4-Session Basic Obedient Discipleship Course

Session 4/4: Be Discipled – Disciple Others – to Disciple Others – to…

Jesus calls us to spread the good news of His goodness and grace. To do that well, we must follow Him – and follow others as they follow Him (not when they don’t). So we must follow Jesus directly by reading and doing what He is, does, and says. The church is not a building – it is a family, an army, a group of friends, a gathering of disciples of Jesus, His bride – who work together and help each other to bring the Kingdom of God to earth, defeating the devil and destroying sin, taking personal responsibility to be best friends with Him, obey Him, follow Him, and lead others to do the same.

It helps to have good help from good, genuine, humble, on-fire, experienced disciples to do this. We all need to be in a healthy discipling relationship and to be discipled and mentored.

Multiplication of ourselves is at the heart of God. Jesus – God – the Father and the Holy Spirit were, are, and will forever be all about empowerment: You can do this, and God says: I am with you and will help you. Friendly mutual accountability is at the core here. So, from the start, we want to help you by mentoring you – and for you to start mentoring. All you get is meant to be passed on by you to others. Please begin to think this way: What I get is for me – and for me to give to others.

We practice friendly mutual accountability: first we are accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ, and then to healthy brothers and sisters. Come on the adventure of Matthew 10:1-42 and Luke 10:1-24 – together. Let’s do all that Jesus was, did, taught, and commanded – and that the disciples then were, did, taught, and commanded. That is revival. That is obedient discipleship. That is friendly mutual accountability: to have one or more mentors and disciplers – and to be a mentor and discipler of others.

Join us! Come learn and grow with us in how to seek the Father one-on-one, how to read and obey the Bible – the eternal Word of God – how to share your story and lead people to faith. Learn how to do the miracles. Learn how to hear from Heaven, repent, admit mistakes, and make healthy changes for the better. Learn how to make disciples, cast out demons, raise the dead, heal the sick, prophesy, fill people with the Holy Spirit and fire, rebuke and address sin in humility and love – yet with clarity, boldness, and authority – baptize people in water, and lead people to repentance. Learn how to be a disciple who makes disciples, who make disciples.

The things [the doctrine, the precepts, the admonitions, the sum of my ministry] which you have heard me teach in the presence of many witnesses, entrust [as a treasure] to reliable and faithful people who will also be capable and qualified to teach others. (AMP)

2 Timothy 2:2

He went up on the hillside and called those whom He Himself wanted and chose; and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve [disciples], so that they would be with Him [for instruction] and so that He could send them out to preach [the gospel as apostles—that is, as His special messengers, personally chosen representatives], and to have authority and power to cast out demons. (AMP)

Mark 3:13-15

And the same in Luke 10:1-24 – the calling of the 70 others – again to do the same. And to do it everywhere: on the streets, in gatherings of the saints, at parties, out shopping, out eating, etc.

Let’s be “others” together and live this discipleship life. Don’t let the enemy lie to you and take that away from you. Do not agree with the enemy in your mind or words that this cannot be done – for ANY reason. The Bible literally says: Nothing is impossible for the one who believes, and nothing is impossible for God. We have been given power to heal and authority over all the power of the enemy. The way to turn it into action is humility, bold action, time, perseverance, and childlike, simple obedience – also when things don’t seem to work as we expect. Then keep going in obedience.

This can be done. You can multiply yourself – if you are willing to be obedient. Yes – there is a learning curve; that is what discipleship is all about. So, choose to be in an intentional relationship for discipleship, multiplication, growth, and strength. This will accomplish strong mutual learning for both the discipler and the disciple. Find someone to pass on to others what you have learned – even how to lead a home church group.

A culture of empowerment

Because God is like this, we will have a culture of empowerment:

• We encourage all new believers to share the good news.
• We will model for you how to start new worshiping communities (not just one – but many).
• We will empower you, help you, equip you with tools and teaching, model it before you, and give you our friendship and a mentoring, discipling relationship – to start new groups immediately.

We will watch over and release you as new disciples to lead the new groups you start. It may sound strange to say that “new disciples start new worshiping communities immediately.” But we believe in entrusting ministry to imperfect people. If you are willing to grow, repent, and own your mistakes, you can do that – as you also minister and help others. Jesus taught the same things to all 12 apostles, including Judas, knowing he would betray Him. He taught the same things to Peter, knowing Peter would deny Him. Yes, all of them deserted Him in the end. But all except Judas came back stronger after they repented. So, irrespective of the results, we will teach you, our disciples, what God has assigned us to teach. We don’t wait for the perfect situation and the perfect people.

Groups that hold a high standard of qualifications for service always experience relatively slow growth. Jesus didn’t wait for perfection before entrusting ministry, so why should we stress out when the people we disciple aren’t yet perfect? Are we even perfect ourselves? No. More mature, stronger, wiser, more experienced, more holy and knowledgeable in different ways – yes – but perfect? Not yet. Only ONE is perfect.

• First, Jesus handed ministry to His disciples and empowered them, in spite of all their limitations and imperfections.
• Second, we will empower grassroots leadership at the local level and assist local leaders in starting new worshiping communities. We will not establish work dependent on outsiders, which would leave the work vulnerable. Empowering local leaders brings local ownership, resulting in long-term viability and multiplication.
• Third, we empower and equip all believers to do ministry in Jesus’ name. This means no clergy/laity distinction. We are not dependent on a paid and educated minister, priest, or pastor. We avoid the mindset of positional leadership and don’t call our staff “Reverend,” “Priest,” or “Pastor.” When we connect with new people, we ask to call each other “brother” or “sister.” If people call you by a title, they won’t fully open up to you, and they will let you do the things they should be trained to do themselves. If they call you “brother,” they will be more open to share and to take on responsibility. It becomes a personal relationship rather than a formal one.

Intentional planting and reproduction

We practice intentionality in:

1. Sharing the good news,
2. Making disciples, and
3. Planting home church groups.

All three need intentionality. They don’t happen automatically. We will intentionally produce disciples who produce disciples and plant churches in their homes that plant churches in their homes.

This DNA has resulted in church multiplication beyond 20 generations. It gets passed on not through packaged information but through a shared lifestyle. Everything hinges on intentional discipleship. Lack of clarity about discipleship results in failure.

A lot of churches don’t have a clear idea of how to make a disciple. How sad, since Jesus’ last command to us was “Make disciples of all nations (all groups of people)” (Matthew 28:18-20). McDonald’s has no confusion about how to make a burger. If you ask any worker at McDonald’s how to make a burger, they’ll give you a clear, simple answer. But if you ask most Christians how to make a disciple, you’ll likely get either a blank look or a rambling, complicated answer. Discipleship happens best in an apprenticeship relationship – the most effective model for training and learning in all kinds of fields. Doctors, carpenters, teachers, and businesspeople all learn through apprenticeship. It’s a lifestyle, not a curriculum: not a course, but showing people how to do something and doing it together in everyday life. That kind of discipleship enables effective leadership transitions. We don’t worry about someone “taking over” for a leader, because we constantly mentor new leaders in their own context.

We multiply ourselves instead of keeping the work focused on ourselves and hoping to pass it on to one other person. Jesus used this approach: He passed His ministry on to many, not to one. We aim for decentralized multiplication, not building ourselves up as a center of power. This intentionality in discipleship and church planting results in effective reproduction.

Now understand, pray, and take action

• Now – who can you learn this from one-on-one?
• Now – who can you give this to?
• Now – who can they give this to? – and onward.

Contact us to get help with your next steps in your normal, obedient, original, Jesus-style discipleship journey.

For more inspiration on this pure, copy-paste, original discipleship life as obedient disciples directly under Jesus, please read and listen to these materials by Victor John, who has seen 25 million come to faith in the last 25 years in a very hard-to-reach people group using these biblical principles.