As You Go...Make Disciples

The Great Commission mandates disciple-making "as you are going" (the literal meaning of "Go!"). Early Rabbis were followed day in and day out by their disciples. One description of a disciple is "one covered with the dust of their rabbi". The learning took place, not in a class room, but in life. The disciple learned as they watched the rabbi in their daily transactions with God and with people. Today we've pretty much institutionalized the process of making disciples. We've made it about taking certain courses and filling in the blanks with the correct answers. In doing so we've lost the impact of allowing people to learn from our lives.
Over the past 50+ years in ministry, I've noticed at least two powerful disciple-making tools that are often overlooked.

• Your home: When people are allowed into your home and see how you interact with your family around the dinner table, watching TV, playing games, and doing chores, they learn how to allow God into every aspect of their lives.
• D.D.A.A. This stands for "Don't do anything alone". As you go about your ministry activities, take someone with you. Let them learn how you pray for people; how you counsel; how you interact with the lost; how you encourage the believer. Some have called this the "with them" principle. It is the pattern that Jesus set for us. First, He did it. Then He did it and the disciples watched Him. Then they did it and He was available for backup. Finally, they did it and He was gone to be with the Father.

It doesn't require a course, it requires a life. Paul laid out the process in 2 Timothy 2:2 "and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." So, as you go about your normal traffic pattern of life this week, take someone with you, and invite them into your home for a day, an evening, or perhaps longer. Make disciples "as you go".