Jesus Gathered with His Disciples; So Should We!

"Now Judas . . . knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples." -- John 18:2

The latter part of the verse is somewhat obscure, yet it jumped out at me a few days ago. It clearly suggests that Jesus and His disciples met regularly at the same place.

The whole of the Gospels makes clear that Jesus ran with 12 men, pouring His life into them. He 'did life with them,' teaching them truth and showing them compassion as they went went. They were on the go, on mission, learning as they went, empowered as needed.

As my friend and mentor Alvin Reid says, paraphrased, we in conservative U.S. evangelical life have spent generations proving that merely getting bible teaching materials and a group of people together in a room (often called Sunday School) is not creating disciples.

What creates disciples is the act of a mature Christian (or at least one a few steps ahead of his pupil!) showing and teaching a younger Christian what it takes to walk with Christ.

Tertullian wrote, “A disciple is first born then made. He is born by the Spirit of God with the right factory-installed equipment. Then, he must be built, trained and taught, and led to commitment to Jesus Christ.”

The 'factory-installed equipment' is a personal relationship with Christ that causes the Holy Spirit to live in Him. I could write at length about how our discipleship (I prefer to say 'mentor' instead of 'disciple' because church has watered-down and given mixed-meaning to the word 'disciple') is so poor in the Kingdom that most Christians have absolutely no understanding of what it means that they have the Holy Spirit in them. Francis Chan has already expressed that problem and it's solution brilliantly in his latest book Forgotten God. It is a must read.

So what must we do? Mentor/disciple! You are made to be a re-creator. You are commanded to pass on what Jesus has placed in you. The lack of power in the body of Christ today is the responsibility of the Christians who didn't share their growth with the baby believers!

If we are powerless it is because we have been satisfied by mere salvation (it is not 'mere' but I write it for effect) and don't go on to depth and commitment to serve and pour into others. (Such an attitude calls into question whether one is in fact a Christian, but that is another discussion).

I heartily accept the view of Herb Hodge (Tally Ho the Fox): “Discipling is done by someone, not something. It is done by persons, not by programs. It is accomplished by individuals, not by institutions. Technically, Discipling is one Christian person imparting his whole life to another, by example, leadership and relationship. It always involves life transference.”

Life transference does not come in a rote academic program, but as each mentor is led to coach His mentee. The safety is in the fact that the basics of the walk have to be covered, and that the basics of the basics all come from the same Scripture. Beyond that, the Spirit leads the mentor and empowers the mentee.

At First Baptist Concord, we are working to equip more mentors, refine ones we already have, and mentor young (in maturity; age isn't the factor) Christians so they can mentor. (contact me for more info)

It is how spiritual growth happened in Jesus' time, which is consistent with how the early church -- reflected in Acts -- lived.  Our instituationalized church must return to the roots of spiritual formation, we must mentor! The one effectively mentored will mentor, and we'll see multiplication instead of addition. We'll have power because we'll have mature Christians who understand the commands of Christ and, as important, His power and how to have it!