I am discipling a middle-age woman with no childhood experience of religious practice but a growing realization that the only way she is going to gain power over her addiction of 25+ years is through Christ. (She has been in 7 recovery programs and multiple detoxes in that time.)She has had one relative model Christian faith in her life and she has read a good bit of the Bible but she’s just not “got it”. She says she has burned all her bridges. She was one class short of completing a masters that hasn’t been finished because of a DUI a few years ago that ended her driving privilege. I have spent more than eight hours with her over the last two days. I have given her some videos, assigned reading in a Christian 12 step book and we’ve discussed “the human condition” at length, and have explored her understanding of her personal values through a Rokeach Values Survey. We have looked at an ethics model that developmentally moves from self-interest based ethic (the cultural “flesh” world view), to rules-based, to values-based, and ultimately to a virtues-based ethic (the Christ-follower world view). We’ve taken a deep dive into Luke 2:52 (the six ways humans develop according to God’s best example modeled by the life of Jesus) and a list of about 15-20 additional Scriptures that show those six ways exemplified as biblical principles. She is working on an assigned self-study scripture exploration of 10 discipleship practices, each with 3 descriptions from Scripture.
Today we began exploring the character of God by diving into Abraham and the call to sacrifice Isaac (the “Isaac” principle revealed), Abraham, Hagar, Sarah, and Ishmael (issues of doubt, disobedience, expediency, jealousy, God’s perfect will versus His redemptive will), women in the lineage of Jesus, Christ’s compassion in the encounter with the rich young ruler, the difference between letter of the law and spirit of the law, looking beyond the “either/or” proposition of glass half-full or glass half- empty perspectives, Jesus’ story of the man who had an evil spirit cast out whose soul was empty and swept clean but who left a vacuum there that was soon filled with seven more evil spirits worse than before (the principle of a vacuum being abhorred in the spiritual realm as well as the physical realm)…… and several other Scripture deep dives with principles discussed. Now she is all in on learning everything she can in our sessions together. We started this after church yesterday afternoon at my desk, then today sitting on a porch with our Bibles, a notebook, and access to my own digital study notes and documents as we moved from subject to subject, some I planned and directed, some arose as she asked questions or voiced past experiences.
We looked at several “Bell Curve” situations in Christian faith and practice……and talked about insights that could be drawn from a dream she had last night that seemed bizarre but actually revealed some positive take-aways about her ex-husband who died recently when we explored his relationship to her, to their daughter, and to his own family of origin. We were both crying at how good God is to give peace, assurance, and healing.
Today as I prepared to leave she said she was beginning to understand the “how” of Christian growth and practice (in supportive confidential community) and that she has felt more peace in the last 36 hours since we began our conversations and lessons than she has known in decades.
If one is serious about relational evangelism (which is what discipleship is!), pray for God to equip you and to bring them to you. As observed with the Asbury Outpouring, the harvest is plentiful, but laborers are few……
Jump into harvesting and plant more seeds as you go.
If Christianity is a relationship with Christ, church is inviting others into that relationship by witness, Word, and Spirit…… like the Samaritan woman who, once her eyes were opened to truth, ran to tell the whole town who came to see for themselves. Why aren’t our churches full? Maybe because we act like it’s a secret club and only those who know the handshake are welcome.
I use Power to Choose and supplement heavily with additional Scripture lessons. I love leading people through 12 Steps AND other biblical “processes” and “principles” to help them know and grow in Christ. However, I can teach
disciple, and coach forever but until God works in one’s spirit and heart and mind, nothing changes. Information does not equal transformation. (CBB 3/6/23)