One Generation Discipling Another

A few months ago I was sitting in church on a Sunday morning when the testimony of a young man, who was professing his faith, enthralled me. A critical part of the story he told about why he was drawn to become a confessing member was the relationship he had with an older Christian man in his workplace. God used the care and the conversations with this mentor to lead the young man into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

That moment reminded me of the famous discipleship trifecta in Acts. It all began with an obscure brother named Barnabas. We don’t know much about Barnabas, other than he was a wealthy Jew from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. In Acts 4, Barnabas was in Jerusalem providing for the material needs of the early church. In Acts 9, Barnabas took Saul, a former persecutor of the faithful and a recent convert, under his wing. After fruitful ministry in Jerusalem, Barnabas sent Saul back to his hometown of Tarsus.

Sometime later, the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to Antioch to serve the growing and vibrant church there. Upon his arrival, Barnabas didn’t waste any time before finding Saul in Tarsus and bringing him back to Antioch to support the work. From Antioch, the church sent Barnabas and Saul on a missionary voyage to Cyprus and Asia Minor (Acts 13:1-3). Having completed his discipleship of Saul, Barnabas then receded into the background as Luke’s primary focus shifts towards Saul—now known as Paul—beginning in Acts 13.

In terms of making disciples, Paul was prolific. Timothy, however, held a special place in his heart. Paul encountered Timothy on his second missionary journey in Lystra. Timothy was the son of a Jewish woman and a Greek father. Timothy became Paul’s constant traveling companion and is his co-author for six New Testament epistles. In 2 Timothy 4, near the end of his life, Paul offers Timothy a final instruction that has been an encouragement to pastors for the past 2,000 years: “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”

What would have happened if Barnabas didn’t respond to God’s nudge to befriend and disciple Saul, the infamous Pharisee and enemy of the church? What would have happened if Paul would have focused exclusively on his evangelistic enterprise and not mentored Timothy (or Silas, Luke, Onesimus, John Mark, and others)?

At minimum, three generations of disciples would have been lost. Instead of growing, the early church could have stagnated and might not have spread to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The importance of robust discipleship across the generations is one of the critical lessons that came out of the Gather initiative, in which leaders and members of all 49 CRC classes across North America participated (see crcna.org/gather). The goal of Gather was to witness how God is renewing the congregations of the CRCNA—and witness we did.

In each of 10 events, CRCNA folks shared stories of how more mature believers discipled newer believers in their congregations. The result of “discipling of the generations” was waves of healthy growth—evangelism, the development of new leaders, and fruitful connections between churches and communities locally and globally. In fact, discipleship is so important that it is the second milestone of the CRCNA’s ministry plan (see crcna.org/OurJourney).

So what does discipling the generations look like in your local congregation? Many of the historic discipleship practices used by CRCNA congregations make a positive impact: catechism instruction, profession of faith classes, youth groups, and mentoring programs, for example. These tend to pair younger believers with older adults and are an important part of congregational ministry.

However, through the Gather experience we learned that intentional relationships through regular, in-person conversation between believers at different faith stages is also necessary and effective. Through these kinds of relationships, Christian brothers and sisters literally “do life together,” applying Scripture and prayer to the daily joys, challenges, and temptations that are part of the Christian journey. Mutual growth is almost always the outcome!

I sometimes ask myself the question, “What lasting impact would God like me to have on his kingdom?” Would it be to leave behind good sermons, a compendium of leadership insights, or a rich addition to the church’s theology? No. If God wills it, I would like to leave behind brothers and sisters who have, by God’s mysterious grace, grown in faith because of the life we have shared together—one generation discipling another.