The role of Christian discipleship and how it's missing in your life
The role of Christian discipleship is massively important in people’s lives, and I personally believe that this is one of the biggest things missing in churches and in Christians lives these days.
Why is Christian discipleship important?
The reason why discipleship is so important, is that God wants to work through us to support one another along our spiritual journey through life; “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance (spiritual condition) of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17 (brackets added.)
This is discipleship verse is what intimacy with God is about, handing our will over to Him, and then to get involved with what interests God, which is saving His people; see 2 Peter 3:9. I think this is one of the truly amazing things about an intimate relationship with God; that He could do it all on His own if He wanted to, yet He chooses to partner with us to help others; “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT).
What stands out is that Jesus is saying that He will be with us always, which implies a long relationship that will grow deeper.
God understands that being taught how to live as Christians by others is vitally important for our relationship with Him to grow and deepen, and often the Holy Spirit will speak into our hearts and minds through others in the church who can guide or support us, which is why it says in Hebrews 10:25; “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
The way God works is very different to the way we work (Isa. 55:8-9), and in order to keep what we have so freely been given – an intimate relationship with Him in this instance – we need to be giving it away; “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” Luke 6:38 (NLT.)
We cannot give away what we don’t have, as Jesus implies in Matthew 10:8; “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”
Jesus is saying here that as you have received, so you give. Practically, this means that if we have been prayed for and have been healed, we should in turn be praying for others that are ill or poorly.
It means that if we have been helped out financially at some stage, and there is another person in that battle, we should help them if we can.
There may have been a stage where we were feeling down, and someone comforted us, we should in turn comfort another, should the opportunity arise.
Another aspect is that when there is someone going through the same struggles we have overcome, we should show them how we overcame the struggle, and support them while they do so, if they want us to.
They may be struggling to find intimacy with God, or a battling against addiction – which have been my two main struggles in life – then we can present them with the spiritual set of tools we used, and how we were able to overcome the struggle. This was my aim when writing my book, Breakthrough into a Deeper Intimacy with God.
It is key to always pray and hand the situation over to God before we start, and to constantly ask for His wisdom, direction and strength.
Discipleship is relationship
We must remember that discipleship or being a learner/follower of Jesus is a commandment given by the Lord, and forms a critical part of our relationship with Him.
As with most things, it would be impossible to be a disciple or be properly discipled if we don’t get God’s support (Isa. 64:4-9.) So, it is vital that we try not to pass on what we don't have, and that we instead make sure we understand that without God's power, nothing can be achieved. This is essentially the attitude of humility, and it is in this state that God works (James 4:10.)
Signs that discipleship is missing in your life
The surest sign that discipleship is missing in your life will be the feeling of Pain. The reason is that this is very often the way that God gets our attention.
C.S. Lewis wrote in his book, The Problem with Pain; “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (The Problem of Pain by CS Lewis © copyright 1940 CS Lewis Pte Ltd. Extract used with permission.)
Sometimes it’s not the kind of pain where we are hurting, but more of an unsettled feeling inside.
When this happens in my life it is usually when I have unwittingly taken back control of a situation. I may try to force open a door that has been closed off to me. For instance, after trying to share with someone who was not ready to listen and had been avoiding me, I good-willingly decide to pop around to their house to see how they are doing, and this unsolicited visit may upset them.
The opposite can be true, as in the case of Jonah and the whale; read Jonah 1:17 & 2:1-10.
God wanted Jonah to go and speak to the people of Nineveh to warn them to change from their evil ways, and Jonah did not want to go because he said they would not listen to him. In the end, as Jonah was fleeing in a ship, God caused him to be tossed overboard, and for a whale (or big fish) to swallow him and spit him back on the shore.
The torment and fear must have been horrendous, and I don’t suggest that God would do this to us, but sometimes we need to really spend time asking God what he wants from us in times of turmoil.
There are times when we will face trials that end up being nothing to do with us being out of discipleship or closeness to God; “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” James 1:2-3 (NLT).
What I have found during these occasions is that I experience a peace and an inner expectation of something good is going to happen.
With discipleship, whether we are being discipled or we are the ones doing the disciplining, we will be spending a lot of time with God.
Nothing grows a relationship more than spending time with whoever we are wanting to deepen the relationship with. Time will be taken to continually consult with God through prayer, ministry, mentors, reading the bible – and we will give time in His presence to hear what He wants us to do.
Plus, here’s some more information about the definition of Christian discipleship.
I pray and trust that your relationship with God will grow and deepen as you set out on discipling others by passing on whatever you have learnt or been given from God, and as you remain teachable and listen to what others have been through and overcome; God Bless.