“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” -Matthew 28:19
When Dedra and the girls and I were serving in Costa Rica as missionaries, another young missionary at the same language school in which we were studying asked me if I would join with a group of four other men and meet with him weekly at the school. I agreed and asked him the purpose of the meeting. Prayer? Counsel? Fellowship? He simply said he would let me know the first time we met.
When that first meeting arrived, Pepper (the missionary’s interesting name) informed us that he would like to take us through a discipleship course he was developing. In doing so, he hoped to be better prepared when he arrived on his designated mission field for his full-time assignment. We all readily agreed, and began immediately. Pepper handed us the book The Master Plan of Evangelism and Discipleship by Robert E. Coleman. I had heard of the book, but had never read it. Pepper started out by asking us all to share briefly our conversion experience, told us a bit about himself, and then told us his plan for discipleship. We would read the book, discuss its implications for us, and then allow Pepper to disciple us as if we were new believers. We would then give him feedback after each lesson on his methodology and how he might disciple more proficiently.
What followed for me was twelve-weeks being discipled by a man who was younger than me chronologically and spiritually, and one of the most exciting studies I have ever experienced. Pepper was passionate about the good news and passionate about training men to know that gospel and the God who made it possible. He was specifically training men, using 2 Timothy 2:1-2 as his call: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” It wasn’t that Pepper did not care about women and children; he clearly did. Rather, he was wise enough to realize that he was a single young man who would be serving in a culture in which men were the undisputed leaders in their homes. In more than a few of those homes, the men were abusive and lived as dictators and gods before their cowering families. Pepper had a desire to transform that culture by reaching out to those very men with the gospel and training them to live as Christian men should live—with love and compassion for their wives and children and a desire to lead with a Christ-like servant leadership, not as bullies with a larger body frame and a mandate from Scripture.
As the study drew to a close, I found that I had not only been thoroughly challenged and trained, but I had watched Pepper grow significantly in his ability to disciple. The key? He was humble enough to ask the men in the group where, precisely, his teaching or his approach was falling short. He did not allow us to simply say “that was good.” He knew he needed to improve, and he demanded that we be honest with him so that he could grow. Pepper had a keen self-awareness and was willing to have his feelings bruised if it meant that he would learn in the process. It was refreshing to watch, and I learned a great deal from his honesty and humility. He did not pretend that he wanted to learn, he really wanted to learn, and to prepare himself as thoroughly as possible for ministry.
I still get email updates from Pepper. He is now married to a godly woman he met on the field and is serving as a discipler/trainer in multiple countries across Latin and South America. Churches have been planted and men discipled in the faith. His humility still comes through in his newsletters. I learned from a younger believer and am better off for it, and it reinforced my determination to see men and women discipled in their walk with Christ.
As we approach our annual Missions Emphasis in September, we would all do well to remember how vital discipleship is in the lives of all believers. Evangelism is an essential key to missions work, locally, nationally, and globally, but discipleship must follow closely on its heels. Let us make it a vital part not only of what we do here at LifePoint, but what we export to the nations.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym