What is Discipleship? with Courtney Doctor
In this episode, Hunter chats with Courtney Doctor to begin our new series, Displaying the Gospel through Discipleship. One way we display the gospel and live on mission is through our discipling relationships. Yet, so many of us are intimidated by Christ’s command to go and make disciples. In this series, we will grow in our understanding of discipleship and how we can practically go about doing it.
Over the past two years, Courtney and Hunter have been working on a verse-by-verse Bible study on the book of Titus entitled Titus: Displaying the Gospel of Grace. Many of us are familiar with the classic Titus 2 passage on discipling, but through this entire series, we hope to highlight the beauty of intergenerational relationships in the church and what it actually looks like to display the gospel through those relationships. In this episode, they're talking about what discipleship is—whether formal or informal—what discipleship has looked like in their lives personally, and what Scripture says should be at the heart of it all.
NOTES & QUOTES
“What do I have that I haven't received?” - Hunter Beless
“Discipleship matters for aligning our lives with, living faithfully according to the word of God.” - Courtney Doctor
“Mentoring can happen anywhere and mentoring is a good thing. But discipleship is somewhat unique to the Christian faith. It does something slightly different. In mentoring, I can mentor somebody in a job or I can mentor somebody in a skill. My husband could mentor somebody as a builder, you know, there's just ways to mentor people that are good and right and helpful. But discipleship has a distinctly Christian aspect to it. And so at its core, we are all disciples of Christ. And that's going to be a really essential piece of discipleship is that we're not actually asking people to follow us. We're helping them follow Christ. And so that is unique. And it's part of the Great Commission that as we follow Christ, we invite others to follow Christ.
And it's in the context of relationships. And so in this relationship, how are we growing in godliness? And I think that's the core of the core of this thing that we call discipleship, that we're helping each other, we're pointing each other to the gospel in all of life. And it's done in the context of relationships so that we will grow in godliness or Christlikeness.” - Courtney Doctor
“I love how Mark Dever says, ‘our discipleship to Christ begins when we hear those two words and obey them. Follow me. When Jesus says, follow me, that is when our discipleship to Christ begins and he is ultimately who we are following.’” - Hunter Beless
“The disciples belong to Christ. He is the one who we are helping one another follow with greater allegiance and love with more affection. And we hope that these conversations would do that for women.” - Hunter Beless
“Discipleship is teaching and training in godliness in the context of relationship.”
“The relationship point is key.”
“Discipleship has two key elements–it is never a one-way street. I am learning and growing and becoming Lord willing more like Christ because of you, and I am growing in godliness because of you and because of how you speak into my life. And so it's never a one-way street. And it is not only life on life, but it is all of life.” - Courtney Doctor
“I am always thinking when I go to do anything with a woman who's lived longer than me, what are the questions that I can ask? What do I have to learn from her? Like literally as I'm driving to hang out, I'm like, all right, I'm getting like four or five questions in my, like the back of my mind that I'm going to go to. So if I have those four or five questions in the back of my mind, then I'm like, I'm going to reach for those as soon as it makes sense when it's not awkward.” - Hunter Beless
“I think being aware of how we're entering into these relationships is key, that self-awareness piece.” - Courtney Doctor
“I learn the gospel from you. I see how it's contextualized in your life and then I can pull that forward into my life. So it is constantly a two-way street and it's a beautiful thing. It's meant to be like that.” - Courtney Doctor
“The younger women that I have the privilege of walking alongside, their fervor for the Lord, their hunger for the Lord, their desire to grow deeper in their knowledge and understanding of God through His Word–all of those things really challenge and encourage me. I think a lot of times we can feel like we have to have answers to every question that those who we're investing in maintain. And how do we know what's good? We know God's Word is good. And so we can come together around the Word, and we can go to God's Word seeking answers to the questions that we maintain, that those who are discipling maintain.” - Hunter Beless
“Growth happens as the next generation kind of challenges us. Actually, that's not a gospel issue. That's a cultural or a generational issue. And so our growth and godliness happen in all of that.” - Courtney Doctor
“And this is one of the clearest gospel texts that we have in the New Testament, right? In Titus 3:3-7. He's saying, I want you to insist on these things. And that is so true of the people whom I am investing in. I hope that they would encourage me and challenge me to continue insisting on the right things, the right thing, in fact, how the gospel ought to inform everything in my life.” - Hunter Beless
“I want to be a woman who is insisting on the contents of the gospel. Those are the things that are never going to fail. God's Word doesn't fade, and God stays the same forever. The contents of the gospel they're going to go with you no matter where you go.” - Hunter Beless
“As those who are making disciples, we don't know everything in God's word and to continually seek to keep coming to it in humility and to instruct others in God's word, more than we instruct them in the essentials, more than we instruct them necessarily in the practicals.” - Hunter Beless
“The desire to give advice. I don't think it's generational. I think it's common to man because I see it in every generation.” - Courtney Doctor
“The gospel applies to all of life. So when a young mom is coming to you because their three-year-old is not sleeping, it's good and right to back up and start with the gospel. And then it's good and right to say, here are some things I've tried, try them, knowing none of them are going to be your righteousness. None of them are going to be your salvation. None of them are going to be your godliness. But there are some practical things that you could try. And if they don't work, come back and let's keep working through some things because the gospel is true.” - Courtney Doctor
“We really can't do it in isolation. The Christian life was not meant to be me and Jesus. It's meant to be me in Jesus and then united to everybody else who is in Christ.” - Courtney Doctor
“We disciple believers and unbelievers. We disciple them both with the same message, with the gospel of grace. And for the unbeliever, we pray it brings them to salvation. And for the believer, we pray it brings them in sanctification–it increases their Christlikeness and their godliness. It's the gospel message that we're meant to be proclaiming to everyone around us.”- Courtney Doctor
“You have to know the contents of the gospel to believe the gospel. Not only do we need to know it to believe it, we need to know it to share it.” - Courtney Doctor
“I need to be believing that it is the kindness of God that saved us, right? I need to remember that and that his kindness does not change. And then sometimes I need to believe that it's not by works of righteousness that we have done, but it's according to his mercy. Sometimes I need to remember it's the washing of regeneration. Like I have been washed, I have been made clean. And so knowing the different aspects, the different perspectives of our one salvation helps us to better remember it and then to preach it to ourselves.” - Courtney Doctor
“And so when you and I talk about gospel-centered ministry, gospel-centered discipleship, or believing the gospel, we're talking about the fact that when we're meeting with a younger woman and she is completely distraught because nothing that she's doing at work or nothing that she's doing with her children is working, guess what it's not by works of righteousness that you are saved but it's his mercy and that same mercy as at work in your co-workers and your children. That's what we mean by believing the gospel knowing the gospel and believing the gospel.” - Courtney Doctor
“The gospel always applies. It's just going through the work of thinking about how it applies. I think that is one of the key components of discipling, is helping each other do that work. Because sometimes when you're in the middle of a situation, it's just really hard mentally to go through that process.” - Hunter Beless
“So when we talk about the gospel, if you're a little bit unclear, like what is the gospel? Number one, we really want to encourage you to hang out in Titus 3-3-7. Go hang out in Titus 2:11-15. Those are two wonderful texts that, hopefully, as you spend some more time in them, you will come to a greater understanding of what God has accomplished for us through the person of his son, Jesus.” - Hunter Beless
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How do you define discipleship?
How has discipleship played a role in your life?
What are the things to “insist on” in a discipleship relationship?
What could formal or informal discipleship look like in your life right now?
Who is someone (older or younger) who you could ask about beginning a formal discipleship relationship together?
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
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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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