Creating A Movement Through Discipleship In Your Student Ministry

Throughout my years in student ministry I always felt frustrated with the lack of commitment from most students. I would preach on scriptures over and over calling for students to commit their lives and follow Christ, create cool worship services and use the newest programs, but it always seemed to have little impact. What I soon realized was that while I was calling for commitment I had not instigated the process. I could preach week after week but as long as the ministry had no set practices that created expectations and behaviors among the students nothing was going to change. There needed to be a system. A system based on discipleship that would craft a movement among the students. As student ministers if we are going to take students and help them transform into sold-out followers of Christ we need to become serious and intentional in our discipleship process. Not a discipleship process built on programs but a system. Programs without a healthy set of principles will fail. But if a healthy system is in place, a movement will ensue. A movement of students committed to Christ reaching out and making an impact on our world. I have narrowed my practices for discipleship in the following three points.
 

1. Surrender
In Luke 14: 26-28, 33, Jesus tells his disciples that in order to follow him they must count the cost, totally surrender their lives, and take up their cross. Jesus created the behavior, set the requirements, and laid the expectations for following Him. These scriptures are true for us today. In our ministries, every student needs to understand these basic principles for following Christ. While this may not be “cool,” if students are not presented with the expectations of the Gospel on their lives then the movement is halted from the beginning.

2. Growth
Within your system of discipleship there must be opportunities beyond a Wednesday night worship service that allows every student the opportunity to grow in their faith. Hebrews 6:1-3 states, “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.” (NLT) Your student ministry must reflect to every student that they are expected to grow in maturity. The best way I have found in doing this is creating groups of two or three with the intention of maturity. These groups meet once a week or whenever for a period of one year. Each member is required to study the Bible, pray, and to serve without exception. And the other members of the group keep them accountable. Every student that wants to get involved with the student ministry must join one of these groups. You can do growth any way you want, but it must be intentional and must produce growth. It may start with just you and a couple of students, but as we will see in the next point, this can lead to great things.

3. Bearing Fruit
The term bearing fruit is based on John 15:8, “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples.” (NLT) Going with that verse, I present four steps in which students can bear fruit.

• Evangelism-students reaching out to other students.
• Ministry-students serving according to their spiritual gifts.
• Investment-students become leaders by investing and helping other students become disciples. As the youth minister you cannot invest in every student like you want to, but you can create a system in which students are investing in the lives of their peers.
• Sending Out-student leaders are sending out those students they have invested by becoming leaders and making more disciples.

Each student ministry must create a system of expectations. You must make a set of practices (as the ones above) and form a system in which every student understands that these practices are expected of me. You can have evangelism programs, ministry opportunities, small groups, etc, and still have an unhealthy discipleship system. What are the expectations of your students? Are your students going and making other disciples? Our goal is to create a movement, a movement of multiplication and lasting effects. It may start with you and only a couple of students, but if you activate the system a great movement of students reaching and discipling other students will begin. Let it begin!