MULTIPLYING DISCIPLES AROUND THE WORLD

Day 10 – Mentoring Disciples Who Share the Gospel

Picture this: You’re a brand-new Christian with a burning desire to serve God, but you have absolutely no idea how. So at midnight, you and a friend jump in a car and drive four hours to a complete stranger’s house. You arrive at 4 AM and sleep in his driveway. When he finds you there in the morning, you say, “We want to know how to become evangelists.”

That’s exactly what I did as a young believer when I heard about Mike Gilchrist. I was so desperate for someone to show me the way that I was willing to do anything to find a mentor. That 4 AM encounter in a stranger’s driveway changed the trajectory of my entire ministry.

Here’s the life-transforming truth I want you to understand today: If we truly desire to be effective in evangelism, there’s no better way than Jesus’s method – spiritual multiplication through mentoring relationships. The way to reach the masses is to train disciples who will train disciples who will train disciples.

Second Timothy 2:2 captures this perfectly: “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Every effective disciple-maker needs three types of relationships in their life:

First: You need a MENTOR – someone ahead of you spiritually. Mike Gilchrist became that for me. He didn’t tell me what to do in every situation, but I could ask him any question. He was actually doing the ministry I wanted to do. Most importantly, he was the first person to teach me a crucial truth: “Sammy, you can’t do it. You’re trying, but you have to trust. It’s not trying – it’s trusting.”

A mentor is someone who lives out and shows you how to apply God’s Word in your life. They’ve learned how to do what you’re trying to learn, and they’re willing to invest in you. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Second: You need a PEER – someone alongside you for mutual encouragement. When I pastored in Germany, I had a friend named Ken. We were both runners – well, he was a runner and I was a jogger! The greatest thing Ken did for me was encourage me. I get discouraged easily and need someone who believes in me. Ken believed in me.

We’d run together and memorize Scripture together. Sometimes we need someone at our level who can encourage us when the journey gets tough. Ecclesiastes 4:12 reminds us, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Third: You need someone to MENTOR – someone behind you spiritually. This is where spiritual multiplication happens. First Thessalonians 2:8 shows Paul’s heart: “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

The nature of God is giving, and as we become more like Him, we give our lives away to others. We don’t just impart the Word of God – we impart our very lives. John captured this joy in 3 John 1:4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

This isn’t just about individual growth – it’s about reaching the world. When you mentor someone who mentors someone else, you’re participating in God’s plan for spiritual multiplication. Romans 1:16 reminds us that “the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”

As Jesus sends us out to evangelize, whether locally or to another country, we can trust that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation and that the Holy Spirit is sufficient to meet every need we encounter.

The goal is reproducible discipleship. When you help someone grow spiritually and learn to share their faith, and they do the same with someone else, you’re following Jesus’s exact strategy for reaching the world.

Here are the life-changing questions: Who is mentoring you? Who are you walking alongside for mutual encouragement? Who are you mentoring?

If you can’t answer all three questions, you’re missing part of God’s design for your spiritual growth and evangelistic effectiveness.

Don’t wait for perfect timing or perfect knowledge. I drove four hours at midnight because I was desperate to learn. That desperation led to a mentoring relationship that shaped my entire ministry.

Find someone ahead of you spiritually and ask them to mentor you. Find someone at your level for mutual encouragement. Find someone behind you and begin investing in their life.

Remember: one of the greatest joys you’ll ever experience in your Christian life is helping someone else grow, get on track, and begin walking with God. Stop trying to reach the world alone. Start mentoring disciples who will mentor disciples who will mentor disciples.

That’s Jesus’s method, and it still works today.