Discipleship is Everybody’s Job: And It Can be Really Simple!

Discipleship is about walking side-by-side with someone. 

In my early twenties, I lived with a family that had a two and a four year old. Once a week I’d babysit them for the afternoon, and one of our favorite activities was to go for walks around our neighborhood. Exclamations like “Oh look at that pretty bird!” and “Why do you think that car is driving so fast?” and “Do you think God really knows what I’m doing right now?!” peppered our strolls. 

As we experienced the world side-by-side, I had the opportunity to answer their questions, point out new and interesting things they hadn’t seen before, and help them learn that God was walking with us—yes right now!

Discipleship is as simple as that. I think we can often slip into thinking discipleship means running a class at church on Wednesday nights or hosting a small group Bible study in a living room—and those things are discipleship, too! 

But discipleship, in its simplest form, is living life side-by-side with someone and learning to utilize Teachable Moments along the way.

Utilizing a Teachable Moment means taking time to pause and learn from something you just experienced together. It can be answering a kid’s questions while on a walk. Or noticing someone with a quizzical brow and asking them what they’re wondering about. Or knowing another had a hard week and asking what was so hard about it and if there were any ways they experienced God in the midst of the struggle. 

Jesus practiced this form of discipleship all the time! Like when the Twelve were arguing about who was the greatest, he responded by reframing their entire thought process: you want to be the greatest—be the least of all (Lk. 9:46-48). Or when the 72 came back from preaching in different towns excited that demons submitted to them in his name: don’t rejoice in the devil’s defeat—“rejoice that your names are in heaven” (Lk. 10:17-20).

While Jesus lived life side-by-side with his disciples, he identified Teachable Moments and utilized them to help them learn who he was and what it meant to live in his Kingdom.

So what does it look like to identify and utilize Teachable Moments? 

Justin and his wife, Jennifer, attend Adoration Church (one of our church plants) and teach at local high schools. I spoke with Justin, and he shared with me how he utilizes Teachable Moments with his students. He sees that his students are so preoccupied with who will be homecoming queen or how to be the most popular. So he’ll ask them to name the last five homecoming queens. They never can. He asks them to name people who graduated 4 or 5 years ago. Again, they rarely think of any names. He challenges them: instead of worrying about things that won’t last–things that no one will remember–what would it look like to be concerned about eternal things?

As he lives side-by-side with his students, Justin is observant about what they are thinking about, and he asks them questions to challenge them to think more deeply. He is utilizing Teachable Moments in his context.

Justin has also made himself available to his students. He helped start Prayer at the Pole at his school. It grew to a large group of students, so they started Bible studies. Now they partner with Cru to help create space for students and others in their community to meet Jesus and be discipled. 

Justin said of discipleship:

“Discipleship transforms the community around you. Discipleship is about making people look like Jesus and bringing his kingdom here on earth.”

Amen! What are some simple ways we can practice discipleship by living side-by-side with the people around us and utilizing Teachable Moments to point them to Jesus?