BIBLICAL MOTIVATION

Jesus did. [18] As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.  They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." [20] At once they left their nets and followed him. [21] Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, [22] and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4: 18-22)

The Apostles did.

[35] But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord. (Acts 15:35)

Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, [40] but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. (Acts 15:39b – 40)

When Old Testament leaders passed the mantle of leadership properly, there was success.  When they did not, there was failure: Elijah passed on the leadership to Elisah and the number of leaders who did not pass on everything to a successor is great – just look at the good and evil kings of Israel and Judah and the good and evil judges of Israel.

 GETTING LAUNCHED I

 GETTING LAUNCHED II

If you have the Bible on computer, look up every place in the Bible the word discipline is used and then make observations, interpretations, and applications (see above).

1. What do I see? (Observation) - This is always the most challenging portion of Bible study. The key to doing Bible study is "training the eye to see." Seeing correctly helps you Interpret correctly and to be in the correct environment - what it is like to be in the author's shoes.
2. What does it mean? (Interpretation) - What are the implications of what I just observed?
3. How does it work? (Application) - Two things to look for in this process:

• How does it work for me?
• How does it work for others?
   

 GETTING LAUNCHED III

Our most important mission is to reproduce our Christianity because God is a Father and not a Grandfather.  According to Acts 1:8, we have different mission fields and we must disciple people in our mission field.  In an infantry unit, our mission field may be a squad (Jerusalem), a battalion (Judea), the division (Samaria), and the whole garrison (the uttermost parts of the world).  If you are on a ship, you can find the same every expanding areas of influence.
 

Step 1 – The first thing is to seek God’s leading in who will be your mentor, whom you will mentor, and what specific needs should be passed on or gained.

The Who:

Obviously, if you are a new Christian, then you will be in a position to need a mentor, but as you grow in the faith, you will be able to mentor.

Consider this passage from James 3:1 “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”  Yet, the advantages of being a teacher/mentor are that you will grow in the faith as you prepare to be a mentor.

So, find a person in your sphere of influence and take that person under your spiritual wings.

The What:

Hebrews 5:8 tells us what Jesus had to do in His humanity. We also need to:

[8] Although He was a son, he learned obedience from what He suffered [9] and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him [10] and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

We must teach others to discern right from wrong.  There will be many things that need to be taught and only you and the disciple will know.  These range from the importance of prayer and Bible study, how to be sexually pure, how to be a worker who is not ashamed of his or her works, and many more topics.
 

Step 2 – Then we have to develop a relationship with that person.  A saying is that people do not care how much we know until they know how much we are is very true in mentoring relationships.

The relationship is one of encouraging and confidentiality.  The relationship is one that is salt and light in a dark and dreary world.  The eventual outcome is the kind of relationship described in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.

[9] Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  [10] If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  [11]  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?  [12] Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (The third strand is God in the middle of the relationship)
 

Step 3 – Carve out a special time to be with that person and be intentional. Remember the fact that you must be confidential in anything that is shared or you will not be able to proceed very far in the relationship.

The options to find time are unlimited.  Some discipleship groups go fly fishing, some motor cycling, some hiking, and some are in reading groups.  Whatever is decided must be a mutually interesting and must be a time that is genuine available.

Make sure there is a teaching point for each activity that you will be able to walk away with.

 JUST IN CASE

 Make sure that your mentee has accepted Christ as personal Savior.

There are several plans:

Campus Crusade for Christ has a plan called the 4 Spiritual Laws.

There is a plan called the Roman Road to Salvation.

This will enable you to disciple him or her and go to a higher walk with Christ. 

Step 4 – Constantly pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the guidance that is needed.

CAUTION

The consequences of not passing on the mantle of leadership are great.

Eli did not pass on the mantle of leadership to his sons: [12] Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD. … [17] This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD's sight, for they were treating the LORD's offering with contempt.  1 Samuel 2: 12, 17.

Samuel did not pass on the mantle of leadership to his sons:  [1]  When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel.  [2] The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.  [3] But his sons did not walk in his ways.  They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.  1 Samuel 8: 1-3.
 

CONTINUING FURTHER

REMEMBER

We all want to move toward maturity. Hebrews 5 tells us two things:

1. In verse 12, we have a need for someone to teach us
2. In verses 13-14, we need to move from being a baby with milk to a mature Christian who has senses trained to discern good and evil.

1

2

How to go About It.  Pick a need or pick a verse.  For Example, you may want to look at a general verse that tells how to live. Joshua 22:5 tell us to:

1. Love the Lord
2. Walk in His Ways
3. Keep His Commands
4. Hold fast to Him
5. Serve God with our heart and soul
    

1.  Love the Lord

a.  How to have a quiet time and the importance of daily devotions.

b.  Make the Lord central to your life (Matt 6:33 reminds to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness)

c.  Learn how to have a personal relationship with God.

2.  Walk in His Ways

a.  Do not turn to the right or left (Joshua 1:7)

b.  Take the narrow road because wide is the road and broad is the gate that leads to death and destruction. (Matthew 7:13)

c.  Hide God’s Word in your heart so you will not sin against Him (Psalm 119: 11)

3.  Keep His Commands

a.  Make a decision prior to going into “the real world” to be holy and follow through.
b. Go through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)to know what it means not to:

i. Murderii. Commit Adultery
iii. Divorce
iv. Make Oaths
v. Take Revenge
vi. Hate Your Enemy

4.  Hold fast to Him

a.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

b. The Lord draws near to all who call up Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. (Psalm 145:18).

5.  Serve God with our heart and soul

a.  The righteous will live by faith Habakkuk 2:4.

b.  It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. (Psalm 118:8)
 

SUGGESTION

There are so many books and plans to help you in your study.  These 4 books are examples of what can be used as a starting point:

Kay Arthur - Lord, I want to Know You.
Rick Warren - The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For?
John Eldredge – Wild at Heart
Beth Moore – Get out of that Pit

I hesitate to offer these suggestions because I am obviously leaving out many.  But the point is that there are many study guides that can be used in a discipleship setting.
 

FURTHER STUDY

To go deeper, here are some suggestions. Below is a Bible study format for any topic of your own choosing.  Follow the suggested study and then work to answer these 3 questions:

1.  What do I see? (Observation) - This is always the most challenging portion of Bible study, which most people give only cursory attention to (unfortunately).  The key to doing Bible study is "training the eye to see." Seeing correctly helps you Interpret correctly and sto be in the correct environment - what it is like to be in the author's shoes.

2.  What does it mean? (Interpretation) - What are the implications of what I just observed?

3.  How does it work? (Application) - Two things to look for in this process:

• How does it work for me?
• How does it work for others?

 TECHNICAL P0INT

Noah Webster's Dictionary

1. (n.) One who teaches or instructs; one whose business or occupation is to instruct others; an instructor; a tutor.

2. (n.) One who instructs others in religion; a preacher; a minister of the gospel; sometimes, one who preaches without regular ordination.
 

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