One on One Discipleship 

Pastor Eddy Leo
LEAD2015 Plenary Session 3, 05/06/2015

Introduction – the Big Picture

Why do we practice discipleship? It’s not just for the sake of the disciples themselves. There is a bigger picture.

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:27-29)

This is the big picture of what God wants to do, the big picture of why we do discipleship. We cannot study God, we cannot study the mystery. God reveals himself but he doesn’t explains. The mystery is “Christ in you”, the hope of glory. This is not personal. Christ dwells in us but also among us. The mystery is that God wants to dwell in us. His dwelling place is a community that practice the glory of God amongst them.

1         What is the glory?

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. (John 17:22)

The glory wants to make us like the trinity, i.e. as one.

Where did the glory come from? It came from Jesus. God was there before the creation of the universe. The three person of God lived in unity, in mutual dwelling. They have fellowship with one another and give glory to one another. God was so in love with one another that they want to transfer their one-another lifestyle to the highest form of creation, the human beings.

Because of sin, the glory is lost. The fellowship is broken. Christ became incarnated to restore the glory. This is why we need to be in a small group to practice this same lifestyle. If we want to grow in discipleship, we need to be in a community that practice the same thing.

The church started in Jerusalem as a community. It became an institution in Rome, a tradition in Europe and an enterprise in the America. Today, church is a big meeting. The church must be a community that gives to one another. Discipleship is not just for discipleship’s sake.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19, 20)

Baptism is an outward expression of the inward belief. It means immersion. It is to join the fellowship of the trinity.

The Jews have more than 600 commandments. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he gave two. But Jesus gave one single simplified new commandment.

2         How did Paul build the house of God?

Paul took 3 years to build the church in Ephesus. Most of the time, he needed 6 months. He would leave them without a pastor, money, Bible school or even the Bible.

2.1         He revealed the mystery of God

He revealed the Eternal Purpose. Paul preached the same topic for 3 years. He talked about the Eternal Purpose in different points of view until the people got it. In three years, Paul not only preached it but he lived it. Paul showed the example.

2.2         He used one on one discipleship

Dr. Carl Horton conducted a survey on the topic of “What are the most effective methods of training that will produce change and leadership”.

• Big meeting: 0% (imparts a lot of knowledge and anointing. No accountability.)
• Small group: 10%
• One on one: 90%

This shows that the smaller the group, the more effective it is.

Consider many containers with different sizes. Some we with lids. And we try to fill them up by spraying water not all will fill up. For those with the lid on, they don’t get filled up at all. But if we fill one container at a time, we can fill them up effectively.

For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children (1 Thessalonians 2:11)

So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. (Acts 20:31)

A good father always do one on one discipleship. Paul spent 3 years and made elders out of some of the people.

We do not go to the extreme. Do not make disciples for ourselves. Control comes in. We do not control people. We serve people. We make people disciples of Jesus.

The other extreme is that we do not need to be discipled by a human being. We may think we are a direct disciple of Jesus. That is not correct. The Bible clearly asks us to go and make disciples.

Pastor Eddy’s church encourages members to disciple 12 persons in their lifetime. Fathers should disciple their sons while mothers should do the same with their daughters. Make good use of technology.

If we do this in God’s will, he will empower us.