Get a Man (Woman)
Where’s your man? Where’s your woman? Who are you intentionally discipling? One of the main obstacles to disciple-making is not having someone to disciple. That sound pretty basic but it is a profound dilemma than many want-to-be-disciple-makers have. They have the vision. They have a plan (albeit a plan developing). But, they have no one to work with. Most of you are probably like me in that your life is not so remarkable that people sit around and dream of becoming you. So, how do you position yourself to become a spiritual influence in the lives of others?
Idea One: Pray
Ask God to send you men (women) to disciple. We know that this is God’s will for your life to be involved in disciple-making so He is interested in making that happen.
Idea Two: Share the Gospel
Most people begin their parenting journey by having children (deep stuff I know). They begin to feed, clothe, nurture and protect their infants from day one because it is so obvious of the new child’s need. Spiritual parenting is not much different; if you lead someone to Christ they need to be spiritually nurtured in the faith (discipled). Start leading people to Christ and you will find your man. Beware though those baby-Christians are about as messy as baby-babies but seeing spiritual children grow up and become disciple-makers is awesome (kind of like grand-parenting).
Idea Three: Share the Vision of Disciple-Making with Others
Most of the guys I have ever discipled responded in a positive way to the vision of disciplemaking. It looks like this: I share the vision then I ask them where they are in their spiritual development. Once we are clear where they stand I ask them where they would like to be. If we discern that they do want to move forward then I ask them what their plan is to reach their goal. If they don’t have a plan, I offer my assistance in helping them reach their goal. Pretty simple and if they are interested in my help I begin to meet with them and work through my plan (see Day 2).
Idea Four: Only Work with F.A.T. Men
I don’t know about you but my time is pretty limited. I can usually tell in a handful of meetings if the person I am meeting with is going to be a faithful man whom I am going to be able to influence. How you say? Are they F.A.T.? F.A.T. stands for faithful, available and teachable. If someone is not faithful we are wasting our time. If someone is not available for training we are wasting our time. If someone is not teachable we are wasting our time. Let me be clear on this point: There are some people who do not like me or my style and that is ok because I probably don’t like them either. And those people will never be the kind of people that I will spend a lot of discipling time with. I can still have a good relationship with them even though my role will never be to mentor them. And that is ok. But, there are some folks that we mesh enough for me to be an influence on them and that is who I need to work with. Same goes with you!
If you want to make a disciple-maker you have to get a man and help them to do likewise.
Life and times of the howitzers 