A key way to grow in your faith is to go deep into discipleship with a few other people. Jesus did it. The Wesleys did it. C.S. Lewis did it. Maybe you should do it?! Discipleship Groups are small, simple groups of 2-3 men or women who meet regularly to help one another fight for faith in the gospel. Steer clear of religious performance and spiritual indifference by centering your faith in the gospel. The goal of Discipleship Groups is to repent from sin, rejoice in Christ, and reproduce disciples.
What should I expect?
There are two types of discipleship groups–peer and mentor. Peer groups focus on brother to brother/sister to sister type relationships, while mentor groups focus on mother to daughter/father to son relationships (1 Thess 2). Whatever the type, you should focus on how the gospel applies to your lives. We also encourage you to reproduce what you learn by multiplying groups after a season in order to spread God’s grace to more people.
How do I start a Fight Club?
We’ve found that people who don’t read and apply Gospel-Centered Discipleship, don’t grow well. We recommend discussing portions of the book in your first few meetings, especially chapters 3 and 5. For instance, if you don’t follow Text-Theology-Life but do Life-Theology-Text, we’ve found people never get beyond talking about life to the guiding counsel and power of Scripture. Here are a couple articles to get you started.
Discipleship groups are relationally driven, so pick people you want to go deep with. Start by checking with people in your City Group or part of the city. Establish an agreed upon level of confidentiality within your group. Make a commitment to one another. Discipleship groups of uncommitted people simply don’t promote gospel-centered discipleship.
One of the first things you should do is sync your calendars for a regular meeting time.If you don’t schedule a regular meeting time, you won’t meet regularly. Meet once a week or every other week. Allow at least an hour.
Remember, fight for faith in the gospel. For every look at sin, look ten times at Christ!