Welcome to disciple making: (Karl Payne):
This series on disciple making is Booklet 1 – Essentials, which is part of the
program Transferable Cross Training (TCT) developed by Dr. Karl Payne. The purpose of TCT
is to help equip men and women to be effective disciple makers. The materials are field
tested with various proof verses that can be memorized, and each lesson is focused on
transferability. It is our desire is for those who accept the challenge of discipleship
that, with or without a Bible and notes in hand, each individual who has taken the time
to master the concepts and principles in this series will have confidence to comfortably
and biblically respond to common questions and comments from friends or enemies of Christ.
By God’s grace we can make a difference in eternity by being actively involved in the
most important job assignment entrusted to mankind. For more information about TCT or
obtaining the booklet series, see www.KarlPayne.org
Please remember that the uniqueness of this discipleship series is its simple transferability.
It is the expressed desire of the author that students actually use these materials after
completing each booklet, by sharing them with others in a manner consistent with 2 Timothy 2:2.
The New Testament gives us a blueprint for the dynamic ministry of evangelism and
discipleship. As obedient followers of Jesus Christ, evangelism and discipleship are
not an option. We must obediently participate in the process of systematically sharing
the things we have learned with those who will also faithfully carry this message to
others.
2 Timothy 2:2 clearly explains this principle:
And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of
many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Timothy is given 3 commands:
1. Listen and learn.
2. Locate faithful men.
3. Teach these faithful men so they can train others to reproduce the same process.
Notice the 3 levels of human interactions:
1. Paul disciples Timothy.
2. Timothy disciples faithful
men.
3. Faithful men disciple other faithful men.
Matthew 28:18-20 illustrates the priority of emphasizing both evangelism and
discipleship and not allowing one to be developed or maintained at the expense of
the other. There are at least two triads contained with these verses which relate
directly to disciple making. Can you identify and explain them? (hint: Note the
relationship between each verse. Don’t ignore the participles.)
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given
to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
There are 3 Greek participles that help you understand Jesus'
command to "make disciples":
As you go - make disciples
As you baptize -
make disciples
As you teach - make disciples
There are 3 assurances that Jesus provides you that go along with His
command to "make disciples":
1. I have the authority to give you a job because all authority
is mine in heaven or on earth.
2. Since I have all authority, I have a job
to give you - "make disciples."
3. I will always be with you as you go
about making disciples.
1 Peter 3:15 is helpful in understanding the priority of the concept of
reproductive discipleship:
But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready
to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in
you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
1. Set apart Christ as Lord.
Sanctifying Christ as Lord is a dedication. One measure of your
success of sanctifying the Lord is asking this question, "If you have friends who have a
question about God, are you their first or last option?"
2. Be prepared to answer reasonable questions.
Providing reasonable answers for reasonable questions is an action.
3. Give answers that are gentle, powerful and controlled.
Giving answers that are gentle, powerful and controlled describes
an attitude. It should not come as a surprise that the people who ought to be ready
to give answers for the faith they say they have are the same individuals who have
consciously made Christ Lord of their lives.
Notice the difference between simply discipling a student verses discipling a student
to disciple others. For essentially the same amount of effort, your ministry can either be
one of addition or of multiplication. Let's do the math:
ADDITION
1 person won to Christ every week for 16 years = 832
1 person won to Christ every day for 16 years = 5,840
MULTIPLICATION
1 person won and discipled for 6 months = 2
2 more people won and discipled over the next 6 months = 4
THE DIVIDEND OF DISCIPLESHIP
Year 1 = 4
Year 2 = 16
Year 4 = 256
Year 16 = 4,294,961,296 (approximately the world's population in 1982)
It is easy to understand why a ministry of multiplication is a better investment of a
person’s time, talent, energy and effort than a ministry of addition.
REMEMBER
- Discipleship is a biblical command, not just a good idea.
- The two triads contained within Matthew 28:18-20
- The triad contained within 2 Timothy 2:2
- The triad within 1 Peter 3:15
- Teachers share content. Trainers share their lives; the trainers job is not done until
the student can reproduce. We need more trainers; discipleship is not convenient.
Karl Payne's personal note: I grew up in a home
that would have been considered moral and ethical, but not religious. Both of my parents were teachers.
Dad was a Mathematics / Science specialist for the Sacramento City School District and my mom taught
grade school. My Dad would occasionally pray for our food, but we did not read the Bible or discuss
religious topics. I decided my first Sunday of seventh grade that I had no real interest in church or
Sunday school and informed my parents that I would no longer attend either. I assumed I was a Christian
because I had been baptized as a child at my mom's request, but my primary interests were baseball,
football and music.
On June 17th, 1970 I became a Christian while attending a youth retreat sponsored by Young Life,
a Christian ministry focused upon reaching high school students. The two biggest hurdles I faced
in that decision both related to honest assumptions. My first assumption related to what I had
understood it meant to be a Christian. I assumed that I was a Christian because I had been baptized.
Christians get baptized, I had been baptized, therefore, I was a Christian. I also thought that
heaven, if it was real, was attained by being a nice person. I reasoned that since on a moral and
ethical scale which had the Pope on one end and Hitler on the other, that my live style was closer
to the Pope's than Hitler's, thus making me a shoe in for heaven if God was fair.
The second assumption I had made related to education. In eighth grade my science teacher told our
class that "religious people were mental cripples who needed a crutch to get through life." I was
very impressed by this teacher and took to heart what he said. In the eleventh grade, my physiology
teacher told our class that "educated people believed in evolution." As I grew older my education
had become more important to me. As a result of several teacher's comments I assumed that it was
not possible to think deeply and still be a Christian. Religion in my mind was therefore something
for nice people who were not too concerned about an academic education. My first assumption was
to confuse churchianity with Christianity. Churchianity represents men and women making their best
efforts to reach up to God and receive His approval, based upon their individual efforts to be found
worthy in His eyes. Biblical Christianity is a message explaining how God has chosen to reach down
to mankind through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, providing salvation by His
grace as a free gift to all who believe, in spite of our unworthiness. Religion is essentially a
message of man reaching up to God. Christianity is a message detailing how God has reached down to
man. Religion exalts man. Christianity exalts God. I had received just enough religious training
to confuse religion with Christianity and had rejected an honest consideration of Christianity in
the process. My second assumption was to confuse naturalism, dialectical materialism and the
suppositional baggage assumed to be true by both philosophical world views, with actual empirical
data and good science, which provides conclusions based upon testing, observation and repetition
rather than wishful thinking and naturalist / atheistic suppositional indoctrination.
On the 17th of June, 1970 at 8:00 P.M., I listened to a gentleman clearly explain that God's plan
is that I have eternal life (John 3:16, John 10:10, Romans 5:1), but that my problem with sin (to miss
the mark in word, thought or deed) had separated me from Him (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23). This sounded
more like bad news to me than good news. He went on to say that God had provided a remedy for my sin
by sending His only son Jesus Christ to die on a cross as a payment for my penalty (2 Corinthians 5:21,
Philippians 2:4-10, 1 Timothy 2:5, Romans 5:8, John 14:6, Ephesians 2:8-9), but that it was absolutely
necessary for me to respond to His remedy for the remedy to be effective (John 1:12, Romans 10:9-10,
Revelation 3:20). I bowed my head in that room and quietly asked Jesus Christ to become my Savior
and Lord. Jesus came into my life and has made me a new person, from the inside out (2 Corinthians
5:17). That was nearly thirty-one years ago. Knowing Jesus is more than religious activism or academic
curiosity. It is a real relationship. Spiritual maturity is a process (1 John 2:12-14) that should
continue to develop and grow as long as we are alive.
God used a Campus Crusade for Christ high school ministry to teach me that aggressive, reproductive
Christianity (2 Timothy 2:2) should be considered normal Christianity. Sincerity is necessary for
Christian living, but it is not sufficient for impacting our world for Christ (Matthew 28:18-20,
2 Corinthians 5:17-21, 2 Timothy 2:15, 1 Peter 3:15). He has used several godly men, seminary and
nearly twenty-five years of serving in church ministry to teach me that making disciples means far
more than leading people to Christ and asking them to pray and read their Bibles. It is impossible
to give what you do not have or share what you do not know. When people tell me that their Christian
faith is boring, what they are really telling me is that they do not pray, they do not study and they
do not give away what they have been given. The Christian life is an adventure that is exciting to
live and share. To judge Christianity by people who sit on their hands, criticize others and turn a
living faith into dead religion is to misrepresent Biblical Christianity. Christianity was never meant
to be lived as a passive spectator sport.
Dr. Karl Payne, at heart, is an apologist who loves to train and
equip Christians for spiritual service and warfare (Eph.4:11-16). He enjoys preaching, writing and
retreat / conference / seminar speaking. He derives his greatest pleasure tackling the challenge of teaching
Christian workers, interns and budding preachers / teachers at both the Bible College and Seminary levels.
In addition, he has co-authored two books: A just Defense and Cross Training through
Multnomah Press.
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