The Disciple-Maker and a Servant’s Heart
C.S. Lewis writes, “Put first things first and you get the second things thrown in. Do second things first and you lose both the first and second things.”
The question we are asked most about disciple-making is, “What curriculum do you use to make disciples?” It sounds like a perfectly legitimate question to our Western ears but it is a “second thing” question. Modernity has led us to believe that disciples are made through knowledge. However, this is a question that would have seemed strange to our brothers and sisters in the first century. Not dissimilar to asking a parent today, “What curriculum did you use to raise your children?” Or inquiring, “What curriculum do you and your friend follow to build your relationship?”
The “first thing” in disciple-making is love, which lends itself to service. Although there is a place for curriculum in disciple-making it cannot be the first thing. In placing curriculum first, there’s a risk that spiritual formation will not happen. A higher prospect of discipleship occurring happens when your disciple experiences you laying down your life for them.
The last night that Jesus was with his disciples he explained to them what they had experienced over the past 3 years. He had loved them the same way that the heavenly Father had loved him and he had created a setting where these twelve men could learn how to love one another. Jesus makes clear that the mark of a follower of Jesus is love for other disciples when he states, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, by your love for one another.” John 13:35
Jesus did not leave us a curriculum to follow but a compelling model of love and servant-heartedness.
Try this: Ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to serve your disciple in a tangible way this week. Actively look for the needs in your disciple's life and then tangibly enter into their current circumstances. (Ride to airport, paint a room, babysit a child, run an errand, etc.) Notice if and how these acts of attentive love change or effect your relationship.
