CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Discipleship Chains

Introduction
Christ called his followers to be "disciples" or learners. We are in that learning process from the moment we come to Christ to the day we die. In this sense we are always in a "discipleship chain". This is a "chain" which began with Jesus himself, in which an older believer disciples a younger one, who disciples others. We focus on the "output" of the chain in this paper, but it is important for those in leadership to be certain that there is adequate input. This may come often through short-term commitments to a mentor. Marriage enrichment studies, prayer partnerships, studies in a Bible book together, undergoing intense training of a particular type for a stated period of time will all add to the ongoing discipling of a leader. For me it has often meant going to the "ends of the earth" to find someone who can help me in my quest "to press on the high calling in Christ Jesus" (Ph 3:14).

But now to the "output" of your discipleship chain. Jesus called his disciples to Him and began to instruct them in the ministries he gave to them. In the same way our discipleship's primary emphasis is "equipping the saints for the work of ministry" (Eph. 4:12). The goal should not be simply to impart knowledge, but rather equipping the saints to minister. Therefore theological training alone will not be the vehicle by which we disciple, but rather getting our disciple involved in ministry and then training him theologically as he needs to apply it to his ministry. There will also be training in transformation as flaws in character become evident as our disciple gets involved in ministry.

The First Link in the Chain
For practical application, let us look at discipleship chains in the context of church planting. A church can be planted by anyone (church planter, elder, shepherding deacon, etc), but for the purposes of this chapter we will refer to him as a "church planter". Let us suppose that the church planter is focusing on a new believer through whom he hopes to penetrate that person's social circle and start a house church. Immediately a discipleship chain is formed with the first link between the church planter and the new believer. If that believer is married, then a second link forms between him and his wife.

In this case the believer's training should focus on two areas:

1. Shepherding his wife. If she is an unbeliever, he begins to read scripture in the home and share God's plan of salvation and Kingdom living with his wife. Reading schedules can be developed to help a new believer do this. He should be encouraged to read these daily (often at the end of a meal, as a regular discipline), taking 5 minutes or so to discuss the passage. This should not be preaching, but a brief time of exploring the passage. If he has children they need to be involved. Many Bible stories can be used to communicate the basics of the Gospel and a life in the Kingdom. A husband should always be trained to care for his wife and children. This must receive high priority in his discipling. Older believing women should also disciple younger women, but this should not let the husband off the hook! Often marriage counseling is needed to break down barriers which have been built over years. But here also, the church planter should not usurp the place of the husband as head of the home. THE HUSBAND MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY to love and care for his wife. This discipleship is ongoing. All leaders need accountability to continue enriching their marriages.

2. Sharing the evangel with those of his social circle. One's social circle includes relatives, friends, co-workers, etc. We are NOT talking about handing them a tract and preaching the "4 spiritual laws" to them. This often begins with a careful, thoughtful presentation of his or her personal testimony as to why his or her life is changing. This can be difficult, especially with relatives and close friends. Hopefully, when the gospel was presented, the new believer learns that salvation brings him into a new kingdom where life is different. Being translated into God's Kingdom is like moving to a new country. We put off old patterns of life which are not in keeping with the new country and put on new ones (Cf. Eph. 4:17-24, Col. 1:13). This can be quite frightening to people close to the new Christian, but it is the most natural way to convey the gospel. New believers need to be taught how to do this. A study of John 4 or 9, including the cost of following Christ, can be very helpful. A theological treatise on salvation is not usually helpful at this stage; it makes salvation cognitive rather than transformational. That can come later.

For church planting, the goal of evangelism is to start a gathering meeting with those in one's social circle who may be interested, not merely bring one individual to Christ. As the new believer begins the above steps he looks for 2 or 3 people from his social group who will gather to study God's word.

The Second and Third Links in the Chain
At this stage the seeds of disaster are most likely to be sown. As the believer gathers his friends and relatives, HE needs to be encouraged to follow up on these himself, imparting to them the very things HE HAS LEARNED in getting the gathering group going. At this point he should be started in having a family Bible study time (3-5 minutes a day) and in evangelizing his social circle. He teaches these newer ones the same things. The great mistake made at this point is that the new contacts are followed up by the church planter! As a result, the group becomes a one-link-discipleship-chain-church, ie. everyone attaches to the church planter and not to one another. He becomes the hub of a wheel. When the hub leaves, the house church will fall, since they will have become dependant on the church planter. The church planter cannot become a hub which holds it all together, no matter how tempting it is (and it will be)!
Of course some might argue that the church planter can do a better job following up the new contacts. That may be true, but what he can't do better is reproduce the disciple. For churches to reproduce, discipleship reproduction must be the primary goal. In order for this to happen, the disciple must be trained to pass on what he has learned at the earliest possible moment. By passing on what he learns to another person, he will learn it better, and will reproduce himself in the process. My experience is that if it is done very early, it happens naturally. The longer you wait, the more likely a new convert will try to excuse himself from the responsibility by looking at his inadequacies rather than the power of Christ! (Cf. 2 Cor. 3:4-6). After a short while it is virtually impossible reverse this passivity!

As soon as a gathering meeting is planned, the new believer must follow up on those he invites. He does this by simply passing on what he has just learned from the church planter. Thus the new ones begin to penetrate THEIR social circles for the gospel. The second link is forged in the chain as your disciple disciples his family and friends. The church planter may do this with the new convert, but he needs to be pushing off as much as possible on the new believer.

If a flood of people come to Christ, then two possibilities present themselves:

1. You sit down with your disciple and prayerfully decide who should shepherd whom. The church planter seeks first to mobilize another person with potential to start a new gathering. The church planter should not disciple more than 2 people in any one house church. In this way churches made up of 1-link disciple chains can be avoided.

2. If you can't disciple everyone in the above manner, then the ones not being shepherded should become a 3rd link in the chain; i.e. your disciple's disciple is helped to begin working with another new believer, passing on what he has learned from your disciple (once again, likely shepherding his family and evangelizing his social circle).

THREE LINK DISCIPLESHIP CHAINS MUST BE SET UP IF THERE WILL BE REPRODUCTION! The church planter should not leave until this is accomplished. 2 Tim. 2:2 exhorts Timothy to aim for 4-link discipleship chains. 4-link chains will ensure you reproduction of reproducing (think it through!), and thus of churches which plant churches.

Discipleship Chains and Leadership Development
If discipleship chains are kept up during all stages of house church development, leaders emerge naturally and relationally. Normally, in the latter part of the covenanting stage or shortly after, two of the men will be formally recognized as being the ones God is using to develop the group. The men could be appointed as elders, provisional elders, or shepherding deacons. (For job descriptions and responsibilities see the next chapter as well as Appendices 14&15).

The major difference between these categories of leaders is that elders would be at the beginning of a discipleship chain within a church. (Remember that all of us should be in a discipleship relationship -- and that chain may extend outside of the church. For instance, the church planter should leave once an elder is in place. But he would be available for ongoing help and may remain as a "mentor" of the elder). A provisional elder or shepherding deacon would always be in the second link, accountable to an elder or church planter.

Chains should be set up man to man and woman to woman. The husband will always be involved with his wife, but there are certain things that are appropriate for other women to teach his wife (Cf. Titus 2:3-5). Women's discipleship chains are crucial for the health and survival of the church. We recommend women to be appointed as shepherding deacons at the top of each discipleship chain of women in the church. A women shepherding deacon would, of course, be accountable to her husband or an elder. For more on women’s chains see the chapter on women leaders.

Other materials for use with your disciple may be developed as barriers are exposed and thus growth and transformation is required in order to progress to higher stages of Christian growth. See Readiness for Discipleship, Activities Menu for Leadership Development and Caring for the Flock for some things that the Fellowship of Church Planters has developed to help develop leaders (Appendices 16, 17, 18).

Leaders should regularly fill out the following 2 Timothy 2:2 diagram to track their discipleship to the 3rd and 4th generation. A concentration of one-link chains around the church planters or elders should be seen as a bad sign!

Key Principles

1. We are called to be reproducers, not just producers.

2. Leaders are especially called to be reproducers (Ephesians 4:11,12)

3. Church Planters are in the Ephesian 4 list and need to be forced to reproduce rather than do the ministry! One way of doing this is by setting up discipleship chains whereby we can see what our disciples are reproducing.

Questions for further thought

1. Find the diagram in the manual on discipleship chains. Fill in the boxes as much as you are able.

2. How much of a danger is there for you becoming the hub?

3. How much of a danger is there for your church to become too fragmented due to the fact that you are not following up effectively on your disciples to track what is happening down the chain?

4. What materials are you developing and using to ensure that solid truth is being used to transform your disciples as opposed to mere human persuasion and influence?