- Has put faith in Jesus as Savior.
- Is baptized.
- Studies and obeys the Bible (everything else flows from this!). Can do this by himself. Is “self feeding.”
- Prays like Jesus taught.
- Leads others to believe in Jesus.
- Makes disciples.
- Can endure hard times.
- Lives in genuine community with other believers.
- Puts God and others first.
- Understands and practices the Lord’s supper.
- Is a generous giver.
- Participates in local and global missions.
What do you think about this list? What would you add? Subtract? Change?
Do you have a process for developing these characteristics yourself? A process for helping others develop into this kind of follower of Jesus? Not just knowledge, but actually doing, living, thinking, acting like this?
More later on the discipleship process that is embedded in the I am Second small group curriculum.
4 comments:
This is a great list one more thing I would add would be Being lead by someone wiser in the faith. Being a disciple your self.
In the beg. after 2... I would put follow for a good amount of time before they can lead... Sometimes as a new believer we are so hot and on fire but are spiritually young. We come off wrong, condemning, or too strong. We need to get to know God and learn to hear his voice/ lead. That goes along with being discipled by someone wiser in the faith. 12 seems forced a bit..that should come from a willing & called heart to want to serve in those ways. But I do see the need for that & discipleship definetly :)
Thanks so much for your thoughts, Nicole. People certainly need discipling by someone ahead of them in their walk with Jesus. But one thing we've found is that if a new believer starts discipling others right away (while still being discipled themselves), they grow faster. We call this the duckling principle. Think of baby ducklings following in a line after the mother duck. The first one follows the mother, but the others follow the one that is just one step ahead of them. New believers can do that, too. Follow someone ahead, then immediately teach what they have learned to someone else.
Post a Comment