“It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus.”  —Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-43)

When Christians think about or discuss discipling, they think about method, about how to—about what topics to cover, how to organize them, how to cover each one, assignments, and time structure. But the apostle Paul didn’t think this way. He thought about following Jesus, imitating him so that people could see how to follow Jesus by watching his example and following him. Paul distilled it this way, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1) He repeated this principle consistently.[a]

Missionary George Patterson loves to say, “People are apers. They are always aping someone.” Paul understood this. He knew believers would copy him. So he imitated Christ in all of life, doing everything to the glory of God,[b] and called his churches to imitate him just like he imitated Christ. His churches knew how to work hard and do quality work. Paul showed them. They knew how to serve customers well, how to handle the joys and struggles of work, how to suffer shortfalls with genuine contentment. Paul showed them. And they knew how to integrate work and ministry. Many were recipients. They saw as well as heard God’s grace through Paul.

So foremost in discipling is living and thus exhibiting godly discipleship. Accordingly, saintly, fervent pastor Robert Murray McCheyne said, “It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus.”

When we see a Christian living some tough truth in Scripture like putting God’s kingdom first and hear how they think and respond, it is easy for us to begin to do it. When I arrived on the campus of Johns Hopkins as a new InterVarsity staff member, I ended up having to launch a new group. This made it easier to build new patterns. But the Christians were very intimidated by academic demands and by relativistic secular humanism. None of them believed that they could seek first the kingdom of God…and that then all these things they needed would be added unto them. They did not believe that they could put God and his purposes first and still be good students. And they did not believe that the gospel could transform people on campus. They had never seen these things practiced in their youth groups. We faced a huge hurdle.

So I started a discipleship group which they committed to attend unfailingly and to do whatever God showed us in the Bible together. Then we began studying what God wanted us to do in personal Bible study and prayer, bearing witness, working together, etc. Slowly, they began taking small steps of faith, stepping out into the “impossible.” God honored, and they took more steps. My faith and example helped and as members shared stories, others emulated them. They began giving time to God’s purposes in their lives and they began reaching out.

Over the next two years, incredible growth occurred. They developed patterns of personal Bible study and prayer, of studying together and praying, of witnessing. And they discovered that they could seek Christ’s kingdom first and still be good students. In fact, they became better students. They also found that God did work in people’s hearts and they came to Christ!

But the impact on those who came to Christ and on new Christians arriving on campus was amazing. They found it much easier to build these practices into their lives. When they first arrived they did not believe these things were possible either, but they saw Christians doing it and copied. Within two years the group grew to 60 with nonbelievers steadily coming to Christ and believers being changed and following him.

Christians must see the truth lived to understand and do it. They cannot do what leaders teach but do not do. Actions negate words. When leaders teach something they don’t practice, they have not figured out how to do it in real life. They lack the faith to do it and cannot show others. They cannot pass on what they do not know. Followers can’t see the truth, understand it, or put it into practice. Instead they copy what they see.

This explains much weakness and failure in the church. We are attracted to method, technique, and organization. Many pastors talk about God’s great power to save people, but run a program powered by polished performance, trendy music, no offense messages, and emotive group dynamics. Nonbelievers often respond to the emotional pull rather than the convicting work of the Spirit. Also, Christians equate strong feelings in worship with genuine love for God even though their life does not match.

Leaders tell people to trust God because he is in control, but clearly worry about money or health or whatever. So their hearers do the same.  A friend has gone through a very tough time facing the risk of bankruptcy and losing property. She kept saying that she just put it in God’s hands and trusted him. Yet she worried constantly so that she lost weight and could not focus in her work. The threat was huge. But she was not able to rest in God in the midst of the darkness. She was simply emulating others, worrying intensely while thinking she wasn’t because she kept saying that she was just trusting him.

Nothing can substitute for likeness to Christ. Only by living example can people see the reality of Christ’s teaching, believe it is possible, and understand how to do it. Christ-likeness is more caught than taught.

I have seen wonderful examples. I remember a speaker during Spiritual Emphasis Week at Bible school who radiated joy in God as he opened Scripture to us. He awakened in me deeper longings to pursue God. I also knew someone in high school who lived in such enjoyment of God that friends would stop and ask him what caused such joy and peace in him.

I learned how to dig out what the Bible is saying with inquisitiveness, diligence, and carefulness from Christians who showed me how and opened it to me. I’ve learned more of relating to, loving, and moving nonbelievers toward Christ through the example and teaching of Ruth Siemens and Ari Rocklin. Dr. John Alexander, President of IVCF, powerfully showed the priority of godliness in leadership above all else. Over and over he said, “Godliness comes first.”

[a] 1 Cor. 4:16; 1 Th. 1:6; 2 Th. 3:7, 9; Phil. 3:17; Of imitating other examples: 1 Th. 2:14; The writer of Hebrews uses this idea in 6:12 and 13:7. Example and model are used similarly in Phil. 3:17; 1 Th. 1:7; 1 Tim. 1:16, 4:12; Tit. 2:7

[b] 1 Cor. 10:31