"God's attributes—not what He can do to change our situation right now—are to be the foundation of our praise. His character is what's most important for us. That's how we can have hope." —Pastor Josh Haywood
He is risen! Χριστός Ανέστη! Rejoice! Make disciples, baptizing & teaching them in gratitude to: be transformed by renewing your mind. Wash feet. Feed the poor. Clothe the naked. Shelter the homeless. Champion justice. Love mercy. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
One of the younger women in our church works a couple days a week, and is about 6 weeks away from giving birth to her 2nd child. I asked her if I could bring her family supper once a week on one of her work days in the last month of pregnancy, so she could get a bit more rest. She's super excited about this.
I don't say this to toot my own horn, but to demonstrate that this is what "gospel mentoring" is that I teach about. Yes, discipleship is the right word. But I think a lot of times we think of teaching as words--telling them what to do, and what standard you think they should reach.
But it's so much deeper than that. It involves listening to what they are dealing with. Jesus didn't just go around teaching people. He healed them along the way. He ate with them. He told them stories. He washed their feet.
Discipleship involves a ton of service. I'm not standing above her, inspecting her Christian life. I'm trying to figure out where she's struggling the most and saying "how can I help?"
I'm not trying to get anything out of bringing her supper, other than maybe she trusts me a bit more, and more opportunities to encourage her face to face during what I remember being an intense time when our family went from 1-2 kids, and experiencing that 3rd trimester with a toddler to chase.
It's not about whether or not she should be working. It's not about imparting my opinions. It's listening, and brainstorming ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and looking for ways to tangibly show them that Christ is our rest.