A man asked, “I have faith … but how do I become a true godly man? How do I become a true disciple of Christ? I want to burn with desire for Him and lead others to Him.”
Isn’t that the meat of the coconut? A clear, simple statement of the Christian mission is “becoming and making disciples.”
Personally, I have never known a man whose life has changed in any significant way apart from 1) the regular study of God’s word on his own and 2) active participation in a small group.
So build the “becoming a disciple” part of the mission around three practical goals: attend a weekly worship service, join a small group, and read the Bible for yourself (e.g., four or more times a week). Obviously there are other spiritual disciplines too, but these three are simple, easy to grasp, and if you do these three you will likely find yourself doing the others.
And from the beginning, a big part of “becoming a disciple” is to get equipped for service and “to make other disciples.” So part of the mission is to find training opportunities to make disciples (e.g., how to lead a small group), and for the other service and ministry opportunities in your church.
Think of it as a progressive process that you ease into over the next couple of years. For anyone who has faith but yearns to be “all in” you have to start somewhere, so start here. And no matter how wise and mature you become, that true man of God will never stop doing these things.
Patrick Morley is founder and CEO of Man in the Mirror. After building one of Florida’s 100 largest privately held companies, in 1991, he founded Man in the Mirror, a nonprofit organization to help men find meaning and purpose in life. Dr. Morley is the best-selling author of The Man in the Mirror, No Man Left Behind, Dad in the Mirror, and A Man’s Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines.
