By Victoria Ostrosky
While in the military, Lee Barr and his wife Barbara lived overseas for a time, and while there, they met Brian Howard and his wife. Brian invited Lee to church. After a year of friendship and attending church together, Lee and Barbara both gave their lives to Jesus. “Not only did Brian lead us to the Lord, he discipled us.” They attended weekly Bible studies together where they learned more about how to live as Believers. “Brian’s walk was louder than his talk.”
So, when Lee and Barbara moved to Destin after he retired from the military, even though he had experienced the importance of discipling, it took about a year of being invited to a small group before he agreed to attend. Now, Lee loves his small group. “Discipling Christians is so needful and important. If we don’t disciple the body of Christ correctly, we end up with division. We owe Jesus more than just leading people to Him.”
What does disciple mean? Didn’t Jesus have, like, twelve of them or something? The basic definition of the word means a pupil or student who follows the teachings of someone.
Among Christians, we tend to use that word a little differently. When we talk about ‘discipling’ someone, we mean instructing them or doing life with them in order to help them more fully internalize truth and live out their walk with Christ, leading them deeper into their faith. Which in turn makes them more fruitful, so they can tell others of the Good News of the Gospel. The practical application is the rise of small groups, devotionals, and social media.
In Acts 18:25, there’s an excellent example of first century discipling. Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria, who knew only the baptism of John, but he was preaching away. Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and “explained the way of God more fully.” They didn’t tell him to stop, they gave him information he didn’t have and that propelled him forward, making him more effective at reaching the lost.
When you think about it, the bulk of Paul’s letters are meant to instruct, not just the leaders of the churches, but all the saints. His words teach us about how we should live and how we should interact with both believers and unbelievers. In First Corinthians chapter 12, Paul talks about the importance of each member in the body of Christ.
Here’s a quick, true story about the spiritual impact of small groups: Stephanie’s year was starting out with difficulty. Her husband was back in prison, and she was working 4 jobs in order to pay the bills. She was exhausted, feeling defeated, and more than a little hesitant to attend church in case someone asked her where her husband was. It was too painful to get into. Her sister-in-law, who was a fairly new Christian, invited her to a women’s small group at church. She expressed her skepticism about going and whether it would be a waste of her time, especially since she was so busy. Her mom encouraged her to go. “I think it will be good for you to be in a small group of women who can share and learn together.”
God used that small group of precious sisters to change Stephanie’s life. She hums Christian songs all day now and wakes up in the morning with a song in her heart, where she used to wake up to thoughts of defeat. Her walk with Jesus is flourishing. When the body of Christ does life together, encouraging each other to grow in their faith, the Spirit of God is present and working.
Lee and Barbara try to serve others as much as they can. They lead small groups and are part of small groups. The impact of coming alongside and helping a fellow believer isn’t quantifiable. “You don’t know the impact the Kingdom of God will be on the person you discipled. You don’t know the impact of your decision to disciple that one person.”
You can hear Lee’s entire story and listen to many other incredible interviews on the weekly Road to Redemption radio show and podcast at www.rtrdestiny.com
Author: Sowal Editor
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