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I will conclude the thoughts on FIRST things FIRST with this post.  Remember from previous posts that effective discipleship must be a FIRST priority.  The acronym FIRST reminds us that discipleship must be Foundational, Intentional, Relational, Situational and Transformational.  Today let’s look at Transformational Discipleship.

I think back over the years and realize how I’ve changed.  In some ways that’s a good thing (hopefully not as immature as I used to be) and in other ways not so much (I can’t fit into the same jeans as I could in high school).  But each of us change over the course of our lives.  Most of us don’t look like we did ten years ago (I’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing or not).  Many of us are doing different jobs than we were a decade ago.  Some of us are in different relationships and have different friends than we did before the turn of the 21st century.

Change is inevitable in life.  Effective discipleship should also result in inevitable change.  Discipleship should equal transformation.  The Bible is filled with stories of real people who were transformed by the power of God.  Often the change was immediate and obvious like the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus.  Other times change was more incremental through a series of life changing events like Peter experienced.

The Bible says in Romans 12:2 that we should continue to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  There is a transformational process that each Christ follower should embrace on a daily basis.  We should also seek transformation in those that we disciple.  Change cannot be forced on someone, but it can be pursued in a discipling relationship.  An effective disciple seeks change not only in his or her own life, but also in the lives of others.

This kind of transformation is never easy.  It requires change from the inside out.  It demands denial to the flesh.  Transformation means saying yes to Jesus’ will and no to my own.  But that is how people recognize me as a Christ follower.  I’m recognized by my fruit, which should be the fruit of transformation.  People should continue to see a change in my attitude and actions as I grow closer to Christ.

If I am not changing then I am not being discipled.  And if I am not changing then I cannot expect others that look up to me to follow my example.  “Follow me as I follow Christ” should be our motto as disciples and disciple makers.  But following Christ will always lead to transformation.  Transformation is often painful, but always necessary. 

So are you experiencing transformation in your own life?

And who is being transformed in part because of your example?

Letter four of five in FIRST things FIRST focuses on Situational Discipleship.  Every person is different and should be treated individually when it comes to learning and growing in Christ.  One set pattern of discipleship will never work for everyone.  It takes a situational approach that is geared toward the individual for discipleship to be most effective.

For example, some people learn best in a download environment.  In other words they prefer to sit and listen to teaching as a method of learning.  Others need discussion environments.  They learn best when they are able to interact with one another through healthy dialogue.  Still others prefer one on one conversations in order to grow and develop.  They may learn best by conversing with a friend or mentor over a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

That’s why there is not one correct approach to discipleship.  More importantly, discipleship is not just limited to teaching.  Most people learn better by what they see and experience rather than what they simply hear taught.  I guess you could say discipleship is more often caught than taught.  It’s caught through observation and made real through personal experience.

That’s why an effective discipleship process must be situational.  Simply forcing everyone to attend the same new believers class or small group does not work for everyone.  It’s much easier than taking an individual approach, but in the long run it is far less effective.  Discipleship must be more of a process and less of a program.  It must be focused on each specific person rather than a generic audience.  Truly effective discipleship must be SITUATIONAL!

If you haven’t read the previous posts regarding FIRST things FIRST then I encourage you to do so.  Using the acronym FIRST I believe that effective discipleship must be Foundational, Intentional, Relational, Situational and Transformational.  Let me take a moment to look at RELATIONAL Discipleship.

Jesus demonstrated the power of relational discipleship by selecting a handful of guys and spending more time with them than anyone else.  Mark 3:14 says, “He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.” The first priority was to be with Jesus.  That’s relational discipleship.

I’ve often heard messages on this regarding prayer and personal devotions.  Speakers will often say something like the following:

• Your first priority as a minister is to spend time in prayer before you go out to preach.
• You’re called to a personal devotional life before you’re called to ministry.
• If you are not spending time with God before you preach then you will not be effective.

Now I believe all of these statements are true and can be supported by the Bible.  I’m just not sure that this text is emphasizing that.  I think it means what it says: Jesus wanted the disciples to spend time with him…in the flesh.  Jesus was fully human.  He walked and talked with these guys.  He wanted to get to know them and he wanted them to get to know him.  That’s relational discipleship.

To be effective in discipling others we must do it out of relationship.  Simply sending someone to a Sunday School class or New Believers class just doesn’t cut it.  The Bible says that iron sharpens iron and in the same way one person sharpens the other.  You sharpen another person by spending quality time with them: walking with them, talking with them, and doing life together.

That’s relational discipleship.

That’s what Jesus did.

That’s what we should do.

So who are you discipling?