Getting Started with Discipleship with Courtney Doctor
The Lord is at work in discipleship relationships. In this episode, Hunter and Courtney Doctor close out their conversations about discipleship—they encourage us to know what is good, to teach what is good, and to watch the Lord transform us through these relationships. This episode will encourage you to persevere in discipleship and if you aren’t discipling yet, to start simply and simply start.
NOTES & QUOTES
We hope that this episode will be a resource, a pocket starter guide for you as you are getting started. And so I want to go back and revisit something that has always encouraged me as I'm thinking about my purpose here on this earth. And Courtney, you have really helped me understand like the call to discipleship from the beginning to the end.
Discipleship in the Metanarrative of Scripture:
When we look back at the entire story and break the story into these four main parts, creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. We start with creation and we see that God spoke to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:27-28, and we call it the cultural mandate, where He told them to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, and He gave them dominion or authority to do that. And so we have to ask, what were they supposed to be filling the earth with? What does that mean, to fill the earth? Well, the main thing, because it's coming right on the heels of being fruitful and multiplying, is that they are to be filling the earth with other image bearers. It's Genesis 1:27 is that God created man in his own image, male and female, he created them and then God blessed them and God said to them like, go and fill the earth, be fruitful and multiply and do this thing. So they were supposed to be filling the earth with other image bearers, and image bearers prior to the fall would have been everybody born who would accurately bear God's image. They would know Him, they would love Him, they would obey Him, they would worship Him. That is part of being a faithful image bearer. Well, we know that the fall happened and sin changed everything, and it really broke our ability to accurately bear God's image. It's not until we are restored to the Son of God when we're united to Christ through redemption, through what Jesus came and did, that we are able, right, we're being transformed, scripture tells us, and we're being conformed to the image of the Son. So our ability to bear his image is being remade in us as we grow in him, which is sanctification. So what did Jesus say when he came to the end of his life and time and ministry on earth? We all know it as the Great Commission. So if Genesis 1:27-28 is the cultural mandate, Matthew 28:18-20 is the Great Commission. and Jesus said this he said all authority in heaven and on earth so Dominion right has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations so where to go and to fill the earth with disciples well what are disciples they are people who are being remade into the image of Christ that either that we are disciple making as we proclaim the gospel and people come to faith, we call it salvation, but we're also learning to more accurately bear his image as we're as we're sanctified and how are we sanctified? Through the proclamation of the gospel. So disciple-making is how we now bear fruit and multiply and fill the earth with other image bearers. It's this beautiful plan that stretches from the beginning until we get to glory, and when we're in glory, we will be surrounded by perfected and completed image bearers that we were able to play a part of their sanctification as they play a part in our sanctification in this life.
Evangelism and discipleship in Matthew 28 are not different. They're not parsed out.
Proclaim the gospel.
We always ought to be discipled, and we ought to be making disciples both at the same time.
At the core of [a disciple maker] is that they know and love the living God and his living Word. That's the essential thing that we are looking for.
Look for the person who knows how to pray, who loves to read God's Word, who loves to study God's Word, not necessarily the one who can articulate it the best or the one with the most public giftings, but the one who really knows what it is to cling to the Lord through all the seasons of life.
My recommendation to older women is always make sure you're showing up in the spaces where the younger women are. But the same thing for the younger women. Is there a group of older women that meets to pray? So I think not only can we instigate the relationships ourselves, we can help make connections for people to say, that person has walked through that exact same thing.
It requires that we are actively involved and present in our local churches, that we really know each other, and that we're spending time together outside of the context of Sunday mornings.
“Keep feasting on God's Word, then you can turn and feed them with the truths of Scripture that you have been chewing on throughout the day. Just keep coming back to the Word.” - Hunter Beless
There's only one way to grow in experience, and that's to get the experience. We're all in this process of growing in Christ. And so do it together, be vulnerable, be humble, just do the thing, and recognize that there's no other way to do than by doing it, and then you will become more experienced in it.
“A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly jarred.” ― Amy Carmichael, Candles in the Dark
“When a friend lets us down, we show that our theology is off base when we’re overcome with shock. The Bible teaches that we’re all going to let each other down. Even the most beautiful rose has thorns.” ― Dee Brestin, The Friendships of Women: The Beauty and Power of God's Plan for Us
Your disciple is not the Christ, and she will fail you time and time again. But this is what it looks like to do life together.
We're not seeking to conform women into our image, but we're seeking to encourage them as they are conformed into the image of Christ. (Romans 12)
Know what is good and to teach what is good and then watch the Lord transform you and transform those that you're in a relationship with.
Start simply and simply start.
RESOURCES
From Garden to Glory by Courtney Doctor
The Friendships of Women: The Beauty and Power of God’s Plan for Us by Dee Brestin
Titus: Displaying the Gospel of Grace by Hunter Beless and Courtney Doctor
Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus by Mark Dever
Growing Together: Taking Mentorship Beyond Small Talk and Prayer Requests by Melissa Kruger
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What is one thing you believe has preventing you from engaging in discipleship either now or in the past?
Are there any specific women (older or younger) who come to mind who would be a good fit for you to ask about a discipleship relationship?
What is one way you could become more involved in your local church, specifically to be around older-than-you and younger-than-you women?
Make a list of questions that have served you well over the years. Try to keep those in mind to press deeper into conversations with other women. “Tell me more” is a great example.
What’s one way you can feast more on God’s Word today in order to feed another woman at a later time?
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
RECENT CONVERSATIONS
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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