Last week we posted a short review about the 4 Chair Disciple training that we hosted. It was a great time to get a large group of the church and community thinking about how to intentionally invest into and disciple others. Out of that training we felt it was worthy to have an extended discussion about the practicality of the way in which each chair (or M’s) works itself out at MCC.

At MCC we believe that: “Disciple making exists to see people become Members of God’s family, maturing in Christ-likeness, and living a life of Ministry and Multiply all that Christ has done in their lives to others.”

Goal:
To see a person be born again as a Member of God’s family.

The Audience:
The audience for the first “M” of the disciple-making process is the spiritually lost. This is the person who has not been born again, is not a part of the Kingdom of God, or God’s family. They have a need to be born again and walk in the new life that Christ’s life modeled, death paid for and resurrection secured.

Biblical Principle and Key Passages:
In John 1:39 Jesus calls the first disciples to “Come and See.” This is an invitation into taking a look at the truth of who Jesus is and His claims about himself. Each person must respond to the call to be born again (John 3:3) to inherit new life in Christ and become a member of God’s family. The hope of disciple making is that believers are regularly asking people to come and see who Jesus is in order for them to hear the gospel, respond in faith, and be born again.

Phrases to Say:
In order to keep this from being a complete post on the act of sharing the gospel it is important to see the necessity of building relationships with those outside the church and looking for ways to speak the truth of the gospel into their lives. We utilize “The Story” method at MCC. This approach asks a few basic questions as a conversation develops to communicate the story of the gospel. The questions are: “Where did it all begin?”, “What went wrong?”, “Is there any hope?”, and “What does the future hold?” Walking a person through Creation, Fall, Rescue and Restoration is a biblically faithful conversation to root someone in the truth of the gospel. 

Even before a person has the chance to have “the conversation” you may simply ask a person to come with you to a ball game, come over for a cookout, have lunch or coffee with them. What we are essentially doing as believers is spending time with someone and “gospeling” them. The idea of “with-ness” or living life together is important to develop a relationship of trust and authenticity wherein a person hears and sees who Jesus is because of your life and words. What is interesting about the call to “come and see” is that Jesus had already asked the disciples “What are you seeking?” in verse thirty-eight. We need to remind ourselves that people are seeking, wanting, and needing something. The reality is that they aren’t seeking Christ and our goal is to show them that Jesus is the one ultimately worth seeking and the only one who can truly fulfill our wants and needs.

Actions to Take:
The options here are limitless, and all boil down to spending time with others investing intentional gospel focused relationships, but here are a few:

1. Go where they are. Don’t just assume they will come to you, so get on their turf, and go where they are comfortable. You are taking the God of all creation with you, you are taking the King of Kings Jesus Christ who is with you “always, to the end of the age”, you are taking the Holy Spirit with you who dwells in your heart and has the power to awaken dead hearts to the beauties of Christ!. You have all the reasons to be confident and comfortable where they are.

2. Meet their needs. Are they lonely? Spend time with them. Are they struggling with yard work, snow shoveling, or other jobs around the house? Work with them on a Saturday morning. Give up time in your schedule to make a need in their life met. Which leads me to the next option to take… 

3. Make time for them. Move your schedule around or invite them into your schedule. You have a t-ball game with your son this week? Good! Bring the person you are investing in so that they can see how you live a Christ-like life as a parent, coach, and encourager to others. Give up one hour of a TV show that you could DVR, or just stop watching completely, and grab a coffee or shoot some hoops with your friend.

Resources to Utilize:
“The Story”
“What is the Gospel?” or “Who is Jesus?” by Greg Gilbert

Hope:
This can seem intimidating, and honestly, this is probably the most difficult aspect of the 4 M’s at times. Be reminded that the triune God has a plan to bring His people to Himself and we can never mess it up, we can only celebrate and encourage each other when we are faithful to declare His message!