Page 93 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

Study Section 11: Discipleship is Relational

“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the
person who loves those around them will create community.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

11.1 Connect

Sometimes some people find a baby animal, perhaps a squirrel, chipmunk, or racoon, that
the mother has abandoned or been killed, and began to nurse it and care for it to help it
survive. During that process of care, the animal forms an attachment to the caregiver, and
he/she becomes their surrogate mother. This attachment is a powerful survival impulse
that keeps infants close to their caregivers. The goal of such care normally is to release the
wild animal back into nature once it is mature enough to survive on its own.

Every once in a while, the animal refuses to leave. Or when they leave, they return often to see “mom.”
I know of one lady who raised a faun. Once the faun became a full-sized buck, he left the home, but
every so often returned to see how his “mother” was doing. The buck even mated and brought his
whole family back to see his birth home. Relationships become strong bonds for life, even with animals.

There are many areas in a disciple’s life where relationships are extremely important and essential to
develop. Today we are going to look at a few…

11.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to describe the various relationships that are necessary to
function as a disciple.

2. The student should be able to list several verses that apply to persecution and rejection.

3. The student should be able to describe what kind of church should be sought in helping him develop
spiritual maturity.

11.3 Developing a relationship with your disciple

A discipler is a teacher and a friend to his disciple. The relationship between the two should
become one of deep caring and encouragement. A teacher is not just a person who tells
others what they need to know. A good teacher is one who shows his disciples what he
needs to DO. Consider Christ. He spent perhaps four years with twelve men. In the Gospels
we see Him teaching not only His disciples, but many others. John tells us that only a fraction
of things Jesus did and taught are found in the Gospels

John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written
every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

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