Sometimes believers see discipling relationships as a means of mastering content, doing homework, and completing curruculm.
But content can't become king in discipleship. Life-on-life relationships that help each other love, honor, and follow Jesus make the difference.
One of the Discipleship Huddle Leaders at CVC shared that God has brought her another person to disciple. She wrote, "God brought another
young woman (out of the blue) to me asking to be mentored. She didn't even know
that I was doing this with another! They didn't know each other before this,
but both are excited to see what they will glean from each other and our
huddle. Feeling like this is uncharted territory for me, but trusting the Holy
Spirit of God to equip and use me."
Her huddle is in the middle of
watching a video series by Tony Evans, "Knowing God's Names". Dr.
Evans stresses that we are not gathering head knowledge, but getting to know
God by His different names experientially. In the huddle, the women talk about what is going on in
their lives right now in relation to who God is. They are experiencing some great, deep conversations.
I wanted to encourage this Discipleship Huddle Leader to continue to think beyond content. Mastering material doesn't produce mature disciples. Living, loving, and learning in close proximity will make more and better disciples.
I wrote, "I am not surprised that God brought you another woman to lead and to love.
It is a testimony to your leadership, approachability, and authenticity. As you
pour yourself into a few, keep in mind some of the big principles. The
curriculum is not nearly as important as keeping adherening to the
principles."
Here are five principles for effective Discipleship Huddles.
1)
Life on life. Share your struggles, your hopes, your dreams, your learnings, your growth. and your wins. Hear about all that and more from those in your huddle. Eat together. Play together. Go on mission together. Share life up close and personal.
2)
Organic simplicity. Don't over program things. Listen to the still, small voice of the Spirit as you lead. He may direct you in a different way than you had planned. Walk in the Spirit. Your best tool in leading a huddle is the ability to come up with Spirit-inspired questions that will probe, expose, touch, and teach the hearts of your huddle members.
3) DNA-type questions. Remember, it's Divine Truth, Nurturing relationships, and Apostolic mission questions that ought to be front and center of virtually every meeting. And please keep Apostolic mission at the forefront. (What often happens in groups like this is that we often turn inward rather
than outward. Make sure that the group members feel called and accountable to
witness and evangelize.)
4)
Reproducibility. Whatever you're doing with the group, make sure that it's straghtforward enough for them to do it with thier own huddle.
5)
Time-bound. Start and continue with the expectation that the people in your group will be doing a Discipleship Huddle of their own with others in a year or 18 months.
My friend is excited about what God is doing in and through her. She wrote, "I'm amazed at what God brings to our minds to talk about. My heart leaps with joy to see such young women moving toward a passionate relationship with Jesus that results in fruit in their worlds. I'm glad God keeps bringing people into your life to disciple."
Question: What would you add to these foundational principles for effective Discipleship Huddles?
Related Posts:
The DNA of discipleship the Jesus way
Making your discipleship process intentional, personal, concrete, developmental, and adjustable
Reproducing disciples: Multiplication, not addition
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