Shaking Up More Traditions

In the last post we shared the idea that a different model from today’s time-honored concept of disciple making is evidenced in the Scriptures of the New Testament.  Rather than putting new believers into an intense training mode for months or even years to bring them into spiritual maturity to be able to reach out to win and train more new believers, the process was reversed.  That is, emphasis was placed on getting them quickly into action, sharing their new knowledge of Christ while growing spiritually under the training of a more mature disciple.

Continuing to draw upon the principles outlined in T4T: The Discipling Re-Revolution by Steve Smith and Ying Kai, let’s look at some of the practical reasons and the Scriptural basis for why this is so.

First of all, a new believer does not need to spend a lot of time cultivating new friendships with a few non-believers.  Normally, they already have the greatest number of close relationships with non-believers they will ever have.  From that time forward their circle of friends and influence typically will grow more and more among those who already believe and correspondingly diminish among non-believers.  Not only that, but their credibility is highest among their old relationships at the moment of their conversion, and their stories of how God has entered their lives is the most effectual. 

An outstanding example of this in the Bible is illustrated for us in John, Chapter 4, where the story of Jesus’s encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria is recorded.  When she realizes in her conversation with Him that He knows about her lifestyle of serial affairs, she perceives His knowledge to be supernatural and wonders if He might be the promised Christ (Messiah).  This, Jesus confirms to her to be true, and she immediately runs to tell the people in her circle of influence to come see Him.  Many come out and the text says that they believed because of the woman’s testimony.  Not only that, but they invited Him to stay with them, which He did for two days.  As a result, many more believed in Him.

Can you imagine a different scenario where Jesus would have said, “Now before you tell anyone about Me, I want you to join a good synagogue and learn the Scriptures so you’ll be able to explain to people who I am?”  No!  It was enough that she had met Christ, The Lord, who had opened her eyes to the truth.  Within just a couple of days there were already three generations of believers: first the woman herself, second, the many who came out to the well because of her testimony and third, the many more who believed through those who invited Jesus to stay with them.

Jesus uses this opportunity, also, to teach His disciples a principle about the Kingdom of God.  They know the farming seasons well and, looking at the wheat growing in the fields, they can easily predict that the harvest is still four months away (John 4:35).  But Jesus points out to them that the harvest is already ripe for “gathering fruit for eternal life,” seeing the great number of the people in that area who were ready to believe in Him.

The great lesson here for us is that we do not know where God’s Spirit is at work preparing hearts to hear the Word of truth.  Like the wind that we cannot see coming or where it’s going, but we can only see its effects as it passes through.  So is the working of the Holy Spirit. 

For that reason, it becomes even more urgent for new believers to be trained quickly to share with all those in their sphere of influence about their encounter with the Lord.  As Jesus also taught on another occasion, some on whom the Word of truth is sown will not produce but on those who do respond there may be up to a hundred fold increase.  Lord willing, we’ll look at this and other issues more closely in the next post