Here is my advice: Stop thinking about it, and just do it! Hear me out. I am not suggesting that you skip planning to do your best. Instead, I want to encourage you to take steps this year to obey our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Gather a team, pray, and plan how to make disciples.
Planning Team for How to Make Disciples
Gather a small, passionate team to pray and plan. A small team involves everyone, builds ownership of the goal, and helps carry out the plan. This team probably should have no fewer than 3 and no more than 7 members. Strive for consensus in your decisions rather than voting.
I would suggest you set a tentative deadline for completing your planning. Deadlines help you remain focused. Don’t drag out the process, causing the team and goal to fizzle. At the same time, as you draw near the deadline, you will know whether the team needs another session or two. That’s why I used the word, “tentative.”
Plan Elements
What should the plan include? Develop a simple plan for making disciples who make disciples (of Jesus). Here are a few phrases from experience and observation: simplicity, relational, Bible-focused, journaling, scripture memory, prayer requests and prayer, replication experiences. Usually these will be same-gender.
Build confidence and competence in your time together. While in your group, lead participants to practice multiple times everything you want them to do in their groups. And before you send them out of your group, lead them to pray about who they will disciple and to begin doing it. That helps them gain assurance that you are available to coach them even beyond your group.
Plan Logistics
How long should disciplemaking take? How many sessions should be included? The number of sessions depends on the number in the group, Christian maturity, and life circumstances of individuals involved. One-on-one discipling can be quicker because fewer people need shared experiences in order to increase in confidence and competence. New Christians may take longer in order to establish basic spiritual disciplines and to prepare for disciplemaking. Believers from other theological backgrounds may need more time to establish common definitions for disciplemaking communication. And crises happen!
How long should sessions last? Session length depends on a couple of factors, but in general most sessions should last about 45-90 minutes. If a meal and fellowship are planned, add another 30-45 minutes. Most sessions including meals should aim toward no more than 120 minutes, especially when children are present. Sessions may be longer when five people are present or the group is coed. If the group is coed, spend 2/3+ of the nonmeal time in gender groups.
Plan Content
Focus on the Bible. Focus on Jesus. I have seen many disciplemaking leaders lean into books. Sometimes a book can be helpful for a disciple, such as a new believer or a person struggling with finances, marriage, or doubt. But God in His Word is the solution to disciplemaking. Teach them to listen to what He is saying in His Word. Teach them to discern the main truth to the original audience and how to apply that truth to their lives. This is how you make self-feeding disciplemakers.
A Recent Experience
I recently led a disciplemaking group of maturing Christians. There were four besides my wife and myself: a total of three men and three women. We met for 75 minutes each night for six weeks, focusing on the Bible, journaling, scripture memory, prayer and prayer requests, and replication. We spent an increasing amount of the session in gender groups each week. The first week, I asked them to begin prayerfully identifying someone prior to sessions 5 and 6 with whom they could share what they had learned. In those sessions, we talked about their experiences. Those experiences led each of them to gain even greater confidence in the competence they had gained during the previous weeks.
Was 6 weeks long enough? Probably not, but I used the time I was given to prepare 6 disciplemakers, including my wife and myself. If you are given an hour, use it. If two people ask you to disciple them, make the most of it. Don’t fail by never starting. Oh, and don’t wait until your plan is perfect. Just get started with the idea of learning as you go and tweaking it to make it better along the way.
Gather your small, passionate team. Talk about their experiences. Evaluate. Affirm. Make adjustments. And invite more people to join you on the journey. Stop thinking about how to make disciples, and just do it! Make disciples. Make disciplemakers!
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
