Spiritual Parenting 2

One of the key fruits of biblical community is cultivating a mindset of discipleship. Being a part of the Body of Christ means having the mind of Christ, and that means cultivating a mindset that is looking for ways to disciple the people we are with. God wants us to grow as disciples, and one of the fruits of a growing disciple of Christ is that he or she is discipling others.
Very often when you hear a sermon or read a book on discipleship the focus is on how we are all called to be disciples and what spiritual disciplines disciples should have. The focus is on how you should be learning, how you should look as a disciple. What I have been learning is that a big part of discipleship is often left out, and that is that being a disciple means actively discipling others.
Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV),

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Part of discipleship is teaching people to obey everything Jesus has commanded. Certainly part of that is passing on what Jesus commanded. But how do you teach someone to obey? That is a relational thing. It is a personal thing. It is an ongoing thing. Learning how to live a godly life is just as much caught as it is taught. Book learning will only get you so far. Knowing Scripture is important. Having good theology is important. But there are realties about learning to live a godly life that can only be learned by seeing it lived out in another person.
Too often we misunderstand the Great Commission, “go and make disciples,” as “go and make converts.” We tend to gloss over the second half of Jesus command, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
There is an indispensible component of discipleship that can only take place in life together. Jesus said go and make disciples. He meant disciple as He understood it. That means you need to be in relationships with people who can help you learn and grow and you need to be in relationships with people who can be learning from you. That is what Jesus was showing here. The lesson Jesus gave to His disciples, and that John through the Spirit’s leading, made sure was passed on to us, was that part of being a disciple is discipling others.
This is the clear teaching of Deuteronomy 6, Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. You were not only supposed to be learning yourself, you were supposed to be passing your learning on to others.
The point of discipleship is not to learn but to live. Is learning involved? Yes. Is study involved? Yes. But the goal of the knowledge is wisdom. The end of discipleship isn’t to gain mastery of the Scriptures but to master a life of love. To be a disciple is to be a person whose life is the incarnation of Great Commandment, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV). Because it is about living a life of love there is no set time when discipleship takes place, it takes place all the time. It is not a role, it is a life. It is not something that you turn on and off. It encompasses all the other roles and relationships we have.