All of us have a field of knowledge by which we could come along side someone and teach them how to do it for themselves. We have members who can disciple other people in mechanics, business, volleyball, football, computer programing, singing, playing the piano, plumbing, construction, and more. If you were to disciple someone else in your field, how would you go about doing it? What basics would you want them to start with? What exercises would you assign? What materials would you have them read? I imagine you would be able to come up with a specific and practical plan. And that plan could be replicated by your disciple to their disciple and so on.

The church is tasked with the goal of fishing for people and making them into disciples of Jesus. And this is a process by which we can all participate. Discipling people is not simply for the pastor; it is for the church. We all have a place to serve and we can all help disciple another person. Really? Yes. We can pass along the truths of the faith and pour into another. What if I am a parent and have only been saved one day? You can still help your children. What you need is a plan and some tools.

Here is a basic discipleship plan that people in the church can use to help take other people through.

Catechism

Our faith as revealed in Scripture has been summarized throughout the centuries. While reading Scripture is definitely important to growing in discipleship, it is difficult for a new believer to put thousands of years of Scripture into coherent doctrine. Catechisms do that for you. These are simple question and answer statements designed to teach the basics of the Christian faith. For example, the Westminster Shorter Catechism gives the following question and answer in question four: “What is God?” The disciple answers, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”¹ There are footnotes in the actual catechism that contain numerous Scripture citations. Looking up these passages and reading them together is a great additional exercise.

What an awesome answer and one that would have taken a new disciple much time to figure out on their own, if ever. Any believer can pick up a catechism like this and help another learn the basics of the Christian faith. There are also levels of Christian catechism. Listen to the Westminster kids version of the above Q and A in question nine. It asks, “What is God?” The answer states, “God is a Spirit, and has not a body like men.” My three-year-old has learned this already!

Catechism lays a foundation by which disciples of Jesus can know their faith, know the doctrine of Scripture, and build upon them as they go forward. Here are a few catechisms you can begin with.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism: https://thewestminsterstandard.org/westminster-shorter-catechism/.

The Westminster Kid’s Catechism: https://thewestminsterstandard.org/kids/.

Heidelberg Catechism: https://students.wts.edu/resources/creeds/heidelberg.html.

There may be a few answers that one does not fully agree with in these catechisms and others like it, and that is okay. But the overall teaching Christians will agree with.

Prayer

Praying to God is an essential part of discipleship, for in prayer we learn to depend on God for all our needs and wants. Prayer can take many forms: lamenting, celebrating, repenting, confessing, adoring, interceding, and so on. Scripture informs us how to pray, how others prayed, and what kinds of prayers God accepts. Prayers based on and inspired from Scripture are essential in discipleship.

Therefore, we can disciple another by teaching them how to pray based on Scripture. I want to direct you beyond the obvious here—the Lord’s prayer—and onto another idea, praying over any and all Scripture. Whatever Scripture passage is read, the disciple can seek to pray based on and inspired from it. Whether someone just read Genesis 1, 1 Kings 1, Psalm 1, Ecclesiastes 1, Mark 1, Romans 1, Hebrews 1, or Revelation 1, they can commune with God concerning it.

How do we lead others to pray over Scripture? There are no legalistic rules here, but there are good guidelines.

First, adore God. What did He do? What did He say? What attribute did He put on display? Admire those things He has revealed in that passage.

Second, abide in Him. To abide is to remain in Him by faith. Express your faith and trust in Him and Jesus in accordance with the passage. Express your thankfulness and dependence to Him.

Third, ask for His help. Ask for His help for you and others. Others will need things that the passage may bring to mind. You will need things based on the passage as well. Things to ask help for include: personal sins, doubts, fears, decisions, salvations, forgiveness, mercy, strength, compassion, parenting, job struggles, etc. In asking, disciples are expressing faith, dependence, repentance, love, and supplication for others; things that please God.

Example: Genesis 1

• Adore God: Wow God how powerful are you to speak all of creation into existence. It takes humans years to build houses, buildings, and malls, but you, in just a spoken word created so much more and it was good. The heavens and the earth are your thought, your good design, and your great accomplishment. The mighty mountains speak of your majesty. The animals speak of your creativity. And humans speak of your brilliance. Your sovereign, powerful, and beautiful fingerprints are everywhere for humans to see. I am reminded of your glory in the song “Come Close” by Tripp Lee where he says, “He’s really so fly, He don’t need no assistance, He made everything spoke it into existence, Creation listened, with no resistance, What kinda powerful God is this?”
• Abide in Him: Father, you are the Creator of this world—my creator. Thank you for making this earth and for making me. We are blessed to breath your air and to call you Father. I believe in you as the only Creator of this world. May you be glorified as such. I stand with you and your glory as revealed in the works of your hands.
• Ask for His help: Father, the world is in need to see your glory in all things. Please bless ________ to have eyes to see your glory in creation and to believe in you and Jesus. Please bless __________ to remember you in creation and to find comfort in their current struggle. Please bless the scientific communities who study your creation to see you in faith. May you have mercy on them and forgive them for denying your glory. And please help me to pause and remember who made all this, and to give you thanks, praise, and to rejoice in your good works. In Jesus Name, amen.

There are many variations of this. What is important is not so much the format as is learning to see God and to respond to Him as He has revealed Himself in Scripture.

Giving

The real title for this section is love, but I choose “giving” to emphasize the practical side of love. God calls us over and again in the new covenant to love others. Paul says in Galatians 5:6 (NIV), “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Love may be understood as giving for the sake of others. And giving works itself out practically in many ways. Disciples of Jesus can give their time, their comfort, their resources, their knowledge, etc.

When discipling someone, explain the importance of love for God (obedience) and others and then have them do the following. Write out three different areas of your life that you engage in. For example: work, home, and church. Or home, church, and friends. Or kids, marriage, and extended family.

Then have them choose one person from each area of life and specifically write out for the month how they are going to love that person for Jesus’ sake. What will you do and when? Let them know you will follow up with them and see how it went.

Examples:

1. Home: Make my wife dinner.
2. Work: Write a thank you card to _______.
3. Church: Give _______ a book that really touched my heart.

Conclusion

Active and guided discipleship will mature and aid in multiplying the church. Through catechism, prayer, and giving, we can help make disciples. And not only that. These disciples can make disciples who can help make disciples after them.

There is surely more to discipleship than what I’ve covered here. I think of moral obedience to God (sanctification), repentance, singing His praises, studying Scripture, and so on. But this has been provided as a beginning plan to help the church practically take a step to disciple others in Christ Jesus.