Growing Up, Revised and Updated: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples

Table of Contents

Titlepage

Copyright Page

Other Titles

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Difference that Made the Difference

Chapter 2: The Great Confusion

Chapter 3: The D-Group: A Blueprint

Chapter 4: No Pain, No Gain: Spiritual Exercise

Chapter 5: C.L.O.S.E.R. | COMMUNICATE: Knocking on Heaven’s Door

Chapter 6: C.L.O.S.E.R. | LEARN: Mining for Gold

Chapter 7: C.L.O.S.E.R. | OBEY: Follow the Leader

Chapter 8: C.L.O.S.E.R. | STORE: An Eternal Investment Strategy

Chapter 9: C.L.O.S.E.R. | EVANGELIZE: Show and Tell

Chapter 10: C.L.O.S.E.R. | RENEW: H.E.A.R.ing from God

Afterword: Where Do We Go From Here?

Appendix 1: Disciple-Making Covenant

Appendix 2: Spiritual Journey Inventory

Appendix 3: Sample H.E.A.R. Entry

Appendix 4: Sample Bible Reading Plan

Appendix 5: Prayer Log

Appendix 6: Sample Scripture Memory Card

Appendix 7: Accountability Questions

Appendix 8: Avenues for Building Relationships

Appendix 9: Commonly Asked Discipleship Questions

Appendix 10: Suggested Resources for D-Groups

Appendix 11: How to Pray For Lost Friends

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Notes

About the Author

Copyright © 2022 by Robby Gallety

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

9781087768236

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 248.84

Subject Heading: DISCIPLESHIP / DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING / CHRISTIAN LIFE

Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are taken from the English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked niv are taken from the New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

All royalties from the book will go toward making disciples of all nations.

Cover design by B&H Publishing Group. Icons by Aleksei_Derin/vectorstock. Author photo by Jo McVey Photography LLC.

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Book 1

Growing Up

Psalm 1:1–2

How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.

Book 2

Firmly Planted

Psalm 1:3a

He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams . . .

Book 3

Bearing Fruit

Psalm 1:3b

. . . that bears its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

To Chris Swain

No one I know lived out the principles in this series more than you. You lived every day with the end in mind. Your investment in pastors, believers, friends, and family will reverberate for years to come.

Foreword

So what do you do when a 6’6" 290-pound thieving drug-dealing pill addict trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is standing next to you on a Sunday morning in a church gathering? My thought is that you become that guy’s friend as soon as possible! So one Sunday, years ago, I had the God-ordained, God-orchestrated privilege of meeting Robby Gallaty.

Simply put, the Lord’s hand on this brother was evident from the moment I met him. Robby had just become a follower of Christ, and his zeal for Christ was not just clear; it was contagious. Before long, I had the privilege of baptizing him, which is quite a story in and of itself (just imagine this 6’6" 290-pound man slipping on his way down into the baptistery and falling straight toward you, causing water to splash over onto the choir like a wave pool out of control). Every week, Robby and I would meet for Chinese food over lunch. We would walk together through God’s Word and pray together for one another. I can still remember sitting over General Tso’s chicken watching Robby write down every single truth I shared with him on the napkins at Mr. Wang’s. Then he would take that truth and not only apply it in his life, but also teach it in others’ lives. I visibly watched this brother soak in the gospel as he spread the gospel on a weekly basis. From the start, Robby Gallaty was growing as a disciple of Jesus while simultaneously giving his life to making disciples of Jesus.

After all, this is the essence of what Christianity is all about, right? In Jesus’s initial call to four men standing by the Sea of Galilee, we see that the inevitable overflow of being a disciple of Jesus is making disciples of Jesus. Follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men (Matt. 4:19). This was a promise: Jesus would take his disciples and turn them into disciple-makers. And this was a command: he would call each of his disciples at the end of Matthew to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey him (Matt. 28:19–20). From the start, God’s simple design has been for every single disciple of Jesus to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples until the gospel spreads to all peoples on the planet.

Yet we have subtly and tragically taken this costly command of Christ to go, baptize, and teach all nations and mutated it into a comfortable call for Christians to come, be baptized, and listen in one location. If you were to ask individual Christians today what it means either to be a disciple or to make disciples, you would likely get jumbled thoughts, ambiguous answers, and probably even some blank stares. In all our activity as Christians and with all our resources in the church, we are practically ignoring the commission of Christ. Evangelism is relegated to a dreaded topic, discipleship is reduced to a canned program, and the majority of the church is currently sitting sidelined in a spectator mentality that delegates disciple-making to pastors and professionals, ministers and missionaries.

But this is not the way it’s supposed to be. Jesus has invited all of us to be a part of his plan. He has designed each of his people to know all of his joy as we share all of his love, spread all of his Word, and multiply all of his life among all of the peoples of the earth. So how do we do this? How do we as disciples practically, daily, passionately, and plainly make disciples?

The significance of that question leads to my sheer enthusiasm over the book you hold in your hands. Here you will find a biblical, practical, reproducible, and simple starting point for growing as a disciple of Jesus and giving your life to making disciples of Jesus. This is not mere theory you are holding onto right now. This is tried and true practice. I know it is because I’ve seen it in action. I’ve walked personally with Robby Gallaty through the practices that are found in this book. Words cannot express how grateful I am for the time that he and I shared reading and studying the Word with one another, praying and weeping for the world on our knees next to each other, and sharing life alongside one another as we spread the gospel together in New Orleans. Since that time, Robby has gone on to pastor two disciple-making churches, including Brainerd Baptist Church, where he now shepherds a people who don’t just talk about disciple-making; they do it.

And so I want to encourage you as clearly as I possibly can. Please don’t read this book. Instead, do it. If you only read what you find here, you will remain mired in a stagnant, stale, self-consumed Christianity that misses the whole purpose for which you have been saved. Christian, you have been created and called by God to grow as a disciple and to give your life to making disciples. And this cause, more than any other, is worth giving your life to. It’s worth it for billions of people who do not yet know the joy of following Jesus. And it’s worth it for you and me, because we were made to be disciples who make disciples who make disciples until the day when we see the face of the One we follow, and together with all nations we exalt his supremacy and experience his satisfaction for all of eternity. My prayer is that this resource from my friend and brother might be used in the hand of God to hasten the coming of that day.

Dr. David Platt

pastor, McLean Bible Church

author of Radical and Follow Me

Introduction

The gospel came to you because it was heading to someone else. God never intended for your salvation to be an end, but a beginning. God saved you to be a conduit through whom His glorious, life-changing gospel would flow to others. You are a link in the chain of 2 Timothy 2:2, which says, What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Let me begin this book by saying thank you. By picking up this resource, you are communicating a number of things. You want to grow in your relationship with God. You take Jesus’s command in Matthew 28:19 to make disciples seriously. You have a burden to leave an eternal legacy by investing in the lives of others. Perhaps you yearn for someone to invest in you. Regardless of the reasons, you are beginning a journey toward a deeper relationship with Christ.

Growing Up is a resource that has the potential to change your life. How can I say this?

This book is built on solid biblical principles. God’s Word, which He promised would never return void, imparts faith and produces a life change.

These principles have been tried and tested over the past decade in various discipleship groups (D-Groups).

My life has been impacted immensely through discipling relationships. I share my story of how God radically saved me from a life of drugs and alcohol in chapter 1.

One Warning

This book should not be read and then abandoned on a shelf. As a manual for making disciples, it is a resource you will use for years to come. Underline in it, write in the margins, interact with it, and meditate on it. You are not learning this information for only yourself, although you will definitely benefit from it. You are learning it for all the people you will disciple in the future, those who will receive the gospel because it flowed to them through you.

As you read, please take notes. Did you know that you forget 40 percent of what you hear within twenty minutes, and you retain only about 20 percent within one week?¹ If you don’t write something down, you will forget it. How else will you pass on what you have learned, unless you record it? Where would we be if the apostles hadn’t written down the Word of God for us to read today?

One Qualification

Every time I speak on discipleship, I am asked afterward, Where do I begin? or, How do I get started? After answering these questions hundreds of times, I decided to create a road map for others to follow. As you read through this book, you will find that I purposely spent only a little time expounding philosophy, theory, and the necessity for making disciples. That’s because men and women far more experienced than I have already written extensively on this subject. (These resources are mentioned throughout the book.)

Numerous books define discipleship, outline objectives for making disciples, and provide biblical evidence from both the Old and New Testaments. Many are invaluable resources. However, after reading these books, I was often left wondering, Now what? I have a sneaking suspicion that I am not the only one asking that question. I’ve come to realize that when people don’t know what to do, they don’t do anything.

Prayerfully, this resource will aid in putting feet to your faith through mapping out a plan for investing in others. It is purposefully practical, easy to use, and simple to follow.

The DNA of Discipleship

From time to time, people ask me, What was the difference that made the difference at Brainerd Baptist Church? The answer is easy: discipleship.

When I arrived as senior pastor at Brainerd in 2008, only a handful of people were meeting in intentional D-Groups, or a group of three to five people who meet weekly for the express purpose of becoming disciples who make disciples.

Beginning with my pastoral staff, I redesigned the weekly three-hour business/staff meeting into a D-Group, focusing on Scripture reading and memorization (we memorized the entire book of 2 Timothy in 2009) and extended prayer times. The atmosphere changed overnight.

After a year of meeting, I challenged the staff to identify two or three people to meet with in a D-Group (men with men, and women with women). During my second year at Brainerd, we estimated that one hundred people were meeting in D-Groups. In 2014, we expect to have more than one thousand people meeting in D-Groups throughout our fellowship. Keep in mind, the individuals meeting are in addition to small-group Bible study and Sunday school attendance. Sunday school classes and small groups are the seedbeds for building D-Group relationships.

Our church’s mission statement, Deliver, Disciple, and Deploy, was formative in shaping the DNA of our congregation. People in a church will always celebrate what the pastor celebrates. If the pastor celebrates bodies, bucks, or buildings, the people will perceive those as most important, and they will become the measure of success. However, when the pastor highlights restoring relationships, transforming lives, and maturing believers within the D-Groups, people will soon desire to participate in a group. When I started celebrating what God was doing in D-Groups, our people quickly followed.

How to Use the Material

If you are serious about being a disciple of Jesus Christ—really, truly serious—you will become a part of a D-Group. Again, Jesus Himself established this model for us. He formed and personally led the first D-Group—and it worked. The men who emerged from that group took the gospel to the world, and ultimately, they laid down their lives for Christ.

A D-Group creates an atmosphere for fellowship, encouragement, and accountability, and it is an environment where God can work. A healthy D-Group has three purposes: to help you grow in your relationship with Christ, give a defense for your faith, and guide others in their relationship with Christ.

You may be thinking, How do I get in a D-Group? Where can I find one? Ask your pastor or another church leader about the availability of groups in your church. If your church doesn’t have such groups, find a mature Christian who is willing to lead the group and two or three other believers who want to grow in their walk with the Lord, and start a group. Who knows? God may want to use you to begin this movement in your church. If you want to know where to start, feel free to check out some resources we have created at replicate.org/dgroup>http://replicate.org/dgroup>replicate.org/dgroup.

As you mature in your faith, those in the group can eventually start and lead other groups. This book will equip you to do just that.

Book Outline

To get the most out of this resource, review each chapter in your D-Group. Watch for three pairs of synonymous terms that will be used interchangeably:

disciple-making and discipleship

mentor and discipler

mentee and disciple

Growing Up is divided into two sections. The first three chapters build a case for the necessity of making disciples. Chapter 4 deals with training yourself to become godly. The remaining six chapters, if incorporated into your life, will aid in developing a CLOSER walk with Christ. This walk will help you . . .

communicate with God through prayer

learn to understand and apply God’s Word to your life

obey God’s commands

store God’s Word in your heart

evangelize (share Christ with others)

renew yourself spiritually every day

Regularly practicing even one of these disciplines will increase your spiritual fervor. The more of them you cultivate in your life, the closer you will grow to the Lord, and the more you will become like Christ. If you practice all of them, you will see exponential growth in your life. Whether you are a new believer or have been in church your entire life, these practices will produce tangible results in godliness and fruitfulness—if you are disciplined enough to stick