by Pastor Patrick Cho

I recently attended the Men Discipling Men Conference at The Master’s College and it was a tremendous blessing. The speakers delivered really good messages, the seminars were challenging and helpful for ministry, and the fellowship with the Lighthouse guys who went was refreshing. But one of the most memorable moments of the weekend actually wasn’t at the conference but at our host home.

We had a chance to stay with one of the elders from Immanuel Bible Church and his family. This wasn’t anything new since they are gracious to host our guys for the MDM Conference and Shepherds’ Conferences every year. Most years, they have even tried to invite all the guys from LBC over for a late night meal! They truly are a wonderfully hospitable family. As good as the chili spaghetti was this year, my highlight was when Andrew (that elder from IBC) invited all of us to share about how we had been learning and growing recently.

Up until this point in the evening, we were all enjoying random conversations with each other. Some of them were very profitable and spiritual; others were less. We were all just sitting around enjoying really good food, but Andrew took the initiative to bring us together and have a time of mutual encouragement and edification.

This reminded me of a helpful principle that is often neglected in the church: Discipleship is life. Discipleship is not just when one person decides to meet up with another person on a weekly basis to share prayer requests and have a time of accountability. We should not limit discipleship to a program. Discipleship can and should happen whenever two believers come together, because discipleship is life on life ministry.

Marriage is discipleship. Parenting is discipleship. Friendship is discipleship. Even sitting around a living room with a group of conference attendees eating chili spaghetti can be discipleship. It all comes down to whether we choose to make the most of the opportunity or not. Unfortunately, most of the time, we allow the opportunities to pass us by. Instead of making use of a chance to encourage someone, pray for them, teach them, or witness to them, we choose instead to talk about things that are not profitable or spiritual.

In this sense, you don’t need to go about looking to form a “discipleship relationship.” If you have relationships with fellow believers, you can be a blessing to them just as they can be to you. Say an encouraging word, share what you have been reading in Scripture, ask for or offer prayer support, or just bring everyone together to share how they have been growing or what they have been learning. Discipleship is life and we should never forget this.