WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING ESSENTIALS
Prayer for the harvest fields of the world, for missionaries and agencies
penetrating unreached frontiers should be encouraged. This will enlarge the
vision of the disciple. Our Lord exhorted His followers to pray for labourers to
be sent. Many disciples have developed a missionary heart by praying thus,
and later were themselves sent to the mission field.
4 Christian Character
Paul laboured in the ministry with all God’s energy working in him, so
that he might “present everyone perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1:28, 29).
Christlikeness was Paul’s goal. Therefore he wrote about Christlike qualities in
his epistles.
For the believer, Paul saw that faith, hope and love were abiding essentials.
The Thessalonians, for example, possessed faith and love but were lacking in
hope (1 Thessalonians 1:8; 4:9. 10, 13). Consequently in his letters to them, he
emphasised hope related to the return of Christ. The Corinthian church was a
gifted church, but it was lacking in love. Paul showed them “the most excellent
way” (1 Corinthians 12:31) – the way of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Paul wrote of Christlike qualities in the second half of Ephesians and in
Colossians 3, to cite a few examples. The fruit of the Spirit stands in stark contrast
to the works of the flesh in Galatians 5. The most essential aspect of discipleship
training is the cultivation of godly Christlike character. This is a lifelong process.
Jesus, as the Master-Trainer, majored on character in His training of the
Twelve. He taught that everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher
(Luke 6:40). Jesus taught His disciples the characteristics of the kingdom. The
values of the kingdom were very different from those of the world. The Sermon
on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes - beautiful attitudes of subjects of the
King. Blessedness is for the poor in spirit, the broken and the meek, those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Humility was certainly not a prominent trait of the disciples. They were
seeking prominence and greatness for themselves. Jesus taught by example.
He taught the disciples by washing their feet and serving them. After being
with Jesus for more than three years, they were still slow to learn.
Disciples should be learners. The root meaning of a disciple is “a learner”.
To be a learner is to be willing to be taught. A teachable attitude is essential to
learning.
In discipleship training, the Navigators taught me to look for “FAT” people
- those who were Faithful, Available and Teachable! In Acts 16:1-3, we read of
Timothy, a faithful young disciple, who made himself available to Paul to learn
from him. We should look for such a person to equip.
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