10 Discipleship Questions From the Text

Discipleship is a big deal for us as a church at Harvest Glasgow. It is our prayer that the relationships that people experience in our small groups will cause them to express a greater affection for Jesus in how they live their lives.The Bible is full of one another passages which point us towards the importance that God puts on individual relationships in the church, and direct us to see the people around about us, willing to impress His truth upon our hearts, as a grace to us from our Heavenly Father.

In those relationships the questions that we ask will be vitally important. So here are ten questions, straight out of scripture. They come from Galatians,Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians and can all inform how we might serve one another as we seek to serve one another in our Christian walk.

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Galatians 1: 10
Approval addiction is an adoration assassin. If our goal is the adoration of Jesus above all else in one another's lives then this is an essential question. Seeking the approval of people will neutralise the capacity we have to encourage fruit in one another's lives. It will silence the searching questions, channel the conversation away from challenge and cause us to be waylaid from God's Word. If we lose sight of this important distinction then the outcome will be flattery not faithfulness. God has things He calls us to communicate to one another from His Word, in His Word- do it,don't duck it.

“If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” Galatians 2: 14
Two things on this. First of all our discipleship must be all about grace relations. If our counsel causes someone to despair not depend we are causing damage. We must beware our tendency towards an approach to sanctification which is at odds to how our salvation came about- both have our desperate need for God's grace in common. Second, don't invite people to live a life that you are not seeking to live yourself. Hypocrisy is the great heresy that the culture identifies in the church, we would do well to notice the harm that it does to those who are the church.

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Galatians 3: 1-6
Okay, so this is more a series of questions. The point they are drumming home and the point which you will find yourself running back to is this. The prime cause of the difficulties we will encounter in our own hearts and those of the people we are discipling is a matter of distraction. Distracted by things that seem more glorious than God, distracted by things that seem more pleasurable than living for Jesus, distracted by things that appear to offer alternative saving solutions to the cross and ways of life that seem easier than daily taking up our cross. We are so readily bewitched by worth, ways and work that belong to someone other than Jesus.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Galatians 3: 21
The answer is 'certainly not' by the way. Discipleship is both a call to dependence and a cry against disobedience. Our lives are called to reflect the glory of God and are to be lived in the pursuit of holiness- to be holy as God is holy. If our conversations are never turning to areas where we need help to grow in godliness then we are not properly taking care of one another. How does God's Word say we should live? What does it say about how we are living? A failure to raise these questions is to fail one another.

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? Galatians 4:9
If distraction will be a recurring complaint then drift is a regular symptom. Drifting back to how we once lived is a regular challenge. We are to remind one another of the wreckage that our lives were and the rescue that Jesus performed. We are to call one another away from weak worthlessness and into worship of the only One who is worthy. We are to be ready to ask in no uncertain terms-'how can you turn back again?'

But what does the Scripture say? Galatians 4: 30
It can be massively tempting to become an Oprah-style dispenser of personal wisdom. It's good to get this clear. Your opinion does not count, what counts is when you open God's Word with them. The church is full of well-meaning people who lead one another down a rabbit warren of personal views, pop-psychology and private preference. Let's be clear- we need to be rid of anything that we attempt to make a hybrid with God's Word. People might protest that sociology has made important strides and psychology has a lot to offer but that is an endorsement of idolatry that puts people where God should be. So are you sharing God's wisdom or your own?

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? Galatians 5: 7
It is a unique privilege to be given a front row seat in another person's walk with the Lord, to be at their side as they run for Him with all they have. We all need to establish relationships that mean when we are diverted or impeded by sin and disobedience it gets noticed early and we have someone who is able to step in. As with all these questions it is vital that we are examining our own hearts for negative influences in our own life. Too often we stand idly by scared to offend or slow to engage on matters of eternal importance. We are not loving one another if we shy away from engaging with one another on these things.

What does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? Ephesians 4: 9
This is what so much of discipleship boils down to. Reminding people of a sinless, sympathetic saviour who knows what we experience without the tossing to and for of how we express it. We get to point people to Jesus and His life, death, resurrection and present position should be the lens through which we view all things. If Jesus is not a regular feature of your conversations why would you bother having conversations- He is that important.

What then? Philippians 1: 18
These relationships God allows us to have with one another by His grace are designed to bear fruit. In it's context, this questioncomes in the midst of a section speaking about motive. So what is the defining motive of your relationships?Is it friendship that will make you feel less alone, conversations that will validate and affirm your shonky life choices or is it God the Son's greater glory. Quick hint- only one of those is the right answer. Conversations should not be fed by the idol of needing approval from someone other than God. Your relationships with the people around you are designed to magnify Jesus and cause much rejoicing. Do they?

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? Col 2: 20-22
There is something reassuringly comfortable about boiling belief down to a range of practical dos and don'ts. It tends ot spare us the pain of asking or being asked questions that go beyond the superficial. The reality is that while that kind of approach tends to be successful at keeping people at arms length it misses that by keeping up our defences, it diminishes the impact others can have in our lives. We need to stop dressing up as some kind of spiritual superhero with the appearance of wisdom but which is ultimately valueless and embrace the relationships that God has put into our lives. the people in your lives exist to remind you that in the messiness of life together there is much Gospel learning to be done together.