Lift Up Your Eyes

Over the last few weeks, I have been helping several teenagers prepare Bible stories to share on their first mission trip. As I was watching them interact and plan the final details together in the week leading up to their trip, I realized it was a full-circle moment.

When I was a little younger than these teens, I had so many godly mentors invest in me. Many of them had no idea they were teaching me, even as I absorbed every unintentional lesson. The most valuable lesson they ever taught me is how to teach.

My growth and understanding is now so much greater than what I was initially given by my early teachers. Now, I see God using my experiences to work with new young teenagers as they step out boldly on their first mission trip. I have no doubt that before long, they will turn around and begin pouring into the next group of young teens.

The biblical word for this process is discipleship.
Jesus instituted discipleship for the local church, and it is the act of intentionally investing in the spiritual growth of a young believer so that they are equipped and inspired to live like Jesus. Discipleship is the bridge between knowledge and action. When I was a young believer, I learned all about the Bible. When I was a young teen, I was taught how to share the gospel through those same Bible stories. As a young adult, I am teaching my youth group how to share their faith, just as I was taught. Now instead of only me, there is a whole group of young ministers.
There is a clear progression from “knowledge” to “action” to “replication” that should take place in every healthy believer’s life. Discipleship is the vehicle to set that process motion.
Because our congregations are so lacking in consistent discipleship, I have observed that many of my fellow believers get to the “knowledge” phase…and stay there. We faithfully attend services and diligently take notes, but the messages never leave the confines of paper and ink. As a result, I see young people who have attended church all their lives and make it to adulthood without ever having shared the gospel or lived The Faith outside of church and family. Discipleship requires an outward and upwards focus. You have to look out to the needs of others and up to your home in heaven, establishing a Kingdom vision that urges you into action. Without discipleship, we are stuck looking inward and going nowhere.
I think we have the ability to change this, but it will take some collective effort and intentionality. God has blessed our church and community greatly in the last year, and we are seeing incredible success as a result of intentional discipleship. This success is not ours, but God’s, just as the formula for discipleship comes from his Word and can be replicated by any of his faithful followers. I believe that if all of us make discipleship a regular part of our week, we will begin to see revitalized churches and engaged communities—not for the sake of filled church pews, but for the sake of the gospel.
2 Timothy 2:2 says And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

The process of discipleship includes two types of people:

Faithful, mature believer and the faithful, newer/younger believer.

The faithful, mature believer must take an interest in the spiritual growth of the younger believer. This sounds intimidating, but I guarantee
that many of you already have the right habits established to start doing this, once you decide to become intentional.
Now, I can already hear what you might be thinking because I have thought along these lines myself: All of that is great, but…

“I’m too young”
“There are more qualified people”
“I’m not good at talking/communicating/leading”

Honestly, I agree. Each of us, on our own, is unqualified and unworthy. But praise God! —we are not operating on our own or making up our own direction. Rather, we are following the leadership of the Spirit using the guidance of the Word. Discipleship is not teaching young believers how to live like you…it is showing them, through actions, how you live like Jesus. Discipleship does not belong to “certified ministers.” God never said you must be an ordained pastor with a bachelor’s degree in theology in order to make disciples. He does not require you to be a youth group leader, experienced Sunday school teacher, or even an adult. To make disciples, you must have knowledge of God, and you must be faithful. If you have been faithfully following Jesus and you are willing to serve him, those are all the ingredients God requires from you to be a disciple maker. The rest comes from him.
Do you go to church? Church sport programs? Youth group? All of these are prime locations to begin discipleship. You must purposefully involve a younger believer in the godly work that you are doing and share what you know with them. In time, they will have walked through these actions with you and learned how to replicate it in the next person.
If I am teaching Sunday school, praying for a ministry need, having a Bible study, or evangelizing, I always invite less mature believers to join me, and I teach them how to replicate what I am doing. The point is not just to start a ministry, but to develop ministers.
Do you bake or cook? Invite younger teen girls from church over to your house and teach them those skills…at the same time, set the tone by telling them that you want them to know these things because hospitality is important to God’s heart, and if they are good at hospitality then God can use that to bless others. Guide them towards God. If you are a young man, get some teen boys together and go serve someone in your neighborhood. Mow the lawn, repair something in their house…and as you are doing it, tell the young teens that this is what it means to live out the words “love your neighbor.”
If you are a girl going to a youth group, find a few other faithful, godly girls who you know would be receptive to growing closer to Jesus. Ask them to help you greet new people and make them feel welcomed. Share the WHY behind your actions. “I want to make other people feel welcomed and loved here because that’s what Jesus would do. I want you to learn how to do it with me.”
Start evangelizing with a team! Take a few young people and go hand out tracks in the city. Before you begin, get in a circle and take turns praying. Start memorizing scripture together and then teach your group how to share the gospel. When you wake up in the morning, PRAY. Pray for that young person God has laid on your heart, and ask them to pray for you.
All of these things should be taking place throughout the week. And it is so much fun!!
And it WORKS. All the ideas I just shared with you are not arbitrary. Those are things that I have done or seen done in the last year, and to great success.
I give you all of these examples because I want you to realize how easy discipleship is to incorporate into your everyday life. When I was a young girl, the people who took the time to disciple me simply invited me to join in the work they were already doing. I have far outgrown everything those initial teachers shared with me…and that is my earnest prayer and desire for every single teen I have invested in. But I will tell you what I tell the youth kids: I can teach all the right things through the Bible, and I can say all the right words…but if YOU never choose to receive it…if you never decide that this Kingdom work matters to you, then there is nothing I or anyone else can do. The burden to serve Jesus is something every believer must choose for themselves. You cannot live out The Faith through your parents, church leaders, or friends. You alone are responsible to take ownership of your knowledge and act on it. It takes work, sacrifices, and involves a lot of growing pains. But if you love Jesus and you want to serve him…those are the only ingredients you need to get started.
If you find that you are currently stuck in the “knowledge” phase of Christian growth and you would like to move into the “action” phase, start with prayer and discipleship. It took 8 months to watch our church go from stagnant to a hub of revival and outreach. It starts with intention. It starts with a Kingdom vision. Lift up your eyes. Look outward and upwards.
If you would like to begin engaging in discipleship and want some help getting started, email us at ngjquestions@nogreaterjoy.org and we will be glad to talk to you!