The previous posts in this six-part series can be found here:
Part 3-Begin at the Individual Level
Teaching obedience does not require complex paradigms, diagrams, and charts. It does not require advanced degrees. It does require us to know our people, to know ourselves, to know how to communicate effectively to new believers, and to know how to hold them accountable.
The purposes of God stated in the Scriptures are understandable to those who come to faith in him. Rich and poor, academic and unschooled, literates and illiterates are all capable of growing as disciples by obeying Christ’s commands in the Bible. In Matthew’s account of the Great Commission, we read, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:20, ESV). Moving beyond the point of conversion, the Church is to teach others to obey Jesus.
If we are making disciples (followers of Jesus), but failing to teach them how to obey Jesus, can we call ourselves Great Commission Christians?
Here is a method, for example, for us to ponder today:
I have heard of some church planters who wait for new believers to be faithful in obeying the first principle they teach them before teaching them a second principle. There is much to commend in this simple methodology—it communicates high expectations to the disciples, it allows for the church planters to model obedience, it allows for the new believers to dialogue with the missionaries over the issue, and it is faithful to the essence of the Scriptures.
Another value to this obedience-oriented paradigm of discipleship training is that it avoids the western notion that teachers are to provide people only with biblical knowledge, tell them to apply it to their lives, and then move on to the next lesson, whether or not the people are faithful with the truth they receive.
In most of the small groups and churches that I have been a part of over the years, seldom have I ever had anyone ask me, “So, J.D., tell me how you applied last week’s Bible study (or sermon) to your life, marriage, job, and family before we move on to the next lesson.”
Obedience-oriented discipleship is something for us to consider.
If church planters do not expect their people to mature in obedience, they will not plant healthy churches. Some may say that such churches “love” the Lord with their minds but fail to love him with their hearts, souls, and strengths. But if such is the case, can we truly say that such churches love the Lord at all?
Effective church planters will work to disciple others by teaching them how to obey the knowledge they receive from the Scriptures. Orthodoxy (right belief) must be accompanied by orthopraxy (right practice). It is not possible to have lasting and fruit-bearing orthopraxy apart from biblical orthodoxy; and such orthodoxy robbed of orthopraxy is not orthodoxy. Church planters must teach doctrine to new believers and hold them accountable for it. New believers are to be both hearers and doers of the Word of God (James 1:22). Church planters must teach new churches the significance of obedience by modeling it before them and teaching them to hold each other accountable.
Questions to Consider
1) Are you simply imparting knowledge to people with little application? If so, why? What needs to change? And how will it change?
2) What are the present methods you have in place for holding others accountable in applying the truths you teach(individual accountability groups, LTGs, community groups, Sunday School classes, etc.)? How well are these methods working in this area?
3) The example of obedience-oriented discipleship was listed in this post as an example. You know your context the best. What works best in your context? Are there things that you can do to make some improvements in better equipping others to build up the Body of Christ (Eph 4:12)? Do any of your discipleship methods involve an obedience-oriented method? If not, why not?