Steve and I had been meeting weekly for a couple of years in a discipling relationship. Our weekly meetings usually took on the form of a hike or snowshoeing experience. But on our treks, we discipled each other in a mutual and reciprocal way.
Then, about two months ago, on one of our hikes, Steve said to me, “Rob, you’ve been pouring your life into me these past couple years, now I need to find another guy and do the same with him.” So, Steve talked to his friend Frank and now Steve and Frank are discipling each other.
Meanwhile, I wanted to find someone new to enter a discipling relationship with and the Lord put my 16-year-old grandson, Jack, on my heart. So I asked Jack what he would think about meeting with me weekly to disciple each other and he readily agreed!
Jack and I have been meeting each week now for nearly three months and I’m so excited to see what God is doing in his life! Before we started meeting, Jack wouldn’t pray aloud in front of others. He does now. Before we started meeting, he wasn’t reading the Word. He is now. And most importantly, he’s growing in his relationship with Christ and love for Him.
But last week he amazed me! He and his best friend Dillon had gone on a long bike ride together. During their ride, Jack told Dillon about his times together with me each week. He told him, “I’m really growing spiritually, and it’s really fun meeting with my grandpa.”
But this is the part that got me. Jack then asked Dillon, “Would you like to meet with me each week and we can do what my grandpa is doing with me?” And Dillion said, “Sure, that sounds great!”
Do you see what just happened? Discipleship is both a personal journey of growth in Christ and a multiplication of new disciple-makers.
I’m so proud of Jack (and Steve and Frank)! And I’m experiencing so much joy as I watch what God is doing in their lives! You can experience this same joy as you engage in a discipling relationship. If you’re unsure how, read my little book, The Simplicity of Disciple-Making and 7 Ways We’ve Complicated It!
©2019 Rob Fischer