We are getting close to our next Men’s conference where we will be focusing on getting “Back to the Basics,” as such we are also getting close to wrapping up our series here on getting back to the basics. We have talked about faith, Bible study, worship, and fellowship. This week we will start to look at the concept of discipleship. The one thing that comes to mind when looking at discipleship is the concept of training and discipline. The passage we will look at this week is 1 Timothy 4:6-8, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
Disciples Disciple Others
The first thing Paul tells Timothy here is, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” To give a little context here in verses 1-5 Paul had spent time warning Timothy about how some will walk away from their faith; whether they willingly walk away or are led astray by false teachings. Paul is telling Timothy here that as a mature disciple he needs to make sure he is teaching and showing those under him what is right. You see as we become mature disciples, we need to be willing to lead and teach those disciples that aren’t as mature in their faith. Paul gave Timothy a warning and as a good servant of Christ, as a true disciple, Timothy will pass this warning to those that he is discipling, in order to help keep them from straying away from their faith.
Disciples are Discipled by Others
The next thing is how do we tell from what could possibly lead us astray and what leads us toward God? Paul mentions to Timothy that it is from, “being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.” While Timothy is leading and discipling others, he is still being discipled by Paul. Paul tells Timothy to use his upbringing in the faith, use what he had been taught by his mother and grandmother as well as Paul. You see in the discipleship process not only do we eventually need to be discipling others, but we need to be discipled by mature believers that hold fast to correct doctrine. Look at it this way, if you were to play baseball you would want a coach and trainer that knew the fundamentals of baseball to help you. You wouldn’t go to a football coach to learn how to play baseball. In discipleship the situation is much the same, you need to choose wisely those that you would learn from. For in order us to fulfill the Great Commission and make disciples, we need to be properly discipled with correct doctrine. Discipleship is a lifelong process where we are constantly learning from those that are further along in their faith while teaching those that are newer than us in their faith.
