Center for Biblical Coaching

What is Discipleship?

When given the assignment to interview pastors on the topic of discipleship, it took me a while to decide who I wanted to ask and what people would have good perspectives to glean from. I finally decided on John Krieger and Bill Fowler. John is the pastor of families in my church back home in South Carolina and Bill is the pastor of one of our offspring churches in Georgia, that is now fully functioning on its own. I didn’t quite know what to expect when I began interviewing, but I am impressed with the outcome. John and Bill have two completely different stories of how learning took place in their lives. This difference between how they have been taught and view teaching brings a variety of perspectives into this topic of discipleship.

Even though there are ways in which Bill’s philosophy of discipleship differs a bit from that of John’s, when asked, “What is a disciple”, there was a common understanding of what it means to be a disciple, both in the broad sense and within Christianity. Both men went back and defined what the word disciple meant in the Greek, recognizing that in the broad sense a disciple is someone who follows or adheres to another persons teaching; a learner. Within Christianity they named the teacher as Christ, and the disciple as the one who is learning to obey Christ. Bill noted that, “It is more than just merely a convert to Jesus; it is someone who is taught to follow Christ, to obey, to serve, to love Him.” And John added, “The term disciple implies that the disciple submit himself to a higher authority who will serve as his teacher, guide and leader.” Not only do each of these men agree with each other on what a disciple is, I also agree with them and see how their views, at least so far, match up with the principles of discipleship we have been learning in class

I was quite thrilled when, after asking them, “ what should a mature disciple look like”, to see them both respond with scripture. Bill went through and listed passages that describe the disciple as: being willing to lay down everything for Christ (mat16:24), giving Jesus priority over all of our relationships and possessions (luke14:26-27,33), one who obeys Jesus (mat12:50), one who has a heart and passion to know God’s word (john8:31), loves people (john13:35), and one who continues to be involved in the disciple making process (mat28:18-20).

While, John simply states, “ a mature disciple should be someone who is sold out completely for Christ…Our love and devotion to God must not be superseded by anything including life.” John mentioned the early church martyrs’ steadfast devotion to the Lord and linked it to what a mature disciple should be expecting, persecution. John also believes that along with being willing to give up their interests for God’s, a mature disciple should be able to teach God’s word to other people with great passion and spend a lot of time on their knees. In both cases they view maturing disciples as being fully surrendered to God.

Taking a closer look into understandings of these men, I want to turn to their experience with discipleship. First we will take a look at Bill who interned at a church for three years during his time in seminary. In those three years he developed a close relationship with Bob, the pastor of that church. With the intention of helping Bill to develop into a future pastor, Bob would talk multiple time a week with him about everything from theology to marriage, kids, and money. They interacted around the Scriptures and to this day Bill is still able to contact him if ever he needs to talk. Bill explained to me that while he and Bob never officially named the teaching/learning relationship they had as discipleship, it functioned in his understanding the same way discipleship should take place in the body of Christ today.

On the other end of the spectrum there is John, who in many ways reminds me of myself in his view of formal discipleship. John was not discipled in the sense that someone took him in and taught him. Not only was he not discipled in that way, he also does not particularly like that form of discipleship. He states, “Because of my personality I would rather have people work through things on their own. I think you grow deeper and stronger that way. It forces you to study and critically think through things rather than rely on what somebody feeds you.” John explained that there is obvious discipleship in the Bible, using Jesus and the twelve as an example, but that he would, “take the rugged individualist who has a burning desire and the self-discipline to grow in Christ any day over one that wants or needs mentoring.” The best way John sees learning taking place in some ones life happens by first having the desire to know and do the will of God, and then seeking it out with all diligence. The biggest necessities he talked about for someone seeking the Lord in this way was the Holy Spirit, and Obedience.

I observed a shift in the views of these men when moving from what a disciple is and should look like into how this process takes place. When discussing what discipleship is and what a disciple looks like they were in agreement. However, when talking about the process by which discipleship occurs, the two have differing views. It’s interesting that when analyzing these two distinctly different views on discipleship, I find myself agreeing with both. I can side with Bill in the one-on-one and community discipling process. But I also see a need to search things out for your self. Ultimately we take everything that we learn back to God and see what he has to say about it. Whether we get our information from a preacher, teacher, or out of the Bible ourselves, the teaching is done by God in us. Interesting concept. J

So, what should everyday discipleship look like in our lives? According to Bill, “everyone should be involved somewhere in the process, unfortunately many people look beyond their own context and miss their most important disciples.” He went on to explain how all parents are to be involved in the discipleship process in their families, but often miss that by looking for “ministry” opportunities elsewhere, not realizing the primary ministry God has given them in their own home. Once that home foundation is built, branch out! His understanding of Ephesians 4 is that, “ all members have gifts to build up the body and are to be using them” and that. “Leaders are to equip them [the members] for the work of ministry.” He stated that it shouldn’t matter where you are ministering, but that you are, in the capacity that you should be. So, whether that is in your home, in the work place, on Sunday morning, or in the neighborhood we are all responsible for being in ministry somewhere. I like that he pointed out the fact that ministry doesn’t necessarily mean evangelism. While evangelism is an important factor in the great commission and discipleship process, it is only one facet and should be paired with training converts to follow Christ.

Bill also shared with me some of the strategies in place for making disciples at the church he pastors. He described it in a two-fold process. Their first strategy is that they make the Bible their first priority. Their Sunday’s teaching of the word is very practical as they teach Scripture, theology, practicalities within marriage, finances, children and whatever else is needed in the nourishing of the body. Their second strategy has an emphasis on community. They have weekday small groups that meet with the focus of building authentic relationships. These are also a time where they can discuss truth and application and what that should look like in each of their lives. In addition to this there are some individuals that meet to talk and grow on a more one-on-one basis. He concluded saying, “We are not a program driven church, we want people hanging out with others, building into others, encouraging, loving on one another as we seek to obey and follow Christ.”

Aside from the inquiry of their knowledge, I was most appreciative of the advice they gave me. Bill ended saying the best thing for me to do is to find the areas God has gifted me in and I’m passionate about and pour my efforts into them. He cautioned me in spreading myself to thin in ministry, but to instead pour more of myself in to fewer things. He also restated the importance of the family and motherhood, and making sure I don’t overlook the immediate contexts God has given me for discipleship. Lastly, he said to strengthen my strengths. He explained how often we are told to work on our weaknesses, which isn’t a bad thing, but to also work on areas we are strong and gifted in to keep them that way and grow more and more in them. I especially like the closing remarks John left me with when asked what advice he would give me in the area of discipleship. He said,

“Get on you knees and ask God what He wants you to accomplish in this area. Does He want you to be a rugged individualist or a wussie who follows the discipling crowd? Just joking. God may call you to work specifically in the life of one person. If He does than do so with everything you have. God may call you to disciple a large multitude of woman or young girls. If so do it with everything you have. Do both as unto the Lord with excellence and perseverance. Never quit, give up, or surrender. Stay on your knees with your eyes fixed on Christ.”

In class we mainly learn the perspectives of three individuals – our professor, Bill Hull, and Larry Moyer. Through this project I’ve been able to add two more views in my search for understanding. Thinking back on some of the processes Bill Hull talks about makes me stop for a minute to think. When I look at the ways Jesus picked and taught his disciples I see positive things we can and should take out, but as Dr. Jack Lewis says, “descriptive doesn’t mean prescriptive”. In the Bible I see the theme of discipleship, more than a method for it. People of Jesus’ time understood what discipleship in the broadest sense was, so for them it wasn’t so much about the process, as it is what is being taught; what it meant to be a disciple of Christ. Based on the teaching I’ve heard in class, read in books, and interacted with in these interviews, my understanding of what it means to be a disciple is becoming pretty clear. So far I have grasped that in my relationship with God, it is submitting myself to his teaching, and obeying that teaching. Where for some people that teaching takes place in a one-on-one setting, it can also be done through many people, or just a few. The concept of being adopted into a family is very real to me. In my opinion the context of a family is primarily where discipleship is most effective, and not having grown up in a family, God uses His family and His body to teach me.

I, like John, was not discipled in the sense that someone here on earth picked me in order to teach me, but I am a disciple of Christ. He did pick me, and is an example to me, and I submit myself to His teaching. In the end I am not a disciple of the people God uses to teach me, but a disciple of Christ. I believe that our learned obedience to Christ also involves teaching others to do the same, in whatever aspect God chooses for us to be involved in. I’m grateful to have had the platform of this paper to pick the brains of men I respect about things I still want to learn more about.