The ABCD's of Making Disciples
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Want to make disciples but feel overwhelmed in where to start? Here are four practical steps that just might help you.
1. Assess- what relationships do you already have in your life with people outside of the Faith? People at work, at the gym, on the block, in your family. Start with the relationships God has already entrusted to you. For it is God who determined our time and place so that people may find Him (Acts 17:26-27).
2. Bless- in what ways can you be a blessing to them? Maybe buying a co-worker lunch or coffee? Maybe picking up trash on your block? Maybe asking for prayer requests? Maybe helping someone with a project? This should be driven because of our call to love our neighbor as God commands us. Obviously we want to share the Gospel with them, but that is not why we love and serve people. We love, because we have first been loved (1 John 4:19).
3. Cultivate- how can you take the relationship deeper? Can you invite someone over for dinner? Can you grab coffee with someone? As relationships cultivate, they end up incorporating what is important to us- our passions, our likes, our dislikes. Let the Gospel naturally become part of these conversations. Ask to share your testimony. Ask questions about their "faith journey".
4. Disciple- as your friends now engage with you spiritually, search for ways to disciple them. If they are yet convinced of the Good News of salvation, listen to their questions and prayerfully seek for answers as Luke does with Theophilus (Luke 1:3-4). If they place their trust in Jesus, partner with them in their spiritual growth and development. Engage them with the Scriptures in everyday conversations and let them see more and more of the character of God in your life.