Every Tuesday night for dinner, Nancy and I met for our discipleship time.
She was a teacher in the town I lived in and we had met at church. When I first met Nancy I could tell she was struggling in her relationship with God. We talked at length one night about several issues that were bothering her. She wasn’t sure she was a Christian, not sure why she was often downcast and without joy, and really not sure how the Bible applied to her life.
“Nancy, are you up for meeting each Tuesday night for dinner together?” I asked her one day. “I would love to help you and disciple you in each of these areas.”
She agreed and over the next 2 years God did a powerful work in her life as we looked at each issue together, studied the Bible and prayed. She grew deeper in her relationship with God, her understanding of the Holy Spirit and scripture.
My example is just one way to invite someone into a discipleship relationship. There are more, though, that you can consider:
“I have a book that I think you would greatly benefit from. It outlines basic foundational lessons for growth in Christ. I would love to meet weekly with you to go through it – would you have time for that?”
“You seem to have a lot of questions about God and the Bible and I can tell you are eager to learn. I would love to meet with you on a more regular basis, perhaps once a week (or every other week) so I can answer your questions and guide you in how to deepen your relationship with God. Can you meet for coffee on Thursdays?”
When you meet with a disciple, show up with a plan. Think through these 5 elements of a discipleship appointment to help you be intentional about your time together.
Whether you do dinner every Tuesday night, coffee on Monday afternoons, or lunch at the office, make time to meet with another person for discipleship. You never know how the investment you make now can have a big impact later.
Nancy went on to get married, become a prayer counselor at her church and, when we talked last, she and her husband were each reading through the Bible in a year.
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