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The Way of Discipleship · Field Guide

The thing you keep in your bag.

This book is not the training again. Open to their stage, read the marks, take one move, and write their name down.

If you do not know where a student is, you are guessing at what they need.

Whose plan it is

It is His plan, not ours.

He is the one who seeks the lost, gives the growth, and builds the church. We just pay attention and keep showing up.

Nothing in this book moves anyone. It positions you to cooperate with the One who does (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

There is exactly one gate on this path and it sits between Lost and Knowing. It is not effort, behavior, or attendance. It is new birth, and God alone opens it (John 3:3-8). Everything after that gate is growth, not earning.

Movement backward on this path is not failure; it is information.

Scripture: Proverbs 27:23, John 21:15-17, Colossians 1:28, Luke 15:4-7, 1 Samuel 16:7, 1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, 2 Timothy 2:2

Five places on one path

Lost. Knowing. Growing. Going. Showing.

A stage names where a student is, never what they are worth. Lost is a location, not a lesser person.

  1. Lost

    Has not yet trusted Jesus. Church may be familiar.

    This place needs: The gospel

    Moves:

    • 01 Share the Gospel

  2. Knowing

    A brand-new believer. Faith is real, knowledge is small.

    This place needs: Your life, new truth, new habits

    Moves:

    • 02 Share Your Life
    • 03 Share New Truth
    • 04 Share New Habits

  3. Growing

    A real believer whose faith still orbits self.

    This place needs: Connection to God, His people, His purpose

    Moves:

    • 05 Connect to God
    • 06 Connect to Others
    • 07 Connect to Purpose

  4. Going

    A maturing disciple whose life points at God and others.

    This place needs: Equipping, opportunity, release

    Moves:

    • 08 Equip for Ministry
    • 09 Provide Ministry Opportunities
    • 10 Release to do Ministry

  5. Showing

    A disciple who makes disciples. Then the road repeats.

    This place needs: Training to make disciples

    Moves:

    • 11 Explain Discipleship Process
    • 12 Engage and Model Discipling
    • 13 Release to Disciple Others

Pick the one that fits the student in front of you, and do it this week. One move done beats three moves considered.

The goal was never to keep them.

The four lines

Four questions, in order. Stop at the first no.

Have they trusted Jesus? Is the faith theirs when no one is watching? Has their faith turned outward? Is their walk reproducing in someone else?

  1. Lost to Knowing

    The test: Trust

    "If God asked you why He should let you into heaven, what would you honestly say?"

  2. Knowing to Growing

    The test: Ownership

    "If nobody from church checked on you for a month, what would happen to your walk?"

  3. Growing to Going

    The test: Direction

    "Who are you praying for these days?"

  4. Going to Showing

    The test: Names

    "Who are you investing in right now, and what is your hope for them?"

Four rules never broken

If keeping a rule ever costs you accuracy, keep the rule.

  1. A stage names where a person is, never what they are worth.
  2. When torn between two stages, choose the earlier one and write down why.
  3. Write nothing you could not read aloud to the student's parents.
  4. Attendance is not belief, and absence is not backsliding.

Read fruit over weeks, not a soul in a moment. Look for a pattern, not a performance. Camp tells you what a student can feel. October tells you who they are.

Keep the gospel on the table for everyone, because it is never wasted on someone who already has it.

Stage labels are never public, never shown to students or posted anywhere.

Common misreads

What to watch for.

  • When a faithful student seems bored or flat, they are being given the previous stage's help.
  • Growing serves when asked, and it usually helps them somehow. Going serves unasked, and it costs them something.
  • Going pours out through ministry tasks and roles. Showing reproduces the path in a person. The difference is tasks versus names.
  • Visible is not the same as outward.
  • A crowd is not a disciple, and Showing is measured in names, not shifts.
  • Look for fruit and hunger, not for a remembered feeling.

Prayer before reading

Let me be found faithful.

Father, You know these students better than I ever will. Give me eyes to see where each one actually is, courage to say the true thing, and patience to keep showing up. Do what only You can do. Let me be found faithful with the ones You put in my chairs.