Discipleship

A. Setting The Goals of Discipleship

One thing I have noticed in dealing with leadership is that many often do not have the same expectation for the spiritual accomplishments of their congregations as I had or have for them. In other words, they did not expect their people to come to the place they had come in ministry. For this cause many leaders do not relentlessly pursue the development of those whose mental dispositions offer monumental opposition to the attempts to disciple. In short, they give up on them. Neither were the leaders judging the distance or length of time that it would take to produce in others that which was produced in them. They also did not believe that they could bring the people to the place they had travelled to spiritually. Therefore, this set boundaries of bondage in the spiritual development of the people. If you do not believe you have the ability to bring the congregation as a whole to your own spiritual location then you cease to be a leader.

The leader is expected to bring the people to wherever the Lord brings him or her. Leaders oftentimes fail to see the spiritual potential of their disciples extending beyond their own territorial spheres of influence. Therefore, leaders groom members to operate only within their spheres of influence [in the local church]. This locks the candidate into the boundaries set by the measures that were given to that local pastor. This mindset eliminates the vision for those candidates to become participants in global evangelism, thus creating a loss of perspective, vision, and hope to move into areas beyond the scope of the local assembly they were planted in. This is bondage which breeds frustration in the hearts and minds of those who were once excited about a growth path that was supposed to bring them into spiritual servitude. The frustration is mostly due to the fact that there is no room in the local church to accommodate the call of all the candidates being discipled. This often leads to novices departing from the ministry to establish their own ministry prematurely.

B. Methods of Discipleship

There are different methods of discipleship. I am more or less talking about subject matter. For instance, you could disciple or rather use the discipleship sessions to deal with issues pertaining to apostolic order or deal with issues that are all together of a more personal nature. The discipleship sessions can become very detailed and specific in its dealing with issues. For example: ministerial witchcraft, purifying the heart or the opposition of marital status in ministry, etc., are very sensitive and involved issues. However, these are just a few examples of different methods of discipleship. After many years of working the institution of discipleship in the senior Bible Teachers International staff, I am amazed at how very little discipleship was being done in the local churches. I found that there was hollowness in the people who should have been seasoned veterans in the ministry. The people at the local level were also in dismay concerning their spiritual locations. Many of them thought it necessary to either frequently visit or permanently relocate to the Global Training Center. This should not have been the case. It was not flattering to me at all. This frustration came after much counsel and instruction to the leaders concerning this problem. Still there was no change. I simply could not understand why the senior pastors would not disciple, seeing how they knew the importance of it. It brought them to where they were spiritually. I sought the Lord on this matter. Yes, the leaders knew the importance of discipleship. Yes, it had indeed moved them to a higher spiritual level. Yes, they knew it to be the spiritual method by which God was grooming His people and bringing us face-to-face with truth. They knew that there is no coming into the mind and heart of God without discipleship. But the truth is that some of them resented it. Many of them resented discipleship, because it required confrontation with the negatives in their own lives. Leaders also resented me as their leader for bringing them face-to-face with their ugliness. CONFRONTATION IS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE. Confrontation breaks the pride, arrogance and the image one has of oneself. It challenges the will and disposition. Though these discipleship sessions with the senior pastors were held in closed meetings, (as were the ones Jesus had with His disciples), they were oftentimes quite painful, as the truth destroyed the power of the flesh.

C. Techniques in Discipling:

Respecting Pride Vs. Discerning Spiritual Locations: Oftentimes, in a discipleship session, there is a group consciousness. In other words, each participant is mindful that they are part of a group. This in itself can be intimidating. It also causes one to be defensive or self-protecting. There is a difference between respecting the pride in an individual, which causes the perfecter to become intimidated, as opposed to discerning the spiritual location of the individual as being an inability to handle the truth, or the complete truth concerning their spiritual location in a group setting. There is a difference between being in a group setting and discerning that a person is not spiritually able to handle the complete truth about himself in that group setting without becoming offended; as opposed to discerning pride that seeks to intimidate the perfecter, and causes him to back off from the confrontation. It is important that the perfecter knows the difference between the two. It is also important that the perfecter be willing to operate inside of the boundaries that the Holy Spirit sets in his revelation of the two. In other words, the perfecter must not have any other agenda other than to point the people to God. If he does have another agenda [retribution, control, suppression, intimidation] he will go past the boundaries of his discerning. This principle itself proves that it is impossible for one to disciple without discerning.

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Knowing When to Stop: If you discern that an individual is not spiritually capable of handling the entire truth about himself in a group setting, then you must know when to stop. When to stop simply means how far to go inside of exposing the individual to the truth. However, a good perfecter who is led by the Holy Spirit can lead that individual all the way to the truth without exposing the entire situation to the group. The objective in the discipleship sessions should be to bring the individuals to a new spiritual location. Therefore, the focus of all discipleship sessions must be spiritual development. Spiritual development: the ability to carry an individual to a new spiritual location, a new awareness, and a new knowledge of their relationship with Christ and man. This definition infers that a person actually moves spiritually in the discipleship sessions, but in addition to moving, they also have a new knowledge as to where they were, and where they have moved to, as well as how they got there. Consequently, this gives them a new awareness of their relationship with God and man. Furthermore, the disciple now understands his own spiritual growth and is able to minister the same to others.

A spirit led perfecter is capable of opening the mind of the individual up to consider his own spiritual location by the limited knowledge you rendered to him and the group. In other words, you have said enough to make the individual see himself, without exposing those negatives that he is not spiritually capable of handling the group knowing. Furthermore, you know that this person is aware of what God is trying to tell him about himself. The skillful expertise of the Holy Ghost has brought him to this place of awareness without exposing all of his ugliness to the group. The purpose of God is accomplished when you know that the individual will deal righteously with the issue, without being exposed any further. If this is the case, then you can stop. If this is not the case, then you must proceed a little further with caution, considering what the Holy Spirit has revealed concerning the individual’s spiritual location. Do not go beyond the point of “spiritual development.” If you go beyond that which the individual is capable of handling, then you must examine your own agenda as well as your lack of wisdom

False Agreement: It is also possible in discipleship sessions that an individual will agree with the perfecter, in order to avoid further confrontation. If this is the case, the perfecter must understand that the individual has not been brought to a point of change. He is not really in agreement with God. Once again this is why discerning is most important. A skillful perfecter would not relent. The perfecter must continue on a course of unveiling the truth, which may mean acknowledging the false agreement. If you are not skillful in discipleship, do not be discouraged. It is the responsibility of the apostolic mantle to train the senior pastors and their assistants in these techniques.

D. Traditional Mindsets

There are traditional mindsets that can be developed in the people when a leader is not at one with what the Holy Spirit wants to produce in them. The members see their spiritual location as always being beneath the spiritual location of their leader. They come to believe that in their entire lifetime they can never equal the spiritual exploits of that leader. The principle of the disciple doing the greater works ministry is lost. The goals set by undiscipled leaders guarantees this mindset will prevail. This is an erroneous interpretation of submission and excelling in leadership. Example #1: The apostle is seen as the head of the reformation and is the person who is to produce pastors. However, in order to produce a pastor the apostle must disciple that individual into the mind of Christ. Many of the leaders have not been discipled into the apostle’s mindset and it is reflected in the local churches. Apostolic order is a channel of influence and not a hierarchy. The apostle disciples the pastor; the pastor disciples the people, etc., all into the same mindset. But where the breakdown often occurs is in what the pastors believe about their own ministry. Many pastors do not believe that they can bring a whole congregation to the mind of Christ. That breakdown is in what they believe they can or cannot accomplish as a pastor.

Example #2: There are individuals who have an educational background. A teacher can work in a classroom with thirty students and amongst the students, there will be some who excel in the curriculum that is taught. The test of the ability of that teacher is whether the material that is being taught, can be used to disciple the entire class into the curriculum. When a person has a passion for what they are teaching, their teaching has the capability of influencing others. Thus, the passion of a subject matter by a spiritual disciple will filter into the students. Unfortunately, many pastors do not believe they have the ability to simultaneously bring the whole congregation to their own spiritual location. Since they do not believe this, they now set sub level goals for their congregation. This is where they expect to bring them. This goal is not haphazardly set, but set specifically to maintain the house and its functioning. Therefore, the people are locked inside of that pastor’s territory. The leader cannot look at the present spiritual location of the people and set goals for their achievements. If the leader does, he will set the goals at the current level or beneath where they presently are. The goal of the pastor should be to bring out the potential that God has placed in the members. The pastor’s motive for dealing in an individual’s life has to be to bring them to God’s purpose for their life. As ministers we cease to be a leader if we do not bring the people to the place where we are.

The Spirit of Apathy

If a pastor does not feel that everyone in the congregation can or has the God-given potential to reach his (the pastor’s) spiritual location, he is guilty of apathy. This indifference or lack of concern will allow this pastor to continue to set lesser goals for his people. When you set spiritual goals that do not challenge the people to move out of their comfort zones, you have them locked in the house and rob them of a vision for their life beyond the one you create for them. Consequently, they will only strive to reach the goals you have set for them. This gives the pastor a false sense of accomplishment.

Paul never judged his view of God’s desire to use him through Peter’s eyes. Paul had to have confidence in the work that God had done in him. It is the responsibility of all leaders to look to the Christ within them for the ability to perform the works of God. They must look to Christ as the one through whom they must function. While leaders should look to the apostle for some of the ways to perform, they should not look at him as the one who sets the boundaries as to what will be accomplished through them by God. It might be your measure to set up 500 churches, while it is the apostle’s measure to set up 200 churches. It is the Christ in each one who is doing the work.

Leaders must be so confident in what God has told them to do that even if the apostle falls, the work will continue. The ability to function and the power to work ministry is in God and not in the apostle. In tradition, leaders made members see God in light of them. Members were trained to work for the leaders and not for God. When a leader points the people to God, the leader then becomes valuable. When a leader points the people to oneself it is idolatry. The apostle is only supposed to show you where to go and how to get there. You must know God, however, for yourself. You must not place leaders in the position where they are always expected to tell the saints what to do. This is control. It is the leader's responsibility to teach the people to hear the Lord for themselves. A leader's mindset is what is passed down to the people. Paul was held in high esteem by the churches. However, we do not know all of what John, Mark or Timothy accomplished after Paul left. Allow the people to have confidence in the power of God within them. Do not allow their confidence to begin and end with you.