Living as Christ’s disciples is about knowledge and practice. It is about faith and works. It is about living out Christ’s words and actions. And R.O.P.E.S. can help us and our disciples.
What tools have you used to help those you mentoring gain knowledge while also putting faith into action? Press Comments and share the tools so they can benefit from your experience. There are many possibilities.
I want to encourage you to consider one possibility. It is the acronym, R.O.P.E.S. (followed by percent of session time spent on each part):
- Review (5%)
- Overview (5%)
- Presentation (50%)
- Exercise (35%)
- Summary (5%).
EXPLANATION
Assign scripture study, homework, practice, or life change. When you get back together with your disciple, review what you learned previously, including homework. After reviewing last week and the assignments, launch a new learning experience by overviewing what you will be learning. Then share the presentation which should take no more than half of your time together.
Following the presentation, allow time for exercising what was learned. You might need to demonstrate the truth or practice. Think of this as practicing the lesson. Look for practical ways to do the main truth. After exercise, ask your disciple to summarize what was learned, what was the main truth, and how they are going to live it out this week. (Then remember to review what was done when you get back together.)
Are you not sure it will work? R.O.P.E.S. works well in many settings. This method works well for training. It works well in business as well as in ministry. It is a simple reproducible tool that pushes us to plan for the end result (practice) of what is being learned. Try it out for a few weeks. It will stretch you and your disciple (and you). Make disciples!
