Coaching is relational, future-oriented conversations that empower you to reach your goals.
These conversations are personalized toward your goal with perspective, feedback and accountability.
You set the agenda and the coach helps draw out of you what God is already doing in your life.
This is a relationship strong enough to support, challenge and see God is at work in your life.
Recently I have been asking Christian adults if they have any life goals and would they mind telling me what some of them are.
This was not a test; it was just out of my curiosity as a coach that I asked the question.
Many graciously obliged, but I was surprised to find that only a couple included the goal of disciple-making.
In pondering such deficiency for disciple-making, it was easy to deduct why this might be so.
It takes confidence, motivation, intentionality, and knowing where to start to become a disciple-maker.
Another thing I believe contributes to lack of personal disciple-making is the fact that many Christians were never personally discipled themselves and have no real-time model to follow.
This article is about using one simple coaching principle to break this lack of disciple-making cycle.
Disciple-making is the last command Jesus gave before leaving the earth.
In the Great Commission, He left clear instructions - go, make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to observe all that I commanded you.
Then along with this command, He gave an unbelievable promise, "Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.
" (see Matthew 28:18-20) When we stop to think about this - it is mind boggling, that Jesus would delegate the task of making disciples to us.
What a privilege! A Disciple-making Definition "laboring in the lives of a few with the intention of imparting one's life, God's word, and the gospel in such a way that they become mature and equipped followers of Christ, committed to doing the same in the lives of others.
" In other words, disciple-making is the process of taking a person from being an unbeliever to becoming a motivated, reproducing, fully devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Disciple-making is not just for church staff, officers or super Christians, it is for every normal believer.
But guess what, we don't do it alone, Jesus, the Master Discipler has promised to be with us always.
A Coaching Principle What is the one principle of coaching that has potential to break the disciple-making deficit? First, what is a coach? One of the many definitions of a coach is "a change agent.
" A coach is a change agent in that they help others to discover truths and incorporate them into their lives by asking good questions.
Good, thought- provoking questions help people think, reflect, research and discover on their own.
Coaches do not tell others what to believe or do.
The coach approach to disciple-making basically boils down to this - having the heart of Christ for others and desiring to help them grow by using the principle of "ask don't tell".
By the way, in the coach approach to disciple-making, you walk with another as a "change agent" because you are a little farther along in your spiritual journey than they are.
The Essentials First things first, there are essential truths that those God gives to you to disciple need to know.
1) God is, 2) all men are sinners 3) Christ died upon the cross too make atonement for the guilty 4) whosoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved and belong to Him forever.
This is the gospel message and it must be clearly told and understood.
Next, your disciplees begin to discover on their own more about their salvation and the Christian life by looking for answers in the Bible primarily.
Your life, coach-able moments, and your questions lead the disciple forward in their journey.
These things are the very things Jesus used to disciple the twelve.
Like coaching, disciple-making is highly relational not an academic relationship.
As you get to know one another, enter their world with interview type questions and make sure they get to know you as well.
After getting to know one another and establishing a relationship, your next step is to pray and plan some growth steps to take with your disciplees.
Some of the basics that every growing Christian should know about are - prayer, the Bible, fellowship, church membership, service, stewardship, marriage, suffering, Holy Spirit, and evangelism.
There are several prepared guides to help you put together a growth plan, if you need it.
The Coach Approach - Ask, Don't Tell To give you an idea of how a coach approach to disciple-making works, below are some sample questions.
You could start with these; then it is well worth the time to develop your own thought-provoking questions tailored to your disciplee's needs.
(This is when you will rely on your partnership with the Holy Spirit.
Another privilege!) General Questions How would you describe your relationship with God? What is one word that describes your life before Christ? Explain that word.
What is one word that describes your life after meeting Christ? Explain.
On a 1-10 scale, how motivated are you to pursue spiritual development? What is your biggest question about the Christian life? What are you do now to pursue spiritual growth? What things do you think you need to do to help you grow as a Christian? Bible and Prayer Questions How much Bible knowledge would you say you have? How much would you like to have? What time of day is best for your Bible reading and study? How much time do you want to spend reading and studying the Bible? How could memorizing verses of scripture benefit you personally? What does prayer mean to you? What does the Bible say about prayer? (With questions like this, you encourage them to get in the Bible and report back to you what they learned.
) What answers to prayer have you or someone you know experienced? Fellowship and Service Questions How important is it to you to be with other Christians regularly? What areas of service would you like to be involved in at church? What gifts do you think God has given to you? What do you think you could offer to the Christian community? What do you think you could offer to the non-Christian community? What would you like to accomplish as a Christian? Disciple-making Questions Explain how you would tell someone what it means to become a Christian? How would you tell your conversion story? How would you tell the gospel message? Who could you share your faith message with? As you can see the coach approach to disciple-making has an agenda and a goal.
And that is to walk with others, as they become motivated, reproducing, fully devoted followers of Christ.
Can you think of anything more thrilling than coaching someone to the discovery of who Jesus is or to a deeper, richer relationship with Him.
We have something life-giving to give away in the gospel message and life with Christ.
May I ask you a question, what are your life goals?