grandmother and mother and how he hopes the flame of that faith is just as present in Timothy as it was in them. This passage is one that is frequently used to show the evidence of a believer being baptized at belief rather than as an infant, however, that is not the focus of our mission today. This passage also shows how close-knit the body of believers is, and just how personal of a pastoral mentor Paul was to Timothy. It must have been an encouragement to Timothy for Paul to highlight his family in an expression of who he thinks of when he, himself, needs encouragement.

The final thing I want to highlight, though there are so many, are the many and specific attempts at encouraging Timothy. The work of the ministry is, indeed, hard, and can be trying both on one’s spirit as well as their physical endurance. Paul makes great pains all throughout his letters to Timothy to encourage him to persevere. This is both a highlight of how God uses means to achieve the ends of His plan, as well as a show of how Paul truly cares for the well-being and spirit of His child in the faith. With statements such as “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus…” 2 Timothy 2:1, we see a father imploring his child to persevere as those around him fall away, 2 Timothy 4:9-16.

In summary, we see that, one-on-one, Paul presently and actively engages his disciple. We see that Paul cares about his well-being in the faith, as well as his physical well-being. We see instances where Paul thinks of Timothy with such fondness as to be an encouragement to himself. And, finally, we see Paul exhorting and imploring his disciple to push forward and to persevere - not simply because Paul is losing everyone else, but that he cares specifically for Timothy. Yes, from this, the church can take that they need to persevere, as well, but Paul specifically outlines it for Timothy.

While I believe these two Scriptural examples, Timothy and Titus, will suffice, I do have one more example from Scripture that I would like to use to support my belief in the need for one-on-one discipleship. Ephesians 4:11-16 says “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

As a body of believers, much of that can be done by the preaching of the word and even by the study of Scripture. However, the purpose of these things are to build up and equip the saints for the ministry - growing us into mature Christians until we all attain “to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.” Not all of this can be done in a group setting or from pastor to a congregant. Much of this must be done by the saints lifting up one another, mentoring one another, reaching to the lower-rung of the ladder, so-to-speak, and lifting up your brother or sister in Christ to your level of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

I wanted to wrap up this podcast with a point from personal experience. Since this does not hold any weight when compared to Scripture I made sure to save it for the end. I do , however, feel as if it is a point of evidence in what does, and does not work.

As a new Christian I was thrust into a small-group where no-one really had a grasp on good doctrine. Mind you, no one was a heretic, that I knew of, but most people were on my level of understanding. We weren’t really following a lesson plan or anything that guided us, we really just made our own lessons as we went. We would read some Scripture and determine the truths from it as we went, and, as a new Christian, half the time I had no idea what I was talking about. Before long I had taken the lead and started teaching my own group. This was a terrible idea. I mean, the fire was present, of course, but the knowledge and wisdom was not there.

Let me just give you an example of how this went. We started off our new small group with myself as the leader by proposing we answer tough questions proposed by anonymous sources in the group. The first question was “What happens initially when we die?” It was up to us to go out, read the bible, and determine the answer from there. So I created an entire lesson around the heretical idea of “soul-sleep.” Mind you, I had no idea what I was talking about, and neither did anyone else. Continuing on, I found Reformed Theology, but still had no clue what I was talking about, and I taught about the five points of Calvinism. In this, during the T, which is total depravity, I mentioned that we lost the Imago Dei at the fall. Yikes!

My point is this: I would trust myself running a small-group now, but of course there is still a ton of stuff I don’t know; I am faithfully studying and can now humbly admit when I am wrong. I also know trusted sources, I study my confession, I read my catechism, ect. But, back then, I would not have trusted myself to make a trustworthy facebook post, and people looked to me for answers for tough questions. I had the opportunity to, not only lead people astray, but teach someone something that could shake their faith and cause them to leave. Mind you, I know that if they left us, they were never part of us, but I would have been that God-ordained means to the end of them showing their true colors. So, while life-skills discipleship may have been possible, it would have been impossible for me to lead anyone correctly in the faith. I was immature, still am to an extent, and still on the milk, choking on the stuff I wasn’t ready for.

While this isn’t everyone’s experience, it was mine. Small-group or life-group was not the place to find discipleship, especially one-on-one discipleship, and it is my firm belief that though it is possible to find it there, it is, and would be, more beneficial to seek discipleship from someone more mature in the faith, and in life, than where you currently are.

Final Word of the Day

I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. It is always a pleasure to bring the word of God to those who are seeking to know more about Him.

I also want to thank Chorus in the Chaos, the two admins of which assisted me in putting together some of the references, here.

The final word of the day comes to us from a good friend of mine, Jacob McDaniel, with J.M. Ministries. I asked him to provide for me a couple of thoughts on discipleship. Check it out.

*Listen to my podcast for this!*

Again, that was Jacob McDaniel, and you can find him on Facebook at J.M. Ministries; He has shown himself to be absolutely on fire for God and I, personally, find him to be an incredible encouragement. If you want to listen to more that he has to offer you can find a link to his page and his tiktok in the show notes. He is fighting the good fight in a dark place, so-to-speak.

A special thanks to Jesus Wannabeez for allowing me to use their newest track, Ephesians 6, in my intro and outro music. You can find a link to their Spotify in the show notes.

And, as always, may the light of the holy God shine upon you.

Amen.