Impromptu Discipleship

As we move from the idea that discipleship is a program to being life on life, we will find that some of the most important disciplship moments are unplanned.  Because of this, these moments give us the opportunity to draw on the reserves of what God has placed in our lives and give it to the person we are discipling.  It may not be the most dazzling presentation but because it comes out of our lives at a point where the other person is open, it will be more authentic and memorable.

The other day I was talking with a person I am helping disciple.   An aquaintance of her's who identified as a Christian had said he knew the basic concepts of the bible but thought that after Jesus,  the bible was a later addition that he didn't need. 

I surprised myself when I started my response by saying our aim is to be like Jesus and then I scrambled and managed to point to two cases where Jesus was under pressure and he knew the Scriptures well enough that it was very helpful for Him.  The first was when Jesus was tempted by the Devil and he quoted Deuteronomy and the second was when Jesus was on the cross and he quoted Psalm 22.  It was only after those examples that I finally rembered some verses that I might have ordinarily referred to - Col 3:16 and Joshua 1:8.  {There are probably also some other verses from the gospels that make Jesus knowledge of the scriptures more clear}.  

If it had been you, you might gone straight to those verses, or shared a story about how the scriptures really helped you, or even said you weren't sure but you would think about it and/or get some input and get back to them. 

The polish isn't the important thing, the sharing from our hearts and experience is what will make it memorable and helpful for the other person.  And then with a bit of reflection on our answers, we can refine them for the next time we find ourselves in another impromptu discipleship situation.