Page 23 - Principles for Discipling Others-Student textbook

John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”

Phil. 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ.”

This personal spiritual growth process is helped along by building up strong spiritual “spokes” of the
wheel of our Christian life: THE WORD, PRAYER, OBEDIENCE, WITNESSING and several other “spokes”
that help to keep Christ in the center of our lives.

Ron Bennett in his book, Intentional Discipleship, gives some further insight into spiritual maturity. He
says “It is not the knowing but the holding of truth that marks someone as a disciple of Christ. Too
often, Christians are knowledge rich, but application poor.” In other words, those who are growing and
maturing in Christ are not just learning what the “spokes” are but are using them! He also reminds us of
the way to acquire the characteristics of a mature Christian from the teaching of the Apostle Peter:

II Peter 1:5-8 Add to your faith goodness: and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control;
and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness;
and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure. They will keep
you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So it is not just knowing the qualities of spiritual maturity but the process of building one virtue on top
of another! These “virtues” might be considered to be additional “spokes” connecting the “Hub” (Christ)
to the “Rim” (Our Christian life) that we can add to our wheel.

Here we have been discussing the “spiritual maturity” process using the child-rearing process within a
family. This is certainly a biblical metaphor and a great way to help one’s understanding of maturing in
Christ. However the Bible also pictures disciple making as cultivating a field and running a race. These
are both excellent illustrations. However, for the sake of simplicity, we will continue on the “child-
rearing” and “wheel” themes.

The “Spokes” – Spiritual Anchors to Keep Christ in the Center

In the Wheel Illustration the “spokes” of the wheel are shown as helping to hold the hub in the center of
the wheel, thus keeping the hub (Christ) at the central point of the wheel and keeping the wheel rolling
smoothly, without wobbling. Spokes also help to keep the “rim” “round” and the wheel rolling
smoothly, without bending and twisting and causing all sorts of problems for the Christian’s life.

In the “Wheel Illustration” there are four key spokes shown that help to anchor the hub (Christ) in the
center of a well-rounded rim which represents the individual Christian’s spiritual life. These four are:

1. The Word
The Word of God – the Bible! The Bible is God speaking to us. It is food for our
soul and spirit. The growing, healthy Christian must have some spiritual food
every day. This doesn’t mean reading the Word for a long time, although the
Christian may wish to do that from time to time, nor does it mean reading it
through or beginning with Genesis and reading it as one might read a textbook.
But the young Christian should read a little of it daily. I suggest beginning with the

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