Ethereal Thought Train

In this post, I’m going to focus on the basic tools I use to teach people.

Tools

Doctrine

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem has been especially effective for believers who need to grow in the understanding of God and worship of Jesus.  I hope to compile a typical “plan of attack” and the resources I have created to help facilitate the processing and application of truths learned in this kind of study over the course of this summer.

Life/Character

I use the REAP tool along with the ESV Study Bible Reading Plan to encourage daily study and application of the Word.  I also have liked using SHAPE (we use a modified form of the book) to help and individual have an understanding of their story of God’s redemption in their life and the gifts He has given them to use for His glory.  I think the next tool I will use is the Galatians Study by Tim Keller which focuses on the centrality of the gospel in all of life.

Skills

This has been more of the “gut feeling” stuff for me.  From a pastoral/ministerial standpoint, most of my development is in feedback and coaching on how to handle a particular issue.  Probably the one thing I belabor the most is ingraining the idea of “asking the right question”.  Maybe I’ll write a whole post on this idea in the future…

I also like to teach the skills I use to organize life from the Vision level down to the hour by hour practice level.  I teach things like Mindmapping to organize thoughts and projects, developing a productivity system modified from GTD, how to use tools like Mint.com or Quicken for managing and examining finances, and utilizing web tools for information management and research.

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I’d really love your feedback/input here…what tools have you found useful in developing people in these three areas?

Other posts in the series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Process Continued

Demonstration

As individuals are involved in my life and ministry, they are able to see how I am engaging in these disciplines myself, and applying them to life and ministry.  The consistent feedback I’ve gotten is that discipleship is more “caught, than taught”, and this happens through demonstrating a faithful life of obedience.  This means that I am inviting individuals into my daily routine and demonstrating how I manage my life, that I am inviting people into my preparation for a teaching session so they can see how I teach, that I am inviting them into my home so they can see how I discipline my children.  I want my disciples to know the people I am spending time with and reaching out to, and watch how I interact.

Delegation

This is a necessary component of discipleship, and I think the piece that most naturally will develop replication at the end.  The reason delegation is important is because it leads to ownership of real decisions.

I generally like to hand over ministry early, as it provides an excellent learning opportunity.  In my opinion, people learn best in a “sink or swim” opportunity, and it also provides a great opportunity for supervision and feedback.

Supervision

Supervision is less about management and primarily about giving ownership and providing feedback.  Empowerment is the end game, and therefore my aim is to not create dependency, but create opportunity for ownership.

I think the hardest part of supervision is not encouragement, but speaking difficult corrections and rebukes when they are needed.  Most of us are conflict-avoiders, so our natural tendency is to shy away from correction, but I genuinely believe nothing could be more crippling to a disciples development than being convinced they are doing things perfectly when they are not.  It is irresponsible to avoid difficult conversations because it hamstrings the development of a person.

Reproduction

I expect the reproduction process to begin early on.  If 2 Timothy 2:2 is the pattern, my faithfulness to the gospel is directly linked to the faithfulness of individuals whom I disciple.

Other posts in the series: Part 1, Part 2

In this post, I’m going to focus on the process of discipleship.  That is, over time, what does the relationship look like in stages.  This is the basic pattern subscribed in The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman, which is an excellent book I would recommend to anyone.

Process

Selection

When I am beginning to consider another discipleship relationship, I am specifically looking for faithfulness, humility, availability and teachability.

There is a principle in church planting movements that is often counter-intuitive, but I believe it holds true in most contexts: disciple the receptive.  That is, invest in people who demonstrate the characteristics I mention above (2 Timothy 2:2), as they are the most likely to reproduce disciples and continue the chain of reproduction.

I generally look for individuals who have been serving faithfully over a course of about 6 months within an area of ministry that I am leading, and also who have demonstrated a willingness to put into place teaching they have already received from other sources (pulpit, equipping classes, etc.).

Association

I intentionally begin spending time with the people I am interested in discipling, and early on spend time with them in groups and as individuals.  I generally try to get them more involved and leading in a ministry I am involved in, as it provides the opportunity to be in proximity.

Secondly, I like to have groups meet in our home, that way they have the opportunity to see my family interact, and also makes my home a place that people have in common and are more likely to spend time there.

Consecration

This is an official time where I formally commit to the person, and ask them for a formal commitment to discipleship with me. With college students, I typically ask for a 6 month commitment, at which point we will re-evaluate the relationship.  With non-students, I have asked for a year long commitment, followed by re-evaluation.

Impartation

I focus primarily on the Doctrine and Life/Character components in this phase.  I tend to teach doctrine, and focus on the disciplines of prayer, reading of Scripture, and evangelism.  With my most recent group, we began by implementing the daily discipline of REAP, studied through SHAPE material, and then proceeded to Systematic Theology.

With groups, I also like to develop ministry together, as it gives the opportunity to discover individuals giftings, as well as unify around a common objective.

I’ll finish with the latter part of the process in a post soon…