Shawn D. Anderson - Living Dangerously: Seven Keys To Intentional Discipleship

A ccording to a research study released in 2009 , the church in America is in decline. The number of people who claim to be Christians in the United States has fallen since 1990 , from percent to percent.

Why are you reading this book? Perhaps you are concerned about the waning number of Jesus followers, and you are looking for ways to reverse the trend. Possibly you wonder, Why is my church not doing more to actively reach those who do not know Jesus? Or, maybe you want to disciple others but do not know where to begin. Whatever the reasons, you are to be commended for taking the initiative and doing something about it.

I have often been struck by the outlook many Jesus followers have toward making disciples. We cannot argue that our responsibility as disciples of Christ is to obey the Great Commission; however, we frequently excuse ourselves from Jesuss calling. We have been known to say, It is not my gift, It is too frightening, or I dont know how, leaving us with an unanswered, unfulfilled mission.

Realizing that members of the church were not intentionally discipling others, I began searching for the reasons why. I read many books on the needs of unbelievers, and I examined studies that contained massive amounts of data about the spiritual beliefs of unbelievers. I also scrutinized church growth methods and examples in order to learn how to attract others to Jesus. All of my searching was informative, yet something was missing.

One day it dawned on me: My focus should not be on unbelieversbut on me, as a disciple of Jesus! It is not the responsibility of the church to seek and save others, it is mine!

I determined that I would uncover the mysteries of making disciples by asking people about their conversion process, so I conducted a nationwide study to better understand how people became followers of Jesus. I hypothesized that people are led to Jesus when there is someone who takes a special interest in their salvation. My thesis was that this person is especially influential in the lives of unbelievers when his or her life reflects Jesus, the greatest teacher of disciples. The results revealed that, indeed, individuals were influenced to commit their lives to Jesus by people who modeled Jesus in their lives.

Knowing that modeling Jesus involves imitating his character traits, I wanted to discover the specific characteristics that influenced unbelievers to give their lives to him. This book reveals those traits, along with the reasons they are important to unbelievers. However, as we will see, simply altering our behaviors does not influence others. We lead people to Jesus when our lives become a reflection of him.

The Great Commission was given to every person who has devoted himself or herself to God. Just as Jesus trained his disciples to disciple others, we have been called to continue the legacy of seeking and saving others. It is not the job of corporate churches or ministers. Jesus has given usas individual followers of Jesusthe incredible task of making disciples.

Maybe you, like me, desire to know how to disciple others more effectively. What you are about to read is a deliberate wake-up call to make disciples. Turn off the snooze button! It is time for us as individual members of the church to get out of bed and answer Gods call to make disciples. This book is a charge to let God take control of our lives by pursuing the Great Commission with passionate zeal. We live dangerously when we intentionally seek others by showing Jesus to them. It is dangerous because making disciples is not an easy callingit is a life of persecution and rejection. If we sincerely desire to seek and save others, we need to be committed to the process.

The process of making disciples is outlined in this book. Chapters and introduce the concept of living dangerously by modeling Jesus in our lives. Chapter is a brief synopsis of the research study, and describes the characteristics of those who intentionally disciple others. Chapters through explain, in greater depth, the characteristics of those who intentionally disciple others. Chapter introduces the affiliative model of discipleship and describes how it works. Chapter outlines a plan for making disciples based on the affiliative model, and chapter prepares us to live dangerously. Quotes from the research respondents are included in several of the chapters to explain how they were influenced by certain characteristics, and why they felt comfortable discussing spiritual matters. Quotes were lightly edited for grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Some words used in this book may need clarification:

Unbeliever is used to refer to someone who has not established a relationship with Jesus Christ. An unbeliever is an inclusive term that may refer to someone who was raised going to church but is no longer faithful; it may refer to someone who has little knowledge of Christianity but is open to learning; or an unbeliever may refer to someone who has rejected God. This term is distinguished from the term unchurched, which usually refers to someone who has no church background.

Discipleship is the process of leading someone to Jesus, from being an unbeliever to being in a fully devoted relationship with Jesus. This process involves a mentor who specifically and intentionally guides another person into developing a relationship with Jesus. Discipleship is purposely distinct from evangelism, which is often an ingredient in discipleship, but does not encompass the entire process. For too long, we, as Christians, have focused on evangelism to the detriment of making disciples.

Discipler is a term used to describe someone who actively mentors an unbelieving person into relationship with Jesus and continues to equip the new disciple. This is accomplished by intentionally modeling the characteristics and actions of Jesus, and equipping the disciple through additional teaching.

Disciple refers to people who have committed their lives to be in relationship with Jesus.

Some interpretations and conclusions from the research are offered, but I do not claim to have all the answers. I encourage you to develop your own understanding of the results. Sample discussion questions are included at the end of the chapters to spur thinking in small group or Bible class settings, and encourage you to actively disciple others.

If you are sincere about seeking and saving the lost, this book is for you. Join me on an adventure of becoming an intentional discipler. This book will hopefully challenge you, it may irritate you, butif you hang with me through itit will definitely inspire you and give you the tools to disciple others!