Everyday Disciple-Making
by Jalen Gardner
“All disciples of Jesus are called to make other disciples of Jesus. We rely on the Holy Spirit to evangelize and serve, to model Christ-like behavior, and to teach and equip others in their journey of faith in Jesus. This intentional practice is ongoing, requiring commitment and relationship-building. By following Jesus’s example, disciples make disciples by spending time with them and investing in their spiritual growth. We teach and encourage others to spend time with Jesus, to reflect His character, and to then partner with Him in His mission to bring the Gospel to the world.”
For as long as I can remember, I have attended church. Greater Mt. Zion Community Baptist Church is the church I called home for many years. At Greater Mt. Zion, I was introduced to hymns, charismatic preaching, and community, and it is where I was baptized. I have an abundance of warm memories within the walls of this church. While I was bathed in sound doctrine and emphatic soliloquies, discipleship was something that escaped me. I do not think it was a lack of desire, but a lack of intention that led to this. As I entered middle school, God saw fit for me to cross paths with Lance Bernard. It would be through this relationship that I would learn what it looked like to make disciples.
If you met Lance, you would think that he was a personable, humorous, and sometimes forgetful man. You could meet him once, talk for hours, and the next time you met, he would almost certainly ask for your name again. But one thing I have never seen Lance forget is how to live out the gospel. When I wasn’t in school or playing football, I would spend countless hours at the church. When I reflect on this time, it must have been incredibly annoying to have someone come to your office almost every day just wanting to talk. Luckily for me, Lance did not take this stance (at least I wasn’t aware of it). Instead, Lance began to disciple me without me realizing it. Rather than push me away, Lance invited me to more.
Lance would invite me to regional Baptist meetings with other youth pastors as they discussed ministry and plans. He would allow me to sit in on staff meetings during the summer as the church staff evaluated the health of the church and prayed faithfully for the flock. During the summer, I would take trips to LifeWay to pick up books and Bible study guides, and I would even get a chance to speak into what I thought the youth should study next. Lance noticed my interest and fed into it, almost never taking a trip to LifeWay without checking to see if I wanted to go. Those trips always felt like a special time.
If you know me, you know I love to ask questions. My curiosity often spurs me to seek information, and if you were to ask my wife, Clara, about this, she would inform you that I can never just ask a question and let it be. I must search for an answer or find a solution. Naturally, much of my time with Lance consisted of me asking more questions than I should have, but instead of being annoyed, he equipped me. Before I ever stepped foot onto a college campus, Lance taught me how to study the Bible and interpret it properly. He empowered me to search for answers myself by giving me access to resources and different schools of thought so that I could navigate through them on my own.
Even when we weren’t attending ministry-related events or answering my questions, we would simply grab lunch. I have to admit that sometimes, during the summer, I would strategically find myself at the church right before lunchtime to see what Lance was up to. There was no way Lance didn’t pick up on what I and some of the other guys were doing, but again, he never complained. Often, when it was just the two of us, we would find ourselves at a Chinese buffet due to our mutual love of the cuisine and his wife’s distaste for it. As far as I could tell, I was benefiting from her not loving good food.
Speaking of his wife, Lance also invited me into his home. There, I got to see the type of man he really was—how he loved his wife and kids. I saw how he would turn into the goofiest man alive to make his daughters smile, while also knowing when to be stern when their actions needed to be corrected. I saw how he cared for his wife and was there for her when she didn’t have the best day, or needed help finishing dinner before we could eat. Before I realized it, Lance was showing me how to be a man who pursued God in every aspect of life. He wasn’t just pouring into me when it came to my theological growth but allowed me to see every aspect of his life so that I could get a glimpse of what it meant and looked like to follow Jesus in an authentic way.
Over the 15+ years I’ve known Lance, he has given me a picture of what the disciples must have experienced with Jesus—spending true time with him in the ebbs and flows of life. I have seen Lance at both high and low moments. I have seen him handle difficult situations well and have seen where his flaws have bled through. I have seen him own up to his mistakes and repent of sins while also showing extreme grace to those around him. While Lance is not a perfect man, he has shown me what it looks like to disciple someone. It takes intentionality, commitment, grace, and a love for Jesus. Making disciples requires a lot, but it doesn’t have to be hard or exhausting. If we allow people to see into our lives, we will be amazed at how the Lord can use our experiences and gifts to uplift others and bring them closer to the Father.
I am thankful for the role Lance has played in my life. I genuinely would not be the man I am today without the Lord placing me in his youth group so many years ago. Through the countless hours I have spent with him, it would be easy for me to say that I want to be more like Lance, but luckily, Lance always pointed me to Jesus, and that is who I strive to become more like.
Like Lance, we all have the opportunity to be everyday disciple-makers as we walk alongside the people God places in our lives, inviting them in, pointing them to Jesus, and spurring them on.