POST OVERVIEW. These are notes from my thinking of 7/19/2023 on a general approach to discipleship. These cover six broad topics that should be part of every disciple’s growth plan. This working document will be incorporated into my discipleship ministry and into my upcoming book on making disciples.

AREAS OF DISCIPLESHIP (“MODULES”)

• THE WORD – Relate the “Hand Illustration” (from the Navigators) to show how the Word must be grasped tightly. GOAL: Ever-deepening and expanding knowledge of the Word throughout life. MATURE DISCIPLE’S GOAL: To have theological convictions, a Personal Biblical Theology (PBT), grounded in a firm grasp of the Scriptures. This PBT is “personal” in the sense that you OWN this theology. This collection of beliefs, convictions, understandings, and interpretations, and the connections and relationships between them, is constructed over years of pouring over the Scriptures until this theology is yours.
  • READING – “Where are you reading in the Bible?” Spur the disciple to have daily reading in the Bible. Goal1 – Read through the Bible from cover to cover every year. Goal2 – Develop a method of recording your thoughts from your daily reading, like a journal for daily reading notes.
  • STUDY – Teach and employ the ideas of the “Discipleship Bible Study” (DBS) for the systematic study of Scripture. “What are you discovering in your study of Scripture?”
  • MEMORIZE – “What Scripture are you memorizing right now?” Strive to continually expand your memory of Scripture. Review what you have memorized. This puts Scripture firmly into your mind.
  • MEDITATE – During drive-time or what would otherwise be dead time, meditate on the Scriptures that you have memorized to drive them deep into your soul and into your practice of life so they are accessible for help in time of need. Hide the Word deep in your heart (Psalm 119:11).
• WITNESSING / EVANGELISM – The PURPOSE of this module is to make the disciple aware that the normal life of a disciple includes being vocal about your identification with Jesus. The normal disciple shines his light wherever he goes and he voices his love for Jesus. This is normal for the disciple. The OUTCOME of this module would be for the disciple to have regular, scheduled blocks of time devoted to the specific purpose of witnessing for Jesus to the end that 1) those who do not know Jesus would hear news about the Savior, and 2) that the lost would be brought into the sphere of Oakhurst Baptist Church and be saved. (Assumes an approach to evangelism that sees individual disciples casting the seed and proclaiming the gospel, and then the gathered church worshiping the Lord and welcoming the sinner to come to faith.)
  • “You shall be My witnesses.” (Acts 1:8; John 15:27; in Isaiah, also)
  • “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
  • “The sower went out to sow.” (Matthew 13:3)
  • “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:20)
  • “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19)
• OBEDIENCE / HOLINESS – The disciple of Jesus is to evidence his salvation by a life of increasing obedience to the commands of Scripture and increasing holiness. (The specifics of this component will become clearer as the Word is read and captured. That is, the more familiar the disciple is with the Word, the more apparent will be his sins and disobediences, and the more convicted he will be about the need to actively repent.)
  • AWARENESS OF PERSONAL SIN / FIGHTING PERSONAL SIN. The disciple is growing in his awareness of his personal sins and is actively fighting sin when it appears. Strongly recommended reading: “Mortification of Sin” by John Owen. Owen is a bit too harsh in some places but this book makes the dangers of sin clear. (Read the Puritans, men!)
  • REPENTANCE. Learn how repentance can become a proactive weapon against sin.  Repent before sin brings about your ruin. Required reading: “Doctrine of Repentance” by Thomas Watson. (Go through this book with your discipler.)
  • MOST COMMON SINS FOR MEN. In my experience, the most common sins for men are Anger, Lust/Sexual sins (obviously including pornography, which is a degrading, shameful sin), Greed, and Pride. Other prevalent sins among men include fear of man, laziness, refusing to grow up, and drunkenness / gluttony. The disciple should be alert for these tendencies in his life and repent of them.
  • OTHER HELPFUL IDEAS. “Purify me with hyssop” (Psalm 51:7). “Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Seek to manifest the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6). Put sin to death (Col. 3:5).
• IDENTITY, PURPOSE, VISION/GREAT WORK, ETC. This module is based on the principle that Purpose and Vision and legacy flow from IDENTITY. Identity is primary and the Discipler should take pains to ensure that the disciple is clear on their identity. IDENTITY = Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Make every effort to instill and establish this IDENTITY in the mind of the disciple. With this Identity, the disciple can derive almost all their Purpose from the pages of the New Testament. The disciple’s Purpose is to become what they have professed themselves to be, an obedient and useful disciple who is pleasing to the Master. This module would also include disciplines and practices to further refine the disciple as he assumes various roles in his life (student, employee, unmarried, husband, father, steward of money, personal vision, mentor, legacy, preparing for death).
• REPRODUCE, SERVE OTHERS, BEAR FRUIT. The disciple’s ultimate target is not simply to overcome overt, besetting sin in their own life, but is to produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, a hundredfold (Matt. 13:8). The disciple is called to love others, encourage others, serve others. While the first mark of maturity for a disciple would be living a holy life before God and man, the real aim is to pour his life out for others, in imitation of the Lord Jesus.
  • “And I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls” (2 Cor. 12:15). The disciple’s life is to be spent and poured out for others.
  • “The things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). The disciple is reproducing his life and his zeal for the Lord by pouring into other like-minded men.
  • “But if I am to live on in the flesh, it will mean fruitful labor for me” (Phil. 1:22). Paul was willing to defer his promotion to heaven because he knew that the Lord had more “fruitful labor” for him to do here on earth. For the disciple of Jesus, there are two future states of being. Now is the time of “fruitful labor” when we can work hard to bear much fruit for the Kingdom (consider John 15), but eventually we will “depart and be with Christ, which will be very much better” (Phil. 1:23).
  • “Now we who are strong are to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves” (Romans 15:1). The disciple is to press on to maturity (Hebrews 6:1) so that his usefulness increases. He desires to be one of the strong.
  • “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourself” (Phil. 2:3-4). Our Lord Jesus was perfectly unselfish, and the goal of the disciple is to continually grow in his unselfishness so that he imitates the Lord.
• THE NECESSITY OF A GOOD CHURCH. Books have been written about healthy churches, and these are useful books. To maximize his fruitfulness and his speed to maturity, it is important for the disciple to be in a healthy church. But the idea of a “healthy church” is usually written from the pastor’s perspective. That is, the pastor is being challenged to evaluate his church and see if it is healthy according to these metrics or biblical principles. I am suggesting that the disciple of Jesus ask himself further questions when evaluating a church. Specifically, having located a healthy church, the disciple needs to evaluate if this is a church where the disciple will be able to find many and varied opportunities to grow in the areas we have listed in this document. To help the disciple in this regard, I plan to author a book or booklet, “A Disciple’s Guide to a Good Church,” giving the characteristics of a church that will be conducive to a person’s growth as a disciple. It is hard to overstate the importance of a good church for helping a disciple move toward maturity and to being fruitful. The church is where you learn to love others, serve others, submit to others, forgive others and be forgiven by others, encourage others, use your gifts, worship with others, suffer with others, rejoice with others, anticipate heaven with others.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 7/23/2023                   #663