Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Atmospheres of Disciple Making: An Intro.

Over the next several posts I am going to be writing about what I call “Atmospheres of Disciple Making.” What I mean by this is that there are certain climates or conditions that we will see the Holy Spirit initiate for those we are discipling and we need to be ready to walk with them in the moment. It is not about manufacturing or controlling situations but responding to the leading of the Spirit and helping those we disciple see where God is at work in their lives. Then we challenge them to dig into the moment and face what God has put before them.

The end goal is always the same; lead those we disciple to encounter Jesus so that they can become more like Him and bear more fruit for Him.

I am going to walk primarily through the gospel of Matthew to show that over time Jesus built a deeper relationship with the disciples, created progressively more challenging moments for them to encounter Him, and lead them toward the glory of God in some way.

Before I get into the Atmospheres of Disciple making I want restate a couple of important things.

1. The only way to make disciples of Jesus is in the context of relationships based on sacrificial love. The discipler must lay down their life for those they are discipling.

2. Making Disciples takes a long time. There is no shortcut. The discipler must understand this or he will be filled with frustration when things do not happen as fast as they want.

3. The point is the glory of God through the multiplication of more disciples. The point can never be to just get people to do something. It must be about God being glorified as much as possible in them and through them.


Here are the Atmospheres of Disciple Making.
Vision
Challenge
Privilege
Vulnerability
Empowerment

1 comment:

  1. Amen Doug! Looking forward to reading more of this. I truly miss your spirit led example and love of Jesus. God truly has looked favorably on Clemson in sending you to bring glory and fame to Jesus there.

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