Where Disciple-Making Begins (part II)

 Go . . . make disciples. - Mathew 28:19

 A DISCIPLE IS . . .

Let's start with a definition easy enough for a child to understand:  A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, loves Jesus, learns from Jesus, and obeys Jesus in all of life.  Discipleship is a relationship with Jesus that's based on love, guided by His commandments, and nurtured in a community of faith.  Discipleship is both a decision about life and the life itself.

For parents, this definition is a reminder of their accountability to Jesus as the real parental authority in a child's life.  Parents need more than their best ideas to raise disciples.  They need to know that Jesus leads them as they parent His children.  It means everything sends them back to God and His Word-sibling rivalry, leisure boundaries, scheduling priorities, discipline-it's all about discipling.

For teachers and others who invest in children's lives, the definition gives the real reason for their involvement in the life of children.  They just answer the question "How does my involvement in this child's life grow a disciple?"  They can't allow themselves to get sidetracked by teaching information or rules to the exclusion of modeling what a disciple looks like, talks like, thinks like, acts like, and loves like.

Disciple-making doesn't happen by accident.  It isn't caught by reading Bible stories together.  It isn't just a set of skills or answering Bible questions correctly, and it certainly isn't just about faithful church attendance.  Discipleship is a matter of the heart and will, mind and soul, body and spirit.  There's nothing that a person says, thinks, dreams, or does that doesn't come under the discipleship umbrella.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

No matter what your relationship to a child is, there's a discipling role for you to play.  Sometimes it's impromptu.  Sometimes it's planned.  Sometimes you're the primary disciple.  Sometimes you're support.  It's body life in action.

Take a look at the following components of disciple-making.  How are you doing with the children within your circle of influence?

Live a daily commitment to Jesus.  First of all, a disciple keeps his or her life as a follower of Jesus up to date.   Every day is an opportunity to apply fresh insights about how following Jesus makes a difference in relationships, in contentment, in goal-setting, in everything.  It's when we connect these life lesions to the Scripture and principles we want children to understand that it begins to turn light bulbs on for them.

Model what it means to follow Jesus.  Nothing substitutes for a flesh-and-blood example, because children are literal and concrete.  They don't apply ideas as easily as they follow examples.  God understands that we all learn that way.   That's why God brought Jesus to us in the flesh-because ideas and instructions aren't enough.  We must also commit ourselves to show and not just tell how to live as a disciple.  We must be honest about how discipleship shows up in our television and movie choices.  We must be honest about how it governs our decisions about money and time.  We can't offer them our best idea about being a disciple-we have to offer them our journey.

Tell the story.  The story God wants us to share is about a love that never goes away.  It's about how God spared nothing to rescue us from our own destructive self-centeredness.  Tell the story to children as many times as you can.  Use pictures and activities and books.  No other story has the potential to give children their most valuable gift-eternal life.

Spend one-on-one time.  At some point, discipling is a one-on-one model.  You can successfully teach the big principles, the great stories, and the basic skills in groups with activities.  But group discipling will always fall short.  It's the one-on-one process that encourages questions, gives uniquely shaped encouragement, and provides personal accountability.  For parents, this can take place in the car, during a meal, before bedtime, and in a number of impromptu moments that open up each day.  For ministry volunteers, this might mean time before class, a scheduled time outside of class, a personal exchange in an unplanned encounter.  Not every teacher may be able to make a one-on-one commitment with each child, but every child should have more than a parent committing one-on-one time.

Read and discuss God's word together.  There's no substitute for God's Word.  It must have a central place in the home and classroom.  Home issues should make you search the Scriptures for God's principles.  Classroom questions should do the same.  If our children never see us answer their questions by searching God's word, how can we expect them to make their own personal discoveries?

Help children become disciple-makers.  When anyone decides to follow Jesus as His disciple, he or she also joins the disciple-making mission of God's plan.  As parents and ministry workers, we must help children understand this component of being a disciple.

Pray together.  Discipling children takes more than praying for them.  It take praying with them.  There are many opportunities thoughout a family's day when this can happen.  Other disciple-makers must also look for opportunities.  Don't simply tell a child that you'll pray for him or her.  Pray with the child first.

Encourage questions.  Let children's questions tell you what they're ready to learn.  From simple curiosity to critical inquiry questions open doors to personal learning and application.  Don't expect to have all the answers.  Sometime their questions make you a learner with them in a way that bonds all of you as disciples in the making.

Celebrate growth.  We celebrate good grades, soccer game wins, birthdays, and any number of accomplishments in the lives of our children.  How do we celebrate a decision to follow Christ with equal enthusiasm?  How do we celebrate when a child rejects temptation or applies something from God's Word to life.   This is a fun way to support a child on a discipleship journey.  Perhaps when we start celebrating discipleship milestones in the same way we celebrate other events, children will get the message-discipleship rocks!

TIME TO GET SERIOUS

It's time for all of us to stop passing the buck.  Parents want the church to do a better job teaching children about following Jesus.  The church wants the home to do a better job.  The truth is that by working together, we'll all do a better job raising disciples for the next generation.

We have the most exciting adventure ahead of us.  And the statistics are in our favor.  Early training does make a difference.  Godly models do matter.  While there's no guaranteed formula for instant results, we can have the confidence of knowing that there's nothing God wants more than for us to help Him get His children home.

Will it take new ideas?  Probably.  Will it take a wisdom that doesn't come from books?  Absolutely.  Most of all, it will require that each of us takes himself or herself to the Master Disciple-maker.  As we present ourselves to Jesus, ask for His empowerment, and obey His instructions, we'll become the disciples our children need

Taken from Raising Kids to Extraordinary Faith, by Debbie Salter Goodwin © 2008 by Debbie Salter Goodwin and Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO.  Used by permission of Publisher.  All rights reserved.  Visit our website at www.beaconhillbooks.com to purchase this title.