A post from my Monday morning column at Zondervan’s ministry blog, Engaging Church. For the past few weeks we’ve been talking quite a bit about discipleship. Last week, looking at Discipleshift: Five Steps that Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples encouraged us to form people who are following Christ; being led by Christ; and are committed to the mission of Christ, which requires a shift toward intentional discipleship. Ok, fine. But how do you do this? And what are the necessary components to effectively form such people? Today we find out. (Read the full column HERE)

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Let’s stop here and throw these questions your way: How do you form disciples? What are the absolutes you’ve found necessary to disciple effectively? Consider dropping your own hows and whats in the comment section and then come back here and read on.

So then what are the necessary components of effective discipleship? I’m glad you asked!

Jim and Bobby believe “there are three necessary components to the disciple-making process—the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of God. These three components work together to bring about spiritual maturity in people’s lives.” (137)

Ready to make your own discipleshift? If so make sure you have these three necessary components of effective discipleship:

1.) The Importance of the Word of God

About a decade ago small groups became all the rage in the church. And while creating community for people to do life together has been a good thing, often it stops at “hanging out,” without a whole lot of teaching. When there is teaching, often it’s as Jim and Bobby describe: teaching “more aligned with humanism or self-help philosophies than with the Word of God.” (138) And more often than not they don’t get down to much praying, and they tend to do a lot of affirming of people’s struggles without much direction from God’s Word.

Jim and Bobby write, “The Bible mandates the need for us to be firmly grounded in biblical truth (1 Tim 4:3-4). Because we are prone to wander from the truth, a small group should be committed to regular Bible study and should root any attempts at life change in careful application of the study. Bibles must be opened, read, studied, and learned from. It is impossible to overstate the importance of getting into the Word of God for discipleship.” (138)

While effective discipleship begins with the Word of God it also involves a necessary, and often over looked component in evangelical circles: the Holy Spirit.

2.) The Importance of the Spirit of God

Jim and Bobby make it clear that “The power to change our lives does not come from us…The Spirit of God is the one who ultimately does the work of God in our lives.” (139) Yes as pastors and youth leaders and small group leaders we are vessels through which God’s grace and mercy and transformation pour out into people’s lives. It is God’s Spirit, however, who does the actual work of life transformation; growth is a miracle of God’s grace.

And this means that our discipleship must pivot around that Spirit. We must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to see Christ formed in our people. As Jim and Bobby explain, “We don’t invite people to join a small group because we think we have something special to offer…the group is a biblical relational environment used by God to be the means by which His Spirit brings lasting transformation to people’s lives.” (140)

Which doesn’t mean the group itself isn’t necessary. It is. Because as they write, “It’s the Word of God and the Spirit of God working together with the people of God” that changes people, that grows disciples of Jesus. (140)

3.) The Importance of the People of God

“If you carefully study the Scriptures, you will find that almost every instruction in the Bible contains either a vertical directive or a horizontal directive…This means that we cannot separate relationships from from the disciple-making process.” Yet often we do.

We either pry open people’s noggins in order to stuff it full of information through teaching, or we work people up into a spiritual lather through vaulted experiences with prayer or singing or spiritual disciplines. What’s often missing is relationships with real, live people.

We need the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the People of God, because all three work together in order to form people who are following Christ; being led by Christ; and are committed to the mission of Christ: “Our interactions with other people are one of the means God uses to teach us truth. Relationships in the body of Christ are where we learn from others what a mature Christian life looks like.” (140)

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How committed are you to making disciples? Does that commitment show in your life? If so, how are you forming them? If not, perhaps now is the time to join Jim and Bobby in making the discipleshift. I guarantee you will be happy you did.