I’m not talking here about overweight disciples needing to become more disciplined in their eating habits. Instead I’m referring to the acronym that I learned in college (and then was reminded of by Tim Challies recently). When looking for people to mentor/disciple one thing to look for is a person that is Faithful, Available, and Teachable.
But what happens if your new FAT friend isn’t disciplined? My guess is that his growth will be stunted. 1 Peter 2:1-3 shows us that in order to grow into maturity one must have a study diet of God’s Word. This doesn’t happen through the big events as much as it happens through a “long obedience in the same direction”.
As one that has worked with teenagers and young adults for a good ten years of my life I’m noticing that more and more young people lack discipline. They live in a fast paced society that craves instant results. The slow and steady plodding of spiritual disciplines doesn’t come natural. In fact it’s a battle. So how do we help our FAT disciples become better disciplined?
A Lesson From the Master
I’ve greatly benefited from the work of Robert Coleman in his Master Plan of Evangelism. Coleman saw that Jesus’ method of discipleship was to do it, do it while the disciples watch, have the disciples do it while he watched, and then to have them do it. I believe this same thing can be applied to discipline.
1. Do it with them. If you’ve got one to two FAT friends that you hope to help become better disciplined then try to find a way to engage them in a daily spiritual discipline. It doesn’t haven’t to be big. It can be as small as a Facebook chat for 15 minutes every day over a Bible verse. But do something to get them fixed in a daily routine.
2. Have them do it while you watch. Here the impetus is on them to engage in a spiritual discipline. Your daily meeting will be less you leading and more you supervising.
3. Have them do it. As a formerly—and still struggling—undisciplined man I can say that one of the best things that has created discipline in my life is having to be there for other people. From the get go put in the mind of your FAT friend that he/she ought to be looking for someone else to disciple.
This is not a cookie cutter model that promises 100% success. But it is certainly one that I’ve seen the Lord use to help undsciplined men grow into more maturity in this area.
How do you help FAT disciples become more disciplined?
Hey, I can post from the house now, at least in one browser.
The issue I have found is that there are very few FAT people. Most people from my church are at least Faithful and Teachable, but hardly any are Available, at least to meet with me.
It depends on what the thing is that they are not disciplined in. The biggest factor is self-awareness and self-consciousness. A small child you can self-discipline by creating a habit, but at some point they might ask why. For adults, you need to start by convincing them that a matter of discipline is necessary to develop into a habit. After that, it’s usually helpful to make a plan and follow it doggedly. Once the plan is followed for a while, it becomes natural to do it. This is true for anything from reading the Bible regularly, to praying regularly, to checking motives when making a decision.