Before ascending to the Father, Jesus gave His disciples the mission to disciple the nations. During the next 250 years, the gospel spread throughout the Roman world and beyond without the aid of political power, military force, financial aid, or educational clout.
The dynamics behind the amazing mission movement was very simple — as it had to be. It spread through family and relational networks. This strategy was central in the Old Testament where each Hebrew family was responsible for expanding the kingdom of God from one generation to the next. It was an organic model of growth involving successive generations.
Ps. 78:5-6 “…He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children.”
Let’s review our description of discipleship to orient where we are.
Discipleship is the personal, persistent pursuit
of knowing, reflecting, and sharing Christ
by means of critical spiritual disciplines (previously discussed)
in the context of supporting relationships, (current discussion)
resulting in the distinctive marks of an apprentice of Christ.
The supportive relationships in a healthy family involve three generations: Grandparents, parents, and children. With each generation there is a relationship and a responsibility. I am referring to that structure as a relational triad. Notice that Jesus expanded the OT model beyond the physical family, but His discipleship strategy was still through relational generations. Although He was preaching to the crowds, He was discipling a few who would be the next generation.
The Hebrew strategy was familiar to Paul so we shouldn’t be surprised that he used it when taking the gospel into the Roman world. He modeled it and then codified it with Timothy (the next generation) when he said, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2Tim 2:2). Paul (the first generation) was reminding Timothy (the second generation) that what he had learned in the context of many witnesses (a band of second generational brothers), he was to pass on to faithful men (a third generation) who would be able to teach others (continue the pattern of organic disciplemaking). The strategy for expanding the kingdom was through successive generations of supporting relationships.
Paul, in writing to the believers in Thessalonica, gives additional insight into how he did ministry. In 1 Thess. 2, Paul reminds the believers that he shared with them not only the gospel but his own life like a nursing mother and an encouraging father. The implication is a highly relational, one to one, strategy.
With his own life as a model, Paul then encourages these new believers to build up “one another”: one by one1. With this strategy in mind it is not so surprising to read in Romans 16 that Paul not only refers to people in his ministry by name but includes personal commentary. They were not a group but individuals that Paul knew personally. So when Paul gives Timothy a relational strategy (2 Tim. 2:2) he was reminding Timothy of what he had already experienced. He was to embrace the wisdom of “start small, go slow, build deep”.
Years ago the Smith Barney Investment firm used a slogan that captured the same idea: “We make money the old fashioned way, one investor at a time.”
Supporting relationships could also be expressed as a relational triad in which each person has a mentor to help him or her grow, peer relationships to give support, and younger Christians to mentor. Consider the apostle Paul’s own relational triad. Paul was mentored by several men along his spiritual journey. Initially it was Ananias (Acts 9). Then it was Barnabas who took Paul under his wing, protected him, and eventually brought him to Antioch to help with the ministry.
As Paul grows in maturity and experience, Barnabas shifts from being a mentor to being a peer along with the other apostles. They became a support team. The elders at Antioch also became part of Paul’s support team as they send him and Barnabas on their first missionary journey to Asia Minor.
Of the many Paul mentored, the most familiar are Timothy, Epaphroditus, Titus, and Mark. Mark’s story reflects the value of having several mentors along the journey. From our story of Paul’s first missionary trip, we know that Mark didn’t fit into Paul’s idea of a faithful man. However, Barnabas and Peter stepped in and invested in Mark for several years resulting in his growth and value to Paul later in the story line.
Discipling through the strategy of successive generations, one person at a time, is a proven New Testament strategy. During the centuries since the initial expansion of Christianity, we have tried other plans, resulting in many converts to Christianity (current world estimate of 2.2 billion), but are we discipling the nations?
Reflection
- Who are you investing in on a personal level, intentionally passing on what you have learned into the life of another?
- Who do you have who can speak truth into your life, learn from, and if you make a 911 call, you know they would show up?
1 1 Thess. 5:1 Roberts Word Studies: “build up one another” – Literally, build ye, one the one.