You have invested months in your disciple. Now you have gotten to know and trust each other. You have walked through life experiences together. You have have seen your disciple grow in his/her relationship with God and his/her understanding of being a disciple. Your plan is to prepare him/her for discipling. Now what?
Discipling Tips
This is the stage where too often the baton is dropped. Ensure a good hand off! Before you release your disciple hoping that he/she will disciple others, lead him/her to pray, identify the individual God wants him/her to disciple, and begin discipling that individual–while you are still discipling him/her. Do not, do not, do not release your disciple without doing so!
When should you lead your disciple to begin discipling another? I would suggest 3-6 months before releasing your disciple. Why? So you have enough time to encourage your disciple in his/her efforts and make adjustments that might be helpful for those closing months.
After your disciple has begun discipling his/her disciple, take 10-15 minutes during each time with your disciple to discuss the following:
- Share what you are doing with your disciple.
- What is going well?
- What would you do differently?
Multiplication is a critical step in discipling that frequently breaks down. Life gets busy, doubts appear, and seeking someone to disciple fails. Instead of allowing that to happen, lead your disciple to do so while you are discipling him/her. Coach your disciple toward success. Let your disciple build some great experiences and he/she will be even more likely to continuing doing so so after you release your disciple.
Tell me about your experiences. Leave a comment. Encourage others. Make disciples who make disciples!
