As REAL Group leaders, part of our responsibilities is making disciples. A disciple by definition is: One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another; an active adherent, as of a movement or philosophy; any follower of Christ. It is our responsibility because it is what Jesus commanded us to do.
Matthew 28:18-20 states, “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (NLT) So you and I as leaders need to teach our groups about Jesus. He is what the Gospel is all about. The Good News is that He came and paid the price for us.
So here’s some tips on becoming affective in making disciples.
- We can only teach what we do. In order to make disciples of Jesus, we must be a disciple. That means surrendering our will to the will of God. It means to be constantly building ourselves up with the Word of God. We cannot “teach’ our children to pick up after themselves if we don’t pick up after ourselves. In the same manner, we must be doers of the Word and not just hearers only.
- We have to be genuinely concerned about the people in our groups. Sometimes we have had a bad day, but we must be more concerned about their day. Jesus said in John chapter 4 that His meat was to do the will of the Father. This is what gave Him energy when He was physically depleted. Remember when He was tempted? After fasting for forty days and when He was tired and hungry. Then He was tempted and beat the temptation with the Word of God. He was hungry in the account with the woman at the well but concern for someone else, which is doing the Word, gave Him the strength needed to minister. We need to tap into that by always putting others first.
- Be excited about being at REAL Groups. The biggest bummer is to have a bummed out leader. This hinders anyone from learning. Have you ever had a teacher that just acted like they didn’t want to be there? It was better to cut class and suffer the consequences then suffer the class. We want our groups looking forward to being there. Let’s be leaders that are so enthusiastic it just rubs on all the members of our groups.
- Take time to prepare. Not on Wednesdays, but be prepared before that. During the week, pray for the people in your groups. Contact them to see how things are going. Be a great advocate of communication.
- Finally, be a friend to your group. A disciple shows him or herself friendly.
I think if we start allowing ourselves to do these things, our groups will be strong and we will produce great disciples of Jesus.
