Using Scripture in Discipling Relationships
That’s the theme of this years’ National Disciple Making Forum, and I am so excited about it, because I’m convinced there’s nothing more simple and more powerful than using Scripture as our discipleship curriculum.
When I first started discipling people, I followed the examples and advice I had received. That meant I thought I had to have some sort of curriculum, and there were all kinds. Workbooks for teens and young adults. Studies on the basics of the faith by well-known parachurch organizations. And books… lots of books to read and discuss together. And much of this was really great material!
All of the material included instructions on the importance of reading the Bible and praying daily. So, part of discipling a person entailed encouraging them to read their Bible and pray regularly, with me as the discipler holding them accountable. Some of the curriculum even had charts on which the person I was discipling could track their Bible reading to encourage consistency.
But in reality, for the person I was discipling, it was always a struggle to be consistent because not only did they need to start reading the Bible and praying, they were also supposed to read whatever book we were going through or curriculum we were studying. It was a lot all at once, especially for people who rarely read a book. As a result, it’s no wonder so many of them failed to read and pray consistently! (By the way, I’ve heard many pastors cynically lament this reality by saying that people “are lazy and uncommitted.” Maybe that’s true for some. But maybe it’s also that we are expecting people to run a 10k when we haven’t even helped them run a mile)!
This is how I tried to disciple people for the first number of years of ministry, but at some point, it hit me…
The New Testament documents were the original discipleship materials for the church
So why am I not simply using those materials to disciple people?
The Gospels were written to help people get to know Jesus and his ways… who he is as Messiah and what it means to follow him.
The letters of the New Testament are addressed to groups of new and growing disciples to teach them what they need to believe and how they are to live Jesus’ way in their specific context. They intend to “resocialize” followers of Jesus to a new culture–to the new set of beliefs, values, behaviors, and practices of the Kingdom of God.
If these writings were the original discipleship material, why not simply use these materials to disciple Jesus followers today? Why ask people (especially new believers) to read the Bible plus read some other book and study a particular curriculum? Why not just get them to read the Bible regularly and discuss their life in connection with their Bible reading together with another Christian?
One of the greatest needs of new and growing disciples (really of all disciples) is to read their Bible regularly in relationship with other disciples who are a little further down the path and who can guide them on the path of discipleship.
So why not simply use the Bible to disciple people?
It seems so obvious to me now, but it was a revolutionary lightbulb moment when it first hit me.
I shelved the books and curriculum and created a simple Bible reading plan (I called it the “Follow Jesus Reading Plan”–not very clever, but it clearly stated the purpose and goal of the plan). I used the plan myself when I discipled someone but I also wanted to deploy it as a simple, reproducible discipleship tool in the church. So, I came up with a simple strategy.
Here was the plan: When a person came for baptism, we would pair them up with someone they already had a relationship with to work through the reading plan and discuss their reading and their life together.
As part of the pre-baptism conversation (sometimes in a group of people who wanted to be baptized and sometimes with an individual), we would ask them to identify someone they already had a relationship with who they saw as a spiritual mentor or friend. Then we would instruct them to ask that person if they would like to be a part of their baptism and be willing to read the Bible and disciple them after they were baptized. One of our pastors would also contact that person, invite them to be a part of the process, provide them the Bible reading plan which included some guidance for them, and answer any questions they had.
The plan consisted of 3 readings a week for 25 weeks, and it was designed to help them learn who Jesus is and what it means to follow him (I actually have a copy of the plan we used on one of my websites). Both people would do the weekly readings and then meet once a week (coffee, lunch or whenever). The goal was not to have a Bible study per se, but to talk about their life (marriage, family, school, job, etc.) and their discipleship in the context of the Bible passages that they had read that week.
It was so simple! And it got more mature disciples reading the Bible and praying with new disciples right from the beginning of their walk with Jesus. It was a win, win for both of them!
And it was so uncomplicated.
No extra books. No special curriculum.
Just two friends reading the Bible and talking about how to live it out in the midst of their actual life as followers of Jesus.
Every time I have used this approach myself, questions get asked and the things new disciples need to know are learned. New beliefs and values are grasped. And new habits are formed.
Scripture is being read and disciples are being made. And that’s why I’m so passionate about simply using Scripture in discipling relationships.
In fact, I am currently meeting with a 25 year only young man I knew from a previous ministry who grew up in the faith but over the last couple of years has decided that he’s not sure that he believes it anymore. He now describes himself as “not a practicing Christian.”
I was guest preaching at a local church recently when I saw his wife but not him. In visiting with her after the service she told me, through tears, that he no longer was interested in church or God.
I texted him, and he has been willing to meet and explore questions of faith with me. Part of his struggle is at an intellectual level, and we are exploring those questions together. But part of his struggle is also on a personal level and understanding how to build a real relationship with God.
I gave him a model for how to read the Bible prayerfully and relationally, and he wanted to try it out. So even though he’s not sure he believes it, he is working through the very Bible reading plan I mentioned above, the one designed specifically to help him get to know Jesus. And we get together weekly to explore his intellectual questions and talk about his reading and what it looks like to follow Jesus. I’m praying he returns to genuine faith in Jesus and discipleship to him!
And I have confidence in Scripture to be a good guide for him as he wrestles with questions of faith. It is the best discipleship curriculum I know.
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John Whittaker is creating an audio commentary on the New Testament to help people learn and live the Bible. Learn more at listenerscommentary.com.