Tuesday evenings, here’s how I disciple guys
I get together with a group of young men on Tuesday evenings. We talk about issues that are important to them. I may do some teaching if it’s relevant. I may give advice if it’s helpful. We often look at Scripture. We pray together. Afterward we share a meal that the three K-girls have cooked (Karen, Kacie, and KK).
Tonight the meal was a wonderful shepherd’s pie. Way too much of it. Plus salad, fresh string beans, and a delicious apple pecan cake. The evening sunset was perfect from the porch. We had a lot of fun talking about life.
Earlier I invited Kacie and KK in and posed a question to them, “When these guys one day die, what do you think each of these guys’ wives will say at their funeral?” Then I asked the guys what they would want their wives to say. They wrote down their answers and compared notes. Far from being morbid, it was a liberating and focusing exercise.
It’s probably the easiest discipleship investment that I make, just one piece of the whole. I also periodically meet with them one-on-one. If I’ve done a good job of praying about it, and God has spoken to me, I might challenge them.
On weekends, we may go into Atlanta to do ministry. We love attending an Indian church in Decatur when we’re there.
One of the tougher things I get to do is to send them away to help lead efforts around the globe. Sometimes the assignments are painful and pressure-filled. It was tough on Neil when he was surrounded by death while leading a team for multiple months in Swaziland. Seth’s year in Nicaragua was stressful, but it helped him to mature.
Later, these experiences equipped them to lead our Haiti base after the earthquake. When we started the Kingdom Dreams ministry together, they were able to take their game to another level because they’d been tried by fire.
The other guys are on similar tracks. If they’re up to it, they get a greater dose of challenge. They get to build the Kingdom in dark places. We get to see what their faith looks like when it’s tested. My goal is to ultimately release them somewhere in the world God wants them.
Tuesday nights are great, but the model of discipleship as a passive thing – a living room-based activity only – is broken. Jesus had great times hanging out with his guys, but he raised up his disciples in ways that they had to sink or swim as they exercised their faith. It’s a model that still works.
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Hey Seth…Let me your 30 year friend personally do with your family what you have done with mine.
Just saying…I can ask them all great questions with love as my angle.
Thank you for investing in us!
Good questions to consider! I noticed you have the married and the unmarried in there. I’m particularly interested in what the unmarried guys would want their wives to say. They have a better chance at getting credits.
I wish more men and women out there with depth and passion for discipleship would take a cue from you and deliberately invest in others like this. I need this.
Seth, I have really enjoyed our discussions and learning from you by how you operate through life. When I was in Spain some of the interns told me they could tell I had been hanging around you and Clint for a while.
Thanks, Neil. I love how you are continually pressing in. If anyone will follow your example, they will go far in life.