What is the difference between a discipleship program and an intentional disciple-making approach? An intentional disciple-making process can involve studying a book, but it’s important to know that the objective is not to study a book, it is to learn biblical principles in the study and ask the question, “Now that I know this, how should I apply this to my life?” The objective is to learn what Scripture says and to be obedient to what it teaches us about living our lives.

In Part One of this series, I shared with you three benefits of a one-on-one discipleship process, and in Part Two, I’d like to share three more benefits:

1. Personalized:

I spoke some about this already in Part One regarding meeting times, and this also relates to the new believer or young disciple’s specific needs. If you’re studying a book together as a group, as good as it may be, it may not address the needs or where this individual is spiritually. With a one-on-one approach, everything can be personalized.

2. Natural:

Life on life discipleship is natural. We already mentioned that there might be a book that you and the person you’re discipling are reading together, and we also talked about how it’s not a big deal if you miss a week. Again, the goal is to experience life change, doing things like studying the Scriptures together, memorizing key verses, learning how to have an effective prayer life, developing a consistent quiet time, etc. Sadly, too often, new believers have been offered a handshake and a smile, and then we “hope” that they’ll grow spiritually. They deserve more from us. One-on-one disciple-making is a natural way to equip them.

3. Reproducible:

I mentioned back in Part One how churches are doing “addition not multiplication” when it comes to making disciples. This is another benefit to one-on-one disciple-making. Because discipling is happening life on life, the young disciple is hearing and seeing everything you do, and with “clear expectations,” they should be able to disciple someone too at the proper time. The training can be personalized to meet their needs, the process is natural, and it is reproducible.

If you have questions about this, or if I can assist you with implementing an intentional discipleship process, please don’t hesitate to contact me at davidl@brnunited.org.