SIDE BY SIDE: Disciple-Making For a New Century

SIDE BY SIDE: Disciple-Making For a New Century by Steve and Lois Rabey
(c) 2000 Cook Communications Navpress pp293 price 39.95 hc
Contributions from
Stuart and Jill Briscoe, Oswald Chambers, Ravi Zacharias, Dallas Willard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Amy Carmichael, Richard Foster, Jerry Bridges.

In his forward John Stott expresses concern about the lack of maturity among Christians and the prevalance of superficial discipleship. He identifies the principle of discipleship as having a clear vision of Christ.
Introduction
The writing of this book was motivated by the First International Consultation of Discipleship held in Eastbourne, England in 1999. The material is organized into five sections which are commands relating to biblical discipleship.
SECTION ONE Come Follow Me! Being A Disciple Of Jesus
The Greatest Commandment. Love.
We are to love God because He loved first. God cannot be reached through understanding but He can be reached in love. About the rewards of love Thomas a Kempis says, "It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity". It is good for us to contemplate what people saw in the eyes of Christ as they were ministered to. Intimacy with God involves abiding and obeying. Assurance is a result of intimacy. Intimacy is a choice.
Being and Doing.
"Preach always, if necessary, use words." St. Francis. Practice what you preach. Absolute honesty is essential when dealing with secret sins.
Discipleship Defined.
"Discipleship is - absolute truthfulness." Bonhoeffer. Discipleship was not a new concept in the time of Christ but His disciples were challenged with a radical form of discipleship. William MacDonald identifies seven "terms of discipleship". p.34. Some of these are supreme and fervent love, selfdenial, etc.
The Marks of a Disciple.
Contentment is a mark of a disciple. Others are a good temper, being spiritually minded, and not being worldly minded.
The Beauty of Humility.
It is modeled by Christ by the way He served people. It involves unconditional love. It implies having the mind of Christ, being a bond servant. see Lk. 17.
Taking up The Cross.
This is not popular. There is a cost of commitment. e.g.Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was concerned about what he called cheap grace, grace without discipleship. "There is no Easter without Good Friday." Matthew Fox.
The Discipline of a Disciple.
Jesus demanded love and obedience from his disciples not just intellectual growth. In short He expected a holy life. Pleasing God has to become very intentional.
From Holy Disciplines to the Spiritual Disciplines.
According to Richard Foster spiritual disciplines are inward, outward, and corporate. No believer is exempt from them. Eleven such disciplines are listed and discussed. (Good stuff!)
A Life of Discipleship.
"The Christian life is not a sprint- it is a marathon."Jerry Bridges. e.g. Enoch. Bitterness must be avoided. Pleasing God has to be a priority. The outward manifestation of this discipline is service.
SECTION TWO. Go And Make Disciples. Helping Others Follow Jesus.
Into The World.
All believers are called. Pitfalls to be avoided are defeatism and arrogance. World evangelism is going to be accomplished as each believer becomes responsible.
A New Commandment.
Hearing must result in doing but it has to be a natural result. "You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving." Amy Carmichael. The effectiveness of the tool is determined by the craftsman not the tool.
The Great Discipler.
Jesus taught through His actions and life. He worked with those who were available not necessarily qualified. His disciples knew He was God.
Working With Flawed, Fallen, People. See Mark 2:17.
The Gentleness of Grace.
"Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetary in which to bury the faults of his friends." Henry Ward Beecher. Jesus was (is) a friend (lover) of failers. e.g.the prodigal son.
Incarnational Living.
Incarnation should be lived not just celebrated at Christmas. Ordinary things can be offered to Christ. Faithfulness and obedience are indicators of Incarnational living.
A Picture of Incarnational Living. A story told by Walter Wangerin. Jr.
Giving All, or Just a Little. An essay by Georg Strumpf and J. Stephen Lang about busyness.
Go and Teach.
The story is told of Jim Petersen and his wife who travelled to Brazil as missionaries in 1963. During the sixteen day boat ride they were with 58 other missionaries and 60 tourists. The concept of evangelism and how people practiced it in that scenario was very interesting.
Evangelism for Everyone.
In this section we have an interview between a journalist from Discipleship Journal and Rebecca Pippert, author of, Out of the Saltshaker. "The key to evangelism is a fire that burns in us." p.110.
Combining Words with Action.
"Christ’s lore and His apostles twelve, He taught, but first He practised it Himself." Chaucer. Action motivated by privilege not duty is what empowers words.
Loving Neighbor and Self.
More has been preached on the first of these two commands. We care for self by caring for others.
SECTION THREE. I Am With You ; We All Do The Work of Discipleship.
All are Called to Disciple.
We are chosen, 1Peter 2:9 ,to love God and serve Him. That includes discipling.
A Life of Discipleship.
Discipleship is "simply mature Christians being what mature Christians should be and doing what mature Christians can be". Jill Briscoe. It involves an accepted cost. There has to be understanding and a right heart, which are indicators of maturity.
Different Disciples Different Ministries.
A brief evaluation is made of the life of C.S.Lewis. Disciples are members of a body. Each member has its unique function. Extremes are to be avoided. e.g. taciturn and verbose. Spiritual direction is basic to discipling.
Circles of Influence.
These circles expand from a common centre, i.e. family to the world. Hospitality, a sphere of influence, should not become overwhelming to the host or the guest. It is a sharing of a home and a life. The terms ‘secular’ and ‘sacred’ don’t apply to (Christian) work. Co-workers with God is a more correct designation.
Called to Lead.
Spiritual leadership involves natural qualities of personality and spiritual qualities of Holy Spirit empowerment. The call is to servant leadrship.
Caring Enough to Love.
Spending time with people is not a waste of time. We need what Amy Carmichael calls ‘Calvary love’. "He is meek who knows how to suffer his neighbor and himself. " John of the Cross.
SECTION FOUR. Teaching Them To Obey. Disciple-Making Methods and Models.
Making Disciples: The Perennial Problem.
The writings of Dallas Willard are looked at briefly. There is no blueprint for discipling. The goal is to model and encourage Christlikeness. "Jesus is the ultimate object of imitation." Willard. Discipleship needs to be individual and corporate. Those who would disciple need a strong vision for the ministry.
Discipleship at Close Range.
Successful discipleship or spiritual direction is most often thought of as a one on one relationship. i.e. teacher/student. Another analogy might be coaching. It takes place in relationship. Mentoring, which is a care group of two, is discipleship in community.
The Community of the Commited.
"There is an indisoluble link between the church and the making of disciples." Stuart Briscoe. Barnabas represents those who disciple in community.
Mastering Methods.
Carl Wilson explains seven steps Jesus used in discipling his followeres. LeRoy Eims talks about nine ‘essentials of a healthy Christian".
Showing and Telling.
Effective evangelism involves modelling where people both hear and see the gospel. Christ is our model. From him we learn effective teaching principles.
Going Beyond Programs.
Programs can limit the work of the Holy Spirit and actually damage the one being discipled. Discipling requires loving (relationship) and planning (program). Historically there has been a tension between faith and works. There is holiness in humanity which gives credibility to discipleship. Legalism will threaten discipleship as it relates to grace. "You don’t always have to chop with the sword of truth, you can point with it too." Anne Lamott. Spiritual disciplines are necessary for spiritual growth.
Our Work, God’s Work.
Discipleship is "a long obedience in the same direction". Eugene Peterson. Only God brings true spiritual maturity.
SECTION FIVE. Issues: Applying God’s Wisdom in Changing Times.
Postmodernism: A New Mars Hill. (Ravi Zacharias)
Concerning the common accusation of exclusivism leveled against the Christian faith, Zacharias says, "every major religion I know has exclusivity at its core". We have a generation that "listens with its eyes and thinks with its feelings". Zacharias. "Our goal in training disciples is to produce a disciple who will draw the lines in the right places." Zacharias.
Living Out Timeless Truths in a Changing World.
Each culture has its unique reason for not accepting the discipleship of the Christian culture. Ours has replaced surrender with adoration, obedience with freedom. Discipleship is considered irrelevant. There are too few legitimate models of discipleship. Yet the essentials of discipleship as taught by Paul, Phil. 2, are timeless.
The Challenge of Community.
It is modeled in the book of Acts. Some obstacles to community are, fear of intimacy, scars from excessive authority, unhealthy individualism, exhausting busyness, and an inward focus.
Confusing Discipleship with Citizenship.
Tony Campolo suggests three areas of our culture (Christian) that "beg for evaluation". They are materialism, political power, and people pleasing ministries. "It is extremely difficult to maintain the countercultural perspective that is essential for Christian living." Campolo.
Compassion For The Poor.
God’s concern for the poor is clear in his word. Jesus did not bypass them. "A friend of the poor is a friend of God." p.260.
Avoid the Excess of Abuse.
Disciple abuse is a reality. Gordon MacDonald presents how we can distinguish between healthy and unhealthy relationships in discipling. Control is a key in identifying disciple abuse.
Appendix: Recommended Resources.
Comment. hd
This book has a lot of information because of the many views stated from a number of contributors. The church in general and all of us individually need to respond to the seroius challenge of biblical discipleship. as it impacts us personally and our responsibilities to others. New life (evangelism) is the beginning of a long process of growth and development that will not happen as it was intended without discipleship. This book is a helpful tool in that process.