| Discipleship Chains
3. Discipleship chains
In this chapter we are going to focus on how more mature believers can pass on what they have learned to newer believers. We will call these mature believers "disciplers", and those they teach "disciples". As older ones train younger ones who in turn train new followers of Jesus we can call this interlinking set of relationships a discipleship chain. You might look at 2 Timothy 2:2 for Paul's exhortation to Timothy to develop such a chain. Having said this, however, it is good to remember that Jesus 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. The First Link in the Chain For practical application, let us look at discipleship chains in the context of starting a church. A church can be started by anyone (church planter, elder, shepherding deacon, even a new believer), but for the purposes of this paper we will refer to him as a "church planter" even if he is going to remain as a leader of the church and not be itinerant. Let us suppose that the church planter is focusing on a new believer. His hope is to penetrate that new believer'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. (A link can form even before he is a believer!) If that believer is married, then a second link forms between him and his wife. The new believer's training could focus on two practical 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 3 minutes of 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. A husband should always be trained to shepherd his wife and children. This must receive high priority in his discipling. Older believing women should also disciple younger women, but her husband MUST be involved. Often marriage counseling may be 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 shepherd 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". We mean 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, during the evangelism stage, 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 explaining the change is the most natural way to convey the gospel. New believers need to be taught how to do this. A study of John 9, including the cost of following Christ, can be very helpful. A theological analysis on salvation is not usually helpful at this stage; it makes salvation cognitive rather than transformational. For church planting, the goal of evangelism is to start a gathering meeting with those in one's social circle who may be interested. As he 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 new 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 having a family Bible study time (3-5 minutes a day). He should also be 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. When the church planter leaves, the house church will fall, since they will have become dependant on the church planter. If the church planter remains (as say an elder) he has developed a dependant church and quenched the every member ministry which the Holy Spirit desires. 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 which then permeates the church! As soon as a gathering meeting begins, the new believer follows up on those he invites. He does this by simply passing on what he has just learned from the church planter about Kingdom living and evangelism. 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. 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 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. 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 (See below) 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, deacons or whatever you choose to call your leaders. (Remember, women lead women also so their needs to be recognized leadership here as well!) 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. 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. The Fellowship of Church Planters has developed many materials to assist in this. A materials list will be provided to any requesting it. We now turn to the definition of the church we need for this kind of discipleship Back |