Teammates

Discipleship Is Practical

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Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
Matthew 28: 19, 20

Discipleship is one of the key responsibilities Jesus gave to the church. As the verse above says, Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of others by teaching them everything that Jesus had commanded. Most discipleship is purely focused on teaching people spiritual truths: how to read and study the Bible, how to pray, how to hear God, and so on. These are incredibly important for every believer.

But I want to suggest that we need to recognize that discipleship is also very practical. Discipleship needs to include the practical aspects of serving and leading in a church. It might be as simple as helping volunteers plan how to set up for the next church potluck or teaching others how to run the sound board or set up the PowerPoint slides for Sunday’s service. It may include teaching musicians how to pick music, how to set up each of the instruments in the band, and how to do well at leading in music as well as leading in worship. Discipleship may include teaching a new chairman of the Elders board how to plan for and run a meeting. Even things like showing a new cleaning crew how to clean the church well is an aspect of discipleship. Don’t think you need to do all of these things as the pastor, but help those who know how to do these things to teach others.

I recently heard a volunteer complain that he was the only one who put away the chairs and tables after the potluck. Others saw him stacking chairs and hauling them away, but hardly anyone else stopped their conversation with friends to help clean up.

I understand and feel the frustration of a volunteer like that who sees a need and makes sure it is met. What needs to happen is practical discipleship. The volunteer who sees the need and knows what to do needs to learn how to recruit others to help, while respecting conversations that are happening. Sometimes it seems that doing things yourself is easier because you know what to do and where things go. It takes time to explain and show others how to do something, but unless you equip others, you will always be doing it by yourself, and what started out as a fun way to serve becomes a frustrating experience.

Here are some practical ways that the volunteer in the above story could disciple others. A first step may be to determine everything that needs to be done in this task, and the steps to make it happen. Sometimes these need to be in order and other times they do not, depending on the situation. A detailed sheet can be posted or handed out to new volunteers so they know exactly what is needed and how they can participate. For example, if a meal is planned, an appropriate number of volunteers can be recruited and shown the detailed to-do list. They can be clearly told what time to arrive so they will be ready for the event. The “discipler” who is used to setting up and taking down tables and chairs can still be there the first time or two to ensure that it is done right and that each new “disciple” knows how to do it.

Even if no recruits had been arranged beforehand, the experienced volunteer could have recruited a few people to help. Often, if people are asked and clearly told what is needed, they will respond. Unfortunately, those who know what to do often assume others do to, but that is not the case. People often need to be led, even in the simple case of putting away tables and chairs.

So practical discipleship includes recruiting people, preferably ahead of time, for a specific task. It involves having a clear understanding of what is needed, defined in a clearly written and posted list. And it involves the experienced one being available to guide the disciples until they know how to do it on their own.

Yes, discipleship must have a spiritual aspect and focus on growing as followers of Jesus, but practical discipleship is also highly important.

May God guide you as you disciple others in practical ways.

And please comment with suggestions of what has worked for you to do practical discipleship.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #7: The Encouragement of Fellowship

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*Training yourself to be godly may include fellowship and community.

It is a joy to be part of a church family that truly loves each other and cares for each other. There are some churches where people are truly experiencing fellowship as they encourage each other to become more like Jesus.

Hebrews 10: 19-25 gives a great description of what this fellowship can and should look like. It begins with a reminder that all believers are together in their relationship with Jesus. “We” can boldly enter the Most Holy Place – we – not just you, or just me, but the idea is that “we” can. And not just the people of the Old or New Testament. Not just Jews.

He is using inclusive language – as in “we are in this incredible journey of relationship with God together.” We are all on the same road to heaven, not on a bunch of unrelated individual roads or journeys, but we are on this journey of relationship with God through faith in Jesus together.

And then, in verses 23 -25, the author describes how we should be encouraging each other in our life with Jesus.

Verse 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm…

Let “us” hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm. “Us”. We are not clinging to that hope – that life raft – by our self. Our hope in Jesus is not something we have to hold onto alone. We are invited to hold onto our hope in Him together!

Verse 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Let “us” think of ways to motivate one another. This may require a little creativity, we need to find ways of encouraging each other. The NIV says it like this: let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

The Greek word for “spur” actually means: provocation, stirring up, sharp disagreement. We are to provoke one another to good deeds.

So the NIV is right. A spur in the side of a horse gets it moving. A spur in your side from a Christian brother or sister may get you moving in the right direction as a follower of Jesus – provoking you to consider getting involved in acting out your faith. We are to stimulate our brothers and sisters in their journey with Jesus.

Our journey with Jesus was never meant to be a solitary voyage. I have a friend who loves canoeing. This summer, he went on a 10-day canoe trip, all by himself. While that is fun for him, that is not the right picture of the Christian life. The Christian life might be best pictured by a voyageur canoe, or those Chinese Dragon boats. It is many people working together and pulling in the same direction.

Verse 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another…

There are some who think they can have a personal faith in Jesus and a relationship with God, and they don’t need anyone else. That is not the picture of the Bible. We need to be intentional about meeting together. This is about more than joining others in a worship service but to meet together to encourage each other in our Christian life.

We need each other. We need to meet so we can spur each other on. We need to live life in connection with each other.

To encourage one another is to give one another courage. There are times one person has more courage than another. One person’s faith is stronger at one point than another. One person is discouraged or un-couraged and needs to be en-couraged!

Let’s finish with something practical. Here are some “Fellowship Questions” you can ask of each other when you meet with another believer. Move beyond the weather and sports and the latest hobby you are learning to finding ways of encouraging each other in our walk with Jesus.

1.         What have you been reading in the Bible lately?

2.         What have you been learning about your walk with Jesus?

3.         Do you have sense of how God is using you or wants to use you to love and do good deeds?

4.         Where are you discouraged or feeling down in your life?

5.         How can I encourage you or pray for you today?

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

The Joy of Connecting with Teammates.

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I had the privilege this past week of spending a day with others who have a similar role as I do. We don’t actually work together on the same projects or in the same church, but we are all part of the same denomination functioning in the role of transition pastors. There is a special joy in connecting with people who know your role and the situations you face because they face those situations, too. In the past, I was able to connect with fellow rural pastors and pastors in the same region. We may not all serve the same church, but we can connect and relate to shared experiences because of our similar roles.

It may feel like getting to know and spend time with these teammates takes too much time or effort that could be used for other priorities, but I have personally found value in connecting with others who understand my roles.

They understand the frustrations and joys.

    When I met with rural pastors as a rural pastor, I knew that they understood what small-town life was like. They understood the realities of serving a smaller church. When I meet with transition pastors, they know what it is like to face church conflict and to try to mediate it. Transition pastors know what it is like to help churches, to fall in love with them, and then have to move on to a new assignment in a year or two.

    When you are talking with others who know your role, you can share jokes and stories that they understand. They are “in the know” because they do the same things you do. Other transition pastors know the frustration of churches that do not want to change, even though they know they need to. They understand the joy of a board catching God’s vision together as they plan vision and strategy for the church.

    They can provide ideas and advice.

    When I meet with transition pastors, I know they use similar tools and processes as I do in helping churches transition. Transition pastors know what it is like to help churches build on the past to look to the future. One of the benefits of my recent meeting with other transition pastors is to learn about how they handle particular situations. Most of them have more experience in this role than I do so I love to soak up ideas as they talk about their ministry.

    They can pray for me with understanding and clarity.

    One of the joys of meeting with others in similar roles is that we can pray for each other with an understanding of the situations we face. Often we don’t even have to finish our story and the others are already smiling or nodding or even crying as they have gone through similar situations. They can pray for me, and I pray for them, with clarity because we have seen very similar situations where we have served.

    I encourage you to find others who are in a similar situation as you. You need to find “your people” so you can have people around to encourage you and help guide you as you need input and wisdom from them.

    Keep looking up,

    Andy Wiebe