The PERSON Discipling Others

Phillips Brooks once described preaching as “the communication of truth through personality.” If this is true of preaching (and it is!), it is even more true of disciple-making. For whereas many hearers will observe the preacher’s person only at a distance, the disciple-maker’s person is deeply involved in the discipling process. At the 2014 Forum the network leaders collected questions from participants regarding the person discipling others. They fell under various categories:

1) The discipler’s life: life-on-life means not only saint-to-saint, but also sinner-to-sinner. When can we really say to others: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1)?

2) The discipler’s personality type: what role does it play?

3) The discipler’s ability: how can it be developed? Also the question: is this something every believer can/should do, or is it – like preaching – something for the specifically gifted?

4) The discipler’s status: if I am not the pastor, how do I get the permission of the church?