Leading Disciples to Experience
Truth
How do you lead a person to master
a truth? Modeling plays a key role. The disciple respects
you and is therefore willing to try an idea because he or
she has seen you live it. However, a new disciple needs time
to assimilate the scores of ideas he or she confronts. A disciple
makes a truth a part of his or her life by practice.
Here are five steps a disciple
experiences in mastering a truth.
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Imitation.
You do what the model
does. You may not understand the actions, but you do what
you see the model doing.
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Experimentation.
You try out the truth in real life on your own. You believe
it enough to experiment but are still not convinced. You
begin trying it in nonthreatening situations.
-
Application.
You apply the truth in more complex situations. You say
you believe the truth, but you may still have occasional
reservations about it.
-
Demonstration.
You show proficiency
in living the truth under various conditions and situations.
It has become a conviction and is part of your value system.
-
Representation.
You model the truth
as a characteristic of the life of a disciple.
Jesus used five
principles in developing disciples toward the ideal of Christlikeness.
-
Modeling.
Doing something you
cannot visualize is difficult. Once you have seen it modeled,
forces in your personality combine to help you imitate it.
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Explaining.
Modeling does not
stand alone. It needs explanation. Jesus often explained
the things He modeled so that His disciples would not misunderstand.
The disciples responded by experimenting.
-
Coaching.
The discipler guides
the disciple to do something more skillfully until the disciple
becomes comfortable with the new way of doing things. This
helps the disciple apply what he or she has learned.
-
Supporting.
The discipler supports
the person in living the truth after he or she has mastered
it. As disciples begin to live their new lifestyles and
demonstrate what they have learned, they feel support of
someone more experienced backing them up.
-
Commissioning.
The discipler validates
the disciples’ ministries and sends them out with
specific tasks to do. Jesus’ urging of Peter to “
‘feed my sheep’ ” (see John 21:15-18)
is an example of how Jesus used this principle to help His
disciples represent Him in the world.
Let’s look more
deeply into the way Jesus used the principle of coaching to
help disciples learn to practice a truth. Jesus taught truths
again and again by various means that involved all the senses.
He did not merely toss out a concept and hope it was caught.
He repeated truths, modeled them, and guided the disciples while
they applied them. If you are to help others transform their
character into Christlikeness, they need to practice a truth
until it becomes their own—as you guide them from the
sidelines.
Jesus gave His disciples assignments
and expected them to do them. Sometimes they failed, and Jesus
stepped in to help them. In Mark 9:29 when the disciples failed
to drive out evil spirits, Jesus cautioned that only through
prayer can such things occur. In Matthew 17:14-20 Jesus told
the disciples that their lack of faith prevented them from
healing the epileptic boy. A wise coach knows when to let
persons learn on their own and when to intervene.
