There always seemed to be a lot going on at church and I was usually somewhere near the centre of the action. But, after many years in various leadership roles there, I began to question what I was achieving. In his book Making Disciples Jesus’ Way, John McGinley writes of his own experience, ‘the way we “do” church does not produce disciples, it just produces Christians who go to church’. This isn’t everyone’s story, but I realise now that it had become mine. I wasn’t being fruitful in terms of making disciples who could make disciples. I found myself in a hamster wheel of busyness.

Eventually, God very clearly led me to leave Edinburgh, where I had lived for many years, and move to a totally new situation. Job 42:12 says, ‘The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.’ Taking this verse with me, I asked God to bless the latter part of my life with a greater involvement in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

The proving ground

Over the next few years, after taking time to settle into a new church, I made a conscious effort to get alongside a few people with the aim of helping them in their discipleship journey. I did not know exactly what to do and made many mistakes along the way, but all the time God was helping and equipping me. I did not realise it until much later, but He was using this time like a proving ground.

Proving grounds are typically used by car manufacturers as places where prototypes can be put to the test, often under harsh conditions, with a view to exposing and rectifying weaknesses. In an alongsider context, it is where one can take the opportunity to begin making disciples, and to learn from it – from what goes well and what doesn’t go so well.

My approach varied depending on where I felt the people were at spiritually. One young man showed great enthusiasm to follow Jesus but had relatively little Bible knowledge. We met regularly, working through the Design for Discipleship studies. It was a joy to watch him mature in his faith.

There were several men in the church who had been Christians for many years, but who had plateaued in their walk with the Lord. They had become stuck in their own hamster wheels. Recognising this, I invited them to join me in doing The Ways of the Alongsider, a Navigator Bible study book aimed at helping equip people as disciples in God’s Kingdom. The great thing about this particular book is that it begins by inspiring a deepening of one’s own walk with God. It was beautiful to see God revive a passion for him in their lives, whilst at the same time helping them engage more effectively with others.

At times it felt like ‘the blind leading the blind’, as I was on a steep learning curve myself ... but I was glad to be giving it a go!

Disciple making on my doorstep

There came a point, after both my wife and I had retired, where it seemed only sensible to move house to be nearer to one of our daughters and her family. We pictured an idyllic retirement, living in a lovely cottage in the beautiful Cheshire countryside … but God had other ideas! We ended up in a house on the outskirts of Bolton.

We had not been in our new home long when we phoned a company to service our central heating system. The plumber that came turned out to be another Christian who had plateaued in his spiritual life. God was at work and amazingly this complete stranger, standing on my doorstep, asked if I would mentor him. And so began a most exciting journey, which is still unfolding four years later.

Along the way two men from our church in Bolton asked if I would help them too. So, now we were four.

In parallel, God was at work in the hearts of our church leadership, giving them a desire to see disciple making become a core element of church life. As a result, this year eight people, including a pastor, have formed ‘The Disciple Makers’, a team of mature disciples, keen to learn how to become alongsiders. And what is really exciting is that several of them have already started discipling others. There is much to praise God for!

Wherever any of us live and whatever our leadership responsibilities, God has bigger plans for us than simply being busy. Jesus seemed always to be busy, yet he remained focused on his goal of making disciples who make disciples. In his prayer to his Father at his last supper with his disciples, he was able to say, ‘I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do’ (John 17:4).

God wants to clear space in our lives, so that he can bless us and use us more than we’ve experienced before. He is inviting each of us deeper into his movement of making disciples who make disciples, right where we are.