Jesus started it. This whole discipleship idea. He even said it, directly, fourteen times: “Follow me.”
Jesus took 12 young, uneducated men and opened the door to His ministry, ushering them into a life that turned the world upside down. They explored His heartbeats. He asked questions. They kicked up the dust of Israel together, and for three years these men dove into the deepest type of religious research.
Now, the entire New Testament is filled with their findings.
So, where do we pick up? How do we track the steps of Jesus and change the world around us?
First, let’s start with what discipleship isn’t. It is not a one-and-done mentality. It is not a pre-programmed to-do list on an organized sheet of paper. It is not a knowledge competition of who can memorize the most Scripture. And it is not a pulpit to preach down to a captive audience.
For many, the word “discipleship” conjures an image of sitting down in a room to analyze Scripture. Or approaching it as a 12-step program, with precise direction to achieve the desired level of spiritual growth.
Do not put it in a box. Do not make it neat and tidy. Do not give it a timeline, though time it most certainly takes.
Instead, see like Jesus. See what spurs someone on and let them into your own life. Honest discipleship isn’t so much about developing head knowledge as it is about healing the heart. Because at its core, burrowed in the marrow of personal connection, is the heartbeat of trust. Trust is vital in keeping a relationship flowing. Earn trust, develop relationships, stir hearts.
For the heart, as Proverbs 4:23 highlights, is the wellspring of life.
***
“Discipleship,” Bill Buckley said, “isn’t a neatly organized weekly meeting to fit schedules and surface communication. We try to build a lot of trust with our staff.”
Buckley, the Mississippi State FCA Campus Director, sees discipleship as relationships and believes it starts with staff. He likes to build a level of trust and openness with fellow teammates in District 4, which includes Mississippi State University and surrounding area high schools. They meet weekly, and Buckley brings in pastors and other Christian leaders to spend time being fed, encouraged and challenged. Of utmost importance out of the gate is earning trust.
To take relationships to an even deeper level, District 4 Area Representative Jimmy Gilford suggests bringing people “behind the scenes” into the home life. Gilford wants to see Scripture lived out, and that includes allowing athletes and fellow staff to see all sides.
“You have to push back the curtains and rip back the mask a little bit and just press in,” he said.
Mississippi State's Huddle enjoying a time of fellowship.
Another way to get underneath the surface, Gilford added, is to study and see people’s motivation—why staff do what they do, why athletes play their sport, and why coaches coach.
“A pastor in my area said something to me that sparked my interest,” Gilford said. “Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘The Kingdom of God is in you.’ The thumbprint of God is on everyone’s life, and it’s my job to find the thumbprint. I’m trying to study this person saying, ‘What motivates them?’ Once I figure out what motivates them, I can share the gospel; I can disciple them based on their motivational gifts.”
Discipleship is about growth. To grow someone’s faith, you have to reach their core values, what grabs their attention. It’s changing the culture of the heart.
There’s also a balance between motivation and inspiration. Like a see-saw, one cannot work without the other. Motivation seeps into performance, while inspiration reaches the heart. Christ is the greatest example, Buckley noted, of giving life through touching hearts.
“When you reach the heart, that’s where hunger and passion and thirst—and also desperation—are,” he said. “He’s not looking for us to be disciplined. He’s looking for us to trust Him in a deep, loving, open, vulnerable relationship.”
Buckley also pointed to Jesus as an example of discipleship being a journey. He went with people, and they followed Him on the road through towns and cities.
“To me, that’s a really big word in discipleship—journey,” he said. “Are you taking these people somewhere?”
Before joining the journey, we must begin on our knees.
“If we don’t come out of the chute every day in a place of humility and brokenness before the Lord,” Buckley said, “we’re not going to be able to be real with anybody else.”
***
In the Omaha, Neb., metro, FCA Area Director Brian Conklin and his staff are developing a vision for stepping alongside whom they believe to be one of the most influential leaders in a community: the coach. Through the 3D Coaching method and walking with them in day-to-day coaching issues, they’re striving to relay the gospel to their coaching peers and athletes.
“Sometimes it just takes someone to walk alongside a coach to help them really see the ministry field the Lord has given them,” Conklin said. “By raising up volunteers to play a vital role and using FCA to minister to coaches as well, through the coach, many kids are being impacted.”
One of the recipients is Joel Hueser, boys varsity basketball coach at Papillion La Vista South High School. Hueser—a 26-year coaching veteran—has FCA ties dating back to his senior year of high school when he gave his life to Christ. He believes hope is needed now more than ever for student-athletes who may not receive much at home, and staff members like Conklin provide tremendous help in navigating the sometimes difficult coaching profession.
Papillion La Vista South High School basketball coach Joel Hueser and his family.
“They’re right there with you on this journey,” Hueser said. “It sometimes can be very challenging, so coming alongside and giving hope and encouragement starts to become very authentic.”
The Omaha FCA Staff is diving into the 3D Coaching method to further pour into these community leaders. Hueser and others appreciate the opportunities to cultivate their spiritual development, which then leaks into their teams. Hueser brought his entire coaching staff to their most recent 3D Coaching workshop, knowing the gospel would be presented.
“It’s another step in his daily life that he’s utilizing to impact others,” Conklin said.
Hueser sees the assurance of Conklin as an essential and important piece of his own ministry.
“Sometimes it gets kind of lonely and seems like you’re the only one fighting this fight, and that’s where it’s so encouraging when they come alongside and say, ‘Hey, I’m praying for you. Here are some resources to help you as a coach with these kids.”
Inspired to build a staff that can be strategically placed around the city to help develop relationships connecting coaches, Conklin sees the vision through training and commissioning coaches within the local church on a regular basis.
“Our motto,” Conklin said, “is we’re at our best when we minister to and through the coach.”
***
Greater Seattle Area Representative Shanna Zolman’s heart focus lies with female college athletes. She enters their lives and allows them into hers.
“Discipleship is my passion,” Zolman said. “I love meeting individually, mentoring, doing counseling stuff—just being able to do life with girls.”
Now in her fourth year with FCA, Zolman knows that building relationships takes time and trust, which aren’t always swift to come.
“It’s not easy to develop trust with student-athletes, because usually everybody’s wanting something from them,” she said. “Very rarely are they given the opportunity to receive and for nothing to be asked of them in return.”
Greater Seattle FCA's Shanna Zolman (top, right) meets and interacts with student-athletes regularly to pour into their faith journeys.
Zolman connects with her student-athletes via FaceTime, phone calls, texts and one-on-one meetings. There are also team Bible studies, where at times she prods some of the girls to drive and facilitate discussion. In the beginning of these relationships, she asks, “Who is God to you? What do you see of Him? How much time do you spend with Him?” Her No. 1 rule is simple: Be transparent. Another: Check and do your own investigation into the discussion.
“What I try to tell anybody is to go back and look for yourself to make sure what I’m saying is biblically correct,” Zolman said, noting discipleship is a sounding board to challenge and encourage, but it should never become a replacement for the athlete’s personal walk with Christ.
The desire is to point them to Jesus and His example of living life with 12 disciples. Discipleship started small and grew to millions of believers throughout the world. That doesn’t happen by just living His teachings, but by sharing them as well, and Zolman is challenging her girls this year to show boldness in their faith.
“I’m going to ask what they’re doing with this knowledge and wisdom they’ve gained,” she said. “You don’t have the Light of the world and hide it under a basket, you let it shine for all to see.”
***
Proper, authentic discipleship calls for honest vulnerability, which in turn allows for personal growth, sifting through all the clutter and brokenness that comes with life. And that’s where Jesus can change things. It’s an inside-out expansion; relationship, not religion; an invitation to connect lives.
“At the heart of it, we want to see growth,” Gilford said. “I don’t want a kid to accept the Lord and then throw him back into the culture; I want to really help him grow and understand what his purpose is, what motivates him. And it’s a process. Sometimes it’s truly messy when you start discipling.”
It’s finding that sweet spot and fueling your mission. Open up and reach out. Lend an ear and encourage a life in step with the Holy Spirit. Point them to the One who whispered, “Follow Me.”
“The ultimate goal in discipleship,” said Buckley, “is greater revelation of Jesus and greater understanding of our true identities. That is a beautiful and worthy cause.”
–This article appears in the March/April 2015 issue of FCA Magazine. To view the issue in its entirety digitally, click here: March/April 2015 FCA Mag Digital
–Want FCA Magazine in your home or business? Subscribe here: fca.org/orderthemag
–For daily faith and sports content follow @FCAMag on Twitter (www.twitter.com/fcamag) and “Like” FCA Magazine on Facebook (www.facebook.com/fcamag).
Photos courtesy of Shanna Zolman, Brian Conklin and Jimmy Gilford