by Alan Rathbun
Eastern PA District Team
I’ve had a hearty appetite for knowledge almost as long as I can remember. When I was in elementary school, I had such an obsession for trivia that my mom gave me a book called, “Triviata: A Compendium of Useless Information”. I still remember learning about underground streams in the Sahara Desert from this book. In middle school, my mind turned toward sports and I devoured inglorious amounts of odd baseball stories and statistics. It’s mind boggling to me how many of those stories and stats are still lodged in my memory.
Thankfully, when the Holy Spirit enlightened my heart to the beautiful knowledge of God, my appetite shifted toward knowing Him and His ways. I suddenly began reading almost anything I could get my hands on that helped shape my understanding of our infinite, three-in-one God. I was the fortunate recipient of well over 100 books from my grandmother when she closed a small Christian bookstore she had owned, and I read a large portion of that collection.
I have no idea how many books and articles I have read over the years, nor do I have a clue about how many podcasts I have listened to since they arrived on the scene over a decade ago. I am thankful, however, that the Lord has shown me that being a growing disciple is not just learning the “what” about God, it’s also about learning “how” to incorporate what you learn about Him and His ways into your life. The “how” is an aspect of Jesus’ Great Commission that we often neglect.
Jesus described an essential part of making disciples as “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you”. When we read this, we tend to focus on the what more than the how, about teaching disciples what Jesus’ commands are more than about teaching them how to obey them. When we neglect this, we are less fruitful in making and multiplying disciples. It’s possible to stagnate and frustrate the growth of disciples by overfocusing on the what at the expense of the how.
John 15 is a great example. We correctly teach people that Jesus commands us to abide (remain) in Him, but what are we doing to show people how to do this? What steps does a disciple need to take to learn to live in a conscious, interactive relationship with the one who is both our Master and our friend? What gospel promises do those we disciple need to trust to keep growing in abiding in Jesus?
Luke 19 provides another example. We are quick to teach people that Jesus is the Son of Man who came “to seek and to save the lost”, but what is our plan for teaching our disciples how to order their lives so that they can join Jesus in seeking and saving the lost. Both Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ words that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, but what are we doing to show disciples how to live as if the harvest truly is plentiful so that they are excited about working in it.
Dallas Willard said, “Every church needs to be able to answer two questions. First, what is our plan for making disciples? And second, does our plan work?” If we truly want to make and multiply disciples, we must ask if our plan includes teaching both what the commands of Jesus are and how to obey Jesus’ commands. We must help them learn what God is like and then show them how to live life with Him. Learning the how helps their doing keep up with their knowing and it helps them be fruitful in making more disciples.