Discipling for Mission

So here we are in the depth of a global pandemic. Many people are gripped by fear and disoriented by the sudden change the way that we have lived our lives. The relentless pace of work, life, and ministry brought to an abrupt end. What will we do when we cannot fill our time with meetings, tasks, programmes, clubs and endless opportunities to fill our time? 

Now, I’m not going to say that God has brought this about nor am I going to say that the enemy had caused this but I do think the Lord has given us a great opportunity to re-evaluate our way of life. This is true for the billions of people on earth who do not follow Jesus, as much as it is true followers of Jesus.

Be under no misunderstanding, what is happening right now is serious and we should be doing all we can to comply with the advice of the professionals advising governments. To do so is not to bow to fear but to live with the most vulnerable in mind and think about our civic responsibility. As the Christian community move online and life changes, could it be that COVID-19 is an opportunity for us to see clearly what is worth keeping and what is best to let go? Over the years we have simply added more and more and more things into our lives, which now they’re stopped, it like we can breathe properly once again. That is unless you’re one of the panic buyers, selfishly stocking up on things you don’t need just in case! You can call is wise stewardship if you like but it is only wise if you need it and can use it, otherwise, you’re like the farmer who kept on building a bigger and bigger barn only to miss enjoying the fruit of his hoarding (Luke 12:13-21). Surely, this very thing exposes the selfishness of our human condition? 

As a follower of Jesus, we are to do the important things and pattern our life after his (1 John 2:6); we connect with other people, we care for one another, we show bravery in the face of adversity and we love unconditionally. Why? Because we know that our security and life is not in the consumption of things on earth. Even death is not the end for those whose faith is in Jesus.

My pastor, recently preached a message from Matt 7:24-27 as an introduction to a series exploring what it means to be a disciple and be about his work. Effectively the question he was asking is; have we built on good foundations – the way of life in, and through, Jesus? Or, have we built on shallow foundations – our own way of life and self-security?  When the storm hits, what we have built upon is exposed!

Yes, there will be trouble ahead, somethings will not survive but what will remain, will do so that it bears much fruit. This is true on a personal level as much as it is for the church. For you personally, what will you not go back to doing before? Decided now and be accountable to someone about that decision. 

In John 15:1-11 Jesus tells his disciples to expect pruning to happen; why? Because pruning clears out the decaying, diseased and dying branches so that new life might flow and bear much more fruit. Greater fruitfulness is always the result of true pruning from Jesus. Pruning that doesn’t result in greater fruitfulness is not pruning but effectively the destruction of life, and Jesus makes it clear who the destroyer is - Satan (John 10:10). So whilst that season is tough and disorientating, I’m believing that the kingdom of God will see much increase in the days ahead.

The question we must ask is ‘what is the organising principle of the church?’ If the organising principle is providing a service to people you may be experienced heightened disorientation right now. However, if you shift your mindset and allow yourself to think like a missionary, you will find your organising principle beginning to focus more on the question; how do we equip as many people as possible to fulfil the great commission in the season of great change? This doesn’t mean that we won’t gather together again in physical space when we can but it would seem like the Lord has given us a great opportunity to reform how we do things. There are lots of questions and concerns for sure but we must choose to trust Jesus in the fog of uncertainty.

So what are the opportunities afforded to us in this time when all of a sudden we have to change the way we have done things? Could it be that during this session, the Holy Spirit has given us an opportunity to change things far more quickly than we would have done if left to our own devices? The Church has not stopped! The kingdom of God cannot be contained! So how can we join in with what God is doing? 

During this period of social distancing we are all being forced into a new way of doing life. The opportunity to slow the pace of life but to to connect online in deep and meaningful ways will be a hugely positive thing. Whilst face to face is always better, I believe we can leverage this opportunity to increase disciple-making for mission like never before. People no longer have the excuse ‘we are too busy!’ 

People need to know and be known. As emphasis shifts from big gatherings there will be even greater opportunity for gifting to be identified, creatively to be unleashed, leaders to be trained on the go, and disciples to be released to be ambassadors of hope to hurting communities. As small groups of God people gather online, let us keep three things in mind:

1. Let us help one spur another grow in our passion for Jesus through prayer, worship and the teaching of Jesus
2. Love one another enough to listen, learn and prefer one another and serve in such a way to draw curiosity from those who don’t follow Jesus 
3. Confidently proclaim the good news of Jesus for his creation and beckon those far from him to get to know him, believe in him and therefore find true life in him.

So how do we even begin to mobilise a disciple-making movement? It might not be as complicated as we think...

Leader, invest in your small group leaders as they lead their groups, ask them to invest intentionally in a couple of others in their small group because they will be training the next generation of disciple-making small groups not you directly, then they will train others (2 Tim 2:2). Healthy things grow, that is true, but healthy things also multiply! Take a risk on faithful and trusted people that you have been waiting to train and release at the right time; now is the time, take a risk but don’t just send them on their merry way. You don’t have to disciple everyone under your care. 

Connect regularly with your small group leaders, listen to the challenges and the joys. Open the scriptures with them and ask questions;

What does this passage reveal about God? 

What are the implications for our own discipleship? How do I/we get to live as a result? 

What is Holy Spirit asking of me and what will I do? 

How will what we have learned together influence how we disciple the people in our group?

What will I pass on to others?

For sure there are other questions you can ask but you get the idea, discipleship isn’t simply about passing on of information but is about helping people to respond to Jesus in faith and do what he teaches. 

The process of discipling others is not so you can be the super disciple-making guru that everyone comes to but so that you can release a band of equipped and empowered people to take the good news of Jesus to hurt and broken world to make other disciples in the context of community.

So continue to preach the good news people, our world needs to hear it but do the work of discipleship in small groups of accountable relationships that have the seed multiplication sow in from the start. We’ll do this by discipling people for mission not services! We shouldn’t consider ourselves mature in Christ until we are discipling others to live the life God has created them to live. 

Jesus didn’t train church leaders, he trained missionaries! Missionaries that led like him, discipling others to make disciples. Oh, and then they formed communities of faith that cared for one another, met in homes, shared life and made more disciples, together. It seems to me that in the early church they saw all of life belonged to Jesus, therefore everywhere was a place for God redemptive purposes to worked out through his people. A people empowered by the Spirit, immersed in a culture of hospitality, enabling their homes became the greatest resource for discipleship and mission. 

Now is the time to disciple for mission like never before because when the social distancing measures are lifted and communities emerge to a new reality they need the Church to show a better way to live and live the reality of a better story like never before. So whilst there will no doubt many mission opportunities, I wonder if the greater missional momentum will come for a church that has been formed in missional fervour in a period accelerated missional discipleship in the period of social distancing. The opportunity is open to us to rethink and reform for mission both in the UK and cross-culturally; will we be brave enough to take it and not look back!

These missional, small agile communities of faith are happening all over the world in places where Christian haven’t been able to meet in large public gathering - China, West Africa, Asia, Middle East to name a few. I believe that if we see this shift in the UK church we will truly be able to send more missionary disciples that ever before from everywhere to everywhere. Missions organisations won’t need to spend years training pioneering disciple-makers to start movements but they will be trained in conjunction with and sent from the local church. This is what I dream for in the movement I belong to. It is a new day with a new adventure ahead of us lets grab it with both hands holding on and lets go together! 

If you’re unsure what to do and you’d like someone to walk with you to help you navigate this new landscape drop a comment below and lets see what we can organise.