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When you're actively investing in others using the pursueGOD discipleship tools, keep three fundamental principles in mind as you help them go full circle in faith.

During the “investing” phase of a mentoring relationship, you’re helping someone else by choosing topics from the pursueGOD.org library relevant to their life and talking through them together. It’s not about lecturing someone or talking at them, but about discovering truth in the context of relationship – one topic at a time.

The Principle of Discovery

When we engage others in relationship and conversation, it’s often easier for them to see how a discussion topic is relevant to them. This is why it’s called the “discovery” principle. When we see things for ourselves, we tend to learn them better and apply them to our lives.

The principle of discovery says that truth is discovered. People can hear truth all day, but until they really discover or internalize it for themselves, it won’t be life-changing for them. Jesus asked a lot of questions to help people discover truth.

Questions are helpful for this because they provide structure for conversation. Instead of sitting around wondering what to say next, the questions for each pursueGOD.org topic will help facilitate these “aha” moments that are so helpful for empowering the phase: ownership.

[Related: Key Discoveries in a Pursuit of God]

The Principle of Ownership

This is all about taking ownership for your actions. As much as we understand God’s grace and goodness to us for our salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9) we also understand that God saved us so that we could do the work he’s called us to (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:12-13). And we are responsible to take ownership over the things God has entrusted to us (Matthew 25:14-30).

The principle of ownership says that as we apply discovered truth to our lives, we understand truth intimately. We develop a sense of accountability – “ownership” – for what we say we believe. Ownership is about helping people pursue God, not trying to make them do it.

Taking ownership is about participating and caring. As people grow in relationship and understanding of God’s truth, so, too, does their degree of ownership grow.

[Related: How to Make Your Faith Your Own]

The Principle of Empowerment

Ultimately, we are trying to empower people to not only be hearers but doers (James 1:22).

The principle of empowerment says that we are empowered to help reproduce truth in the lives of others. We are called to honor God and should never stop doing that. We are also called to make disciples, and we are not truly honoring God if we are not seeking to make disciples.

It’s about having a mentality of empowerment, and this mentality is what changes the culture of your family, ministry, or neighborhood. We can all help each other.

 

Article for this topic by Daniel Marting.
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Key Principles:

  1. Discovery: You can’t cram the truth down their throats; they must open their eyes through the process of conversation. 1 Corinthians 2:13-14
  2. Ownership: You can’t make someone pursue God; they must develop a sense of personal accountability to apply what they’re learning. James 1:22
  3. Empowerment: You aren’t done until you finish the job; the ultimate goal is to send them out to help the next person. 2 Timothy 2:2

Quote This:

1 Corinthians 2:13-14 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

See Also: Mentoring

Talk About It
  1. What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
  2. What are some topics you’d like to learn more about? What are some topics you think would be useful for people you could mentor? Why do these topics catch your interest?
  3. Have you ever felt “unprepared” or “unqualified” to help someone who really needed help? What happened?
  4. Read 1 Corinthians 2:13-14. What does it mean that “truth is discovered?” Give an example of how it looks practically.
  5. Read James 1:22. What are some things you’ve “taken ownership of” in your life? How did you come to this place of accountability?
  6. Read 2 Timothy 2:2. What do you think it looks like to live out the principle of empowerment? Explain.
  7. What do you think is the relationship between “consuming” and being on mission for God? Explain.
  8. Write a personal action step based on this conversation.

This is part of the Training 101 series.

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