Discipleship. It is, or at least has been, a “buzz” word in the Christian community. As I sat and talked with Ugandan and Sudanese church leaders several months back, their #1 response for what they desired training in was discipleship. I agree with them, for the African church has broad exposure to the Gospel, but is tragically shallow. At the time, I didn’t get to delve into what these leaders meant by discipleship. That will be coming soon. And so as I prepare to offer another training to pastors and church leaders in northern Uganda, I’m trying to distill the material I’ve collected and written, sermons I’ve preached, books I’ve read (and still need to read), and a wealth of information from different organizations on the internet. Trust me, there is a LOT of material out there on discipleship.

Yet as I work to sift through this material, a strange thing is happening in my heart. I read articles by good people, scan through books, and ponder various ways of organizing concepts, yet in my heart it just feels like so many words, so many ideas, and like I’m missing the mark, like Africans will not track with “the 12 steps to effective discipleship.” Then, I turn to my Bible that is open to Matthew 1 in front of me, and my heart skips a beat. This is the story of JESUS, from God’s own lips! The greatest disciplemaker ever, and I have his life and story in front of me! I find that I can’t look away. This, more than anything else, is what feeds my soul, what inspires me to be a disciple, and make disciples, that causes me to hunger and thirst after the living God as I strive to follow His Son. If this is what the Word does for me, maybe this is where I should spend the lion’s share of my time in preparation for training others in disciplemaking.

So that is my plan. While I will certainly scan through other documents and writings, not till after I’ve poured through the four Gospels, and gleaned what God has to teach me from the first-hand account of the Ultimate Disciplemaker. May you, likewise, make it your top priority to draw near to the Lover of your soul through digesting His Word, and grow deeper in your love for the One Who gave Himself up for you.

Pressing on by His grace, Eric