Essentials For a New Disciple

Someone recently asked me what things I thought would be key for a new disciple. I think that is a great question for any Christ follower to consider. If/when you disciple, where do you start, what essentials do you need to pass on to the new disciple?

I've recently shared some simple thoughts in a post titled Disciple Making 101. In that post I considered how Jesus made disciples, and how it wasn't primarily an academic process. The disciples lived life with Jesus, got to know Him, and learned how to follow His lead.

But I hadn't really put my thoughts together on what would be some key ingredients for a new disciple. Here are my initial thoughts. I'd love to hear feedback.

I think discipleship is all about following the lead of someone, learning to follow their example and instruction. To be a disciple of Jesus it is important to know who Jesus is, and learn to follow His will and hear His voice. There also seems to be a pattern in Scripture where a new disciple also follows the example of other more seasoned disciples. The goal shouldn't be to become a disciple of that other believer, but to learn from them how to be a disciple of Jesus.

So some key things for a new disciple would be:

1. Have a relationship with another disciple of Christ who will help model what following Christ is about.
2. Understand who Jesus is - studying the gospels is a great place to start.
3. Seek to hear our Shepherd's voice, and learn to trust that voice with both big and small decisions.
   

You may notice I haven't included list of essential doctrines or teachings that a new disciple must learn and agree to. I am interested in disciple making as modeled by Jesus and His disciples.

So this is all that comes to mind at the moment.

What do you think? What am I missing? I am not an expert on this topic at all, so I am open to being taught on this topic. Thanks!

Related Posts:

• Disciple Making 101
• This is Discipling
• Following a book?