Relationship: The Essence of Discipleship

RELATIONSHIP

Copyright © 2019 by Jake Giesbrecht

All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

EPUB Version: 978-1-4866-1790-6

Word Alive Press

119 De Baets Street, Winnipeg, MB R2J 3R9

www.wordalivepress.ca

Cataloguing in Publication may be obtained through Library and Archives Canada

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Discipleship Basis

2. Discipleship in History

3. Discipleship as a Lifestyle

4. Discipleship Jesus-Style

5. Discipleship and its Objective

6. Discipleship Will Change a Culture

7. Discipleship is a Call to Action

8. Discipleship With Results

9. Discipleship in a Nurturing Context

10. Discipleship and its Value

11. Discipleship in the Local Church

12. Discipleship in Practice

Conclusion

About the Author

Acknowledgements

I must mention first my wife, Ruth, who has been a great source of encouragement over the years of ministry, and in the work of research and writing of this book. She took on the task of editing and trying to shape my sentences and paragraphs into proper form while trying to keep in mind my thinking process. She has been willing to challenge me where needed and has given very helpful feedback. That has been done thoroughly, and sometimes humourously.

I have appreciated the editing work of my sister, Freda Bostrom, who has varied experiences in the art of composition. Many thanks for your effort and diligence.

I was very thankful for the insightful and detailed work of editing by Paul Sheppard, a retired English teacher. His many suggestions and corrections made for a book that is easier to read. He was not afraid to take extra time to clarify many of his suggestions.

I value the input from a good friend, Dennis Thomson, who gave me good feedback on the content, and made suggestions, both in content and style, that are based on a very strong friendship.

Introduction

While many people who attend church today give verbal assent to the gospel, they are not equipped to serve. Ephesians 4:11–12 and 2 Timothy 3:16–17 speak distinctly to the issue of the equipping of believers for good works and service.

Other believers are taken up with distractions that occupy their time and energy. In our modern age, distractions have become a major factor in our society. There is need for Christians to commit to pursuing a walk with Christ above all else.

We need to recognize that the element of intentional discipleship is often missing in the Church. This discipline must be embraced in order to bring believers to a place where they can serve in the strength of their gifting.

Our first priority is the need for a biblical understanding of the nature of discipleship, and how it has been exercised. In the process of this practice of discipleship, others will learn and be equipped to pursue the same objective, namely, that of discipling believers to spiritual growth and commitment to serving others in the name of the Lord.

Various passages of Scripture will be examined to show that this approach follows the authority of the Word of God. We live in a church culture where personal opinions are valued too highly. Unfortunately, these opinions have taken away from understanding of the Word of God, and our commitment to its authenticity and authority.

I first saw discipleship in practice in the beginning of my pastoral ministry. My senior pastor demonstrated discipleship among some of the men in the church. I have seen the value of discipleship as I’ve watched men and women who were discipled stay active in the spiritual development of other men and women. I have practiced discipleship as I have been able, although I was too busy in ordinary church life to practice it as I now understand its importance. If I had to do it all over again, I would place discipleship much higher on my list of priorities.

I have seen the results of discipleship in the lives of people. I find the greatest joy in this ministry. It is a delight to see the effects discipleship has on individuals, particularly as it leads men and women to give themselves to ministry and leadership, whether formal or informal.

It may be profitable to remember that men ought to disciple men and women ought to disciple women. This practice speaks to a high standard of integrity in the matter of male/female relationships.

I want to do whatever I can to make the Church aware of the need of intentional discipleship. It is my hope that this book will demonstrate my passion for that ministry.

I also want to offer a word of caution: in North America, we have lived in a freedom from challenges to our faith which has often made us insensitive to changes that are happening in our culture, in both church and secular society. This has made us vulnerable to being conformed to the world by not holding us accountable to the biblical standard of truth and conduct. Government, society and church are making changes at an alarming speed. I see discipleship as a major defense against conformity to the world.

That followers of Christ in Western culture will be persecuted is hardly in doubt. When that happens, governments may try to shut down the Church, but they will only be able to shut down buildings. Jesus said, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18) and no humans or human organizations will be able to shut it down.

It is tragic when we identify church as a building but when buildings are shut down, followers of Christ will realize to a greater degree our dependence on each other. By necessity, we will meet together in smaller venues, primarily in homes where we will intentionally nurture each other in the various aspects of following Jesus Christ. This may well cause the Church to become more committed to following its mandate.

This book is meant to be informational and motivational. It will not set out a pattern to follow. It will not seek to set out a program of discipleship. As you will see, I believe we must resist the concept of program, and instead focus on relationship.

Discipleship is relational. Every discipleship experience will be unique as it seeks to meet the needs of individuals. How this might be done we will see in various discussions throughout the book.

This book is meant to begin a conversation. It is meant to cause thorough study and deep reflective thought that leads to action.

Chapter One

Discipleship Basis

My wife and I drive along a country road on the way to the church we attend. One spring we noticed heavy equipment on a tract of land of a couple of hundred hectares that was seemingly quite useless. It was scruffy, containing a mixture of trees and rocks, and having no apparent productive value at all. The equipment was removing rocks, cutting down trees, pulling up trunks and root systems, and piling them up to be burned.

The next thing we noticed was the presence of tiling equipment and miles of drain tile, which is buried underground to provide drainage in the case of heavy rains. After the tiling was completed, the land was leveled off, seemingly ready for the planting of crops.

Sure enough, in a week or two we saw signs of seeding having taken place, and in another week or two we saw growth. At the