Creating an Effective Discipleship Environment Pt.2

Discipleship that mirrors what Jesus did with his disciples, and produces the same hope, maturity and multiplication, is an “all of life” experience. It looks very different than what most Christians have seen or participated in.

This week on the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we’ll give you Part 2 of our talk on the 10 necessary aspects you’ll want to focus on in creating the right discipleship environment.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

  • The difference between discipleship classes and holistic life-on-life experiences.
  • Why words and knowledge alone are not enough; Modeling the life of Jesus is key.
  • 6 of the 10 necessary aspects of a healthy discipleship environment (like Jesus had).
  • Why ‘one-size-fits-all’ discipleship NEVER works!

Get started here…

Friends having a fun time together and sharing a meal with discipleship happening normally.

From this episode:

“Teach those you disciple to expect multiplication to happen. As disciples teach others to obey all of Jesus’ commands, that includes his command to make more disciples. Part of being a disciple of Jesus is making disciples of Jesus.”

Each week the Big 3 will give you immediate action steps to get you started.
Download today’s BIG 3 right now. Read and think over them again later. You might even want to share them with others…

Thanks for Listening!

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Also, please subscribe and leave an honest review for The Everyday Disciple Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

 

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Coaching with Caesar and Tina in discipleship and missional living.

Free Discipleship and Missional Resources

 

Join us on Facebook

Transcript
Caesar Kalinowski:

Discipleship needs to involve caring for the whole life of a person.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, like, every area of a person's life needs the gospel, not just the spiritual areas.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So when you think discipleship, think holistic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Don't just think, well, they gotta learn how to pray and read their Bible.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They'll figure it out from there.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, then why didn't Jesus do it that way?

Caesar Kalinowski:

You're going to have to look at and, and create the environment and the activities and the experiences for all of it to be looked at.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Their time, their job, how they view it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Is it their savior?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Is it their provision?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Their money, their relationships, their body image, sexuality, it must all be shaped.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, seriously, most people aren't just going out and robbing banks, you know what I mean?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Or sticking stuff in their purses and stealing junk, you know, it's really, really like, you know, it's, it's mostly going to be heart and character stuff.

Heath Hollensbe:

Welcome to the Everyday Disciple Podcast, where you'll learn how to live with greater intentionality and an integrated faith that naturally fits into every area of life.

Heath Hollensbe:

In other words, discipleship as a lifestyle.

Heath Hollensbe:

This is the stuff your parents, pastors, and seminary professors probably forgot to tell you.

Heath Hollensbe:

And now, here's your host, Caesar Kalinowski.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hey Heath, hope you're well brother.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm gonna kind of just take over for just a second if that's okay, because I'm excited about something.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I have to just tell everybody, my new book, Slow Burn, Relaxing into Theology, is out today.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, you've probably heard me mentioning it, maybe you've seen me post it on Facebook or I might have sent you an email, but yeah, it's live today, you can get it at Amazon, you can go to missiopublishing.

Caesar Kalinowski:

com and get it, and I am very, very excited about it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, here's why.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It seems that almost no one these days takes the necessary time to slow down and invest in building meaningful relationships.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But here's the thing, developing mature disciples of Jesus requires time and trust to be built within a relationship.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, if making disciples could be accomplished in just a handful of hour long sessions, you know, that's how I was discipled, well then, Jesus would have done it that way.

Caesar Kalinowski:

He would have just skipped the long walks and the shared meals.

Caesar Kalinowski:

and the time spent around fires on a beach and talking about his father in the kingdom and all that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See an essential part of disciple making involves assisting one another in cultivating a practical and useful theology that's applicable in everyday life and that's what we try to do and I think we have done in Slow Burn.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You get a proven process to discuss theology Topically, using this simple set of questions that we use in our Cigars in Theology that'll help you guide the discussion and discovery.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now you don't have to be smoking cigars and you don't have to do it the way we do it exactly, but you're going to get 12 guided conversations and the big overview of exactly how to do this, where you can discuss any topic, we're going to give you 12, but you can discuss any topic using these four questions, this whole proven process.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I really think you're going to love it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Please jump on this.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Get this right away.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Amazon's got it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You can get it in either a paperback or you can get the Kindle.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just go to everydaydisciple.

Caesar Kalinowski:

com forward slash slow to get slow burn.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I hope you will.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then I hope you'll grab some friends and you'll circle up.

Caesar Kalinowski:

and you'll get started.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Awesome.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now let's get back to our regularly scheduled stuff.

Heath Hollensbe:

So today we're actually following up, for those who maybe missed last week's episode, this episode is the part two of what we did last week.

Heath Hollensbe:

So if you haven't.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Talking about like, what does the environment for discipleship need to be and really look like, and what are the qualities of it, and what did Jesus do and show us and teach us?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And so, yeah, this comes from a talk that I gave a few years back.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yep.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And like I shared this last week, I was, I was doing this live to quite a few people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So I'm, I'm kind of amped up and I'm getting after it, you know what I mean?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And, um, but, uh, it it's good stuff and I've given this talk a lot cause it's kind of baseline.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So even if you feel like you've heard parts of this or whatever before, dig in, okay, dig in with us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And, um, again, I'm gonna invite you to compare and contrast.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Compare and contrast these qualities of Jesus discipleship environment, um, to maybe the way you were discipled or that you're making disciples and, and ask the Spirit to guide you in like, how might we do it more like Jesus did it if we want the same results that he has?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, exactly.

Heath Hollensbe:

So again, if you haven't heard 218, which was last week's episode, go back, pause this right now, start there.

Heath Hollensbe:

You'll be glad

Caesar Kalinowski:

you did.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, because it all kind of hooks together, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

All right.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So let's listen in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Next one.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Discipleship environment is going to have to be holistic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We've already talked a lot this morning or this afternoon about this head, heart, hands.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Boy, if you take nothing away, that's as old as Methuselah.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Take that away.

Caesar Kalinowski:

When you think discipleship, even when you think preaching, think head, heart, hands.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Holistic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, it's obvious from teaching experiences Jesus had with his disciples that he was committed to developing them holistically.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It wasn't just tons and tons and tons of head knowledge.

Caesar Kalinowski:

He was concerned with helping them bring their whole lives under the will of his Father, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Their whole lives as an act of worship.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Discipleship needs to involve caring for the whole life of a person.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, Like every area of a person's life needs the gospel, not just the spiritual areas.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So when you think discipleship, think holistic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Don't just think, well, they can learn how to pray and read their Bible.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They'll figure it out from there.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, then why didn't Jesus do it that way?

Caesar Kalinowski:

No, they're gonna have to, it's, it's, you're gonna, you're gonna have to look at and, and create the environment and the activities and the experiences for all of it to be looked at.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Their time, their job, how they view it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Is it their Savior?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Is it their provision?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Their money, their relationships, their body image, sexuality.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It must all be shaped.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, seriously, most people aren't just going out and robbing banks.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You know what I mean?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Or sticking stuff in their purses and stealing, you know, it's really, really like, you know, it's, it's mostly going to be heart and character stuff that you're going to be going after.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You gotta think holistic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here's a big one.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Frequent and long term.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Oh, let me give you the question for the last one.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm sorry, under holistic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

What kind of care needs to be given to help each person in your missional community, you know, in your church, your missional community, apply the gospel to their whole life, not just their spiritual life?

Caesar Kalinowski:

What kind of care needs to give, be given to help each person in your church or missional community apply the gospel to their whole lives?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Rather than just the spiritual quote unquote parts of their lives.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, frequent and long term.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's the next one.

Caesar Kalinowski:

This is crazy Just pragmatically.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, let's do a little math.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Jesus took Approximately how long to invest into the twelve disciples?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Three years.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Three years Okay, and we're still sitting around talking about it today because whatever he did worked Send him with a spirit, with a pattern, with some stuff.

Caesar Kalinowski:

He invested three years, okay?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Discipleship's not fast.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's not a class.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's not a series of classes.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's life on life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's frequent.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's long term.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It takes a lot of time and commitment and sacrifice.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And a discipler must be with his or her disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

or community frequently enough, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

That they're actually providing care and a watchful eye, over all those areas of a person's life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So when people ask and they ask, and I've heard it already probably a half dozen times today.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, what about people who are driving in from all over town to be in community groups together?

Caesar Kalinowski:

How are they going to do frequent longterm care if they have to drive in to do it?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Not going to.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How are we going to do it?

Caesar Kalinowski:

How are we going to actually make disciples of people?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Let's just say that a classroom situation would get her done.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Let's say it would.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It won't.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Won't even come close, but let's say it did.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I did a little bit of math.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If Jesus hung out with his disciples, In the manner he did to, with one goal, make them disciples of his, teaching him to obey his stuff, walking the ways of his father.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Three years, let's say Jesus was really good about getting eight hours of sleep a night.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So he had 16 hours a day with his disciples, for three years.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's like 17, 400 and something hours.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, maybe he took a vacation or two in there, down to the, See, golly, I don't know.

Caesar Kalinowski:

17 something thousand hours, life on life with those guys.

Caesar Kalinowski:

What, in our churches, usually, if we're freaking killing it, like, I mean, knocking it out of the park, in that same, you know, same person we're trying to disciple, we might do an hour a week, and then if we were really rockstar like disciplers, we would also do one Saturday for two hours a month, if we could talk people into giving up that much time.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I did the math on it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It would take 55 years at that rate to get to the same level of what Jesus did in three.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And we wonder why people don't seem to live like the book of Acts or live out their life like Christ.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We're not discipling anybody.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Let's just face it, we're not.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Until we start living life in gospel communities on mission that are, there's a frequency and a long term commitment from like, boom, we just met you through, yeah, you're leading amazingly, get the, spirit is strong in this one.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's got to be our commitment to our cities, to our neighborhoods, to our folks.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Not just a bunch of classes and curriculums and tweaked programs so that they get their doctrine straight or they know how to study the word.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's all important.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's just a sliver of it, though.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's just a small thing and proof's in the pudding.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, if even if you think, geez, Caesar, you're crazy.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How's it been working for us, America?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Are we winning?

Caesar Kalinowski:

We're freaking Europe in a handbag fast here.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's like one percent over.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm in Eastern Europe all the time.

Caesar Kalinowski:

On average, they're at one percent.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's where we're heading.

Caesar Kalinowski:

This doesn't, if we, if we don't start trusting the Spirit and believe in what Jesus said.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So frequent in long term, it's gonna have to happen.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Takes a lot of time.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So here's the question.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Is it possible to truly make someone, or truly disciple someone?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Is it possible to truly disciple someone within discipling relationships?

Caesar Kalinowski:

How much time do you think it would really take to walk with a group of people to where they're bringing every aspect of their life under the Lordship of Christ?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Because when the world sees that, that's when Christ lifted up, that's when the world will come.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Next one, the discipleship environment is going to have to be experiential.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, I think that's kind of obvious at this point.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's gonna have to be experiential.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Most of the time Jesus spent with his disciples was sort of experiential learning environment.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We know of sometimes when he just sat and talked to them.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We know of no times to my recollection where he was in a classroom formally handing out like stuff.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Crazy thought.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Jesus never owned a copy of the Bible nor did the disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's weird.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They certainly never had a New Testament, but from what I know historically, there was so few copies of Torah and, you know, the writings of the prophets that they were kept like in temple or synagogue.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So these guys didn't, it was, it was primarily experiential.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They were living together, traveling together, eating meals together.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They were out ministering to the needs of all kinds of stuff, blind people, lame people, broken people, deaf people, dead people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Very little of their time together seems to be in what we would consider formal discipleship.

Caesar Kalinowski:

People learn much more when they actually do something and hear it, than versus just hearing it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I think we all know that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And for this reason, we need to help people experience the life of God.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, this is what's going on when you're, when your neighbors and your friends are starting to hang out with you in missional community.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So your missional community is not the believers from your church.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Your missional community is the community you're on mission with and to and for and among.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So my neighbors are beginning to walk in the ways of Christ with us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

When we're thankful and generous and offer forgiveness to one another and our neighbors are in tow.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, they're, they're beginning to walk in the ways of the King.

Caesar Kalinowski:

His kingdom.

Caesar Kalinowski:

When they're serving people who basically are in this mess because they made themselves in this mess, they're participating in a gospel reality.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We got ourselves in a big mess and Jesus came and shouldered the sin for us.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So when they're out with us shouldering that sin, experiencing that life, they're saying, so that's what it looks like to be a disciple.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I see.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what a follower of Jesus does with their money.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They treat it like it's not their own.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I see that's what a believer, that's what someone who believes in Jesus and his life, death, and the resurrection, that's what they do with their time.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I kind of hoard my time.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I read books called Boundaries and stuff.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what they're doing.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So it needs to be experiential.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Recently, oh, this is such a cool analogy, one of our newer MC leaders, he said to me, He kind of wrote up this little thing, little analogy, he goes, How many of you fell in love with your spouse?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Let's say, probably most of us are married in the room.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How many of you would fall in love with your spouse if here's how it had to have gone?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Someone tells you about, Hey, have you met Sarah?

Caesar Kalinowski:

No.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, let me tell you all about her.

Caesar Kalinowski:

She's got hair, set of teeth, two arms, two legs, bunch of toes, fingers.

Caesar Kalinowski:

She's really nice.

Caesar Kalinowski:

She helps people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Are you in love with her yet?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Lemme tell you some more stuff about her.

Caesar Kalinowski:

She's 30, she's kind of pretty you in love with her yet see no people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You fall in love because you spend time with someone and you see how they are, and that's how people fall in love with Jesus.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's how people fall in love with the Father, is they spend time with Christ.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Who's the, the body, who's the picture of the Father, and they go.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That is beautiful.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That is amazing.

Caesar Kalinowski:

The way y'all live, I don't know why or I don't understand it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I don't know if I even agree with it all.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's beautiful.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If that's what your God is like, I'm starting to get a better picture.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what's going on.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So here's the question, how can your church or how can your missional community live and experience more of life together in a given week or month?

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm not talking about in the box.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm talking about in life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Even if you have to intentionalize it at first until it becomes a normal rhythm, that's okay.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's how we learn anything.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Repetition.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Brush your teeth this way, you cut this way, you saw something this way, it's how you pound a nail.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Intentionalize it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what our covenants do at first for us in our missional communities.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here's how we're going to live as family.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here's how we're going to be missionaries to who.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here's how we're going to serve one another.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Here's how we're going to serve the people we're sent to.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's sort of like training wheels until we figure it out.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Until it just sort of becomes a part of our normal rhythm.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Right now, my rhythm in life, most of our rhythms in life are about me, mostly, me, me, me, me, my, me.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And discipleship is part of learning to re rhythm that and bring people to walk in that new rhythm of God's plan.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So how can your people, how can your folks, your missional community spend more time together?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Discipleship environment too is going to have to be individually tailored.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You have to be individually tailored.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, though, Jesus did spend time with the twelve and sometimes even bigger groups of people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We see at times he got along with three, or a few, or one.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just like you raise your kids.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, in discipleship, one size does not fit all.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Because, because brother, you and I did not have the same upbringing.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But, ours was a little similar.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But, my folks did, Get Divorced and You're Stayed Married.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And, and, you know, all the variables of age and stage in life and experience and personality and birth order and everything and schooling and not, and church experience or not, or doctrinal errors or not, or Discipleship is going to be fairly customized and therefore messy.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, there is a deposit Paul talks about, the kerygma, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then how to live it out, the dedicate.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There is a deposit that sort of gets deposited to everybody and then that's sort of like, and then you work that out in all of life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And you're going to, you're going to have to customize this stuff.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And like I mentioned earlier, like we do this MRI even, we've gotten so serious about this that I want to be able to look across like all these sort of strata of life issues.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And I want to see if a person's knowing it, believing it, and believing it with their hands, living it out.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And so that we work on that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's going to have to be very dynamic and, and sort of a living, breathing thing.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And not everybody's going to need the exact same stuff at the exact same time.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, can you imagine that?

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, how do you possibly take your kids and some retired woman in your community through the exact same curriculum for their whole life or for the next nine weeks or 12 weeks?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Really?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Really?

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's the same?

Caesar Kalinowski:

They're dealing with the same idols?

Caesar Kalinowski:

It couldn't be.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's going to have to be.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's going to have to be sort of.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Customized and tailored and so as leaders and as missional community leaders You're kind of helping bring an eye to that as we're doing life together on mission making disciples being disciples It's kind of happening already in the everyday flow of life as we just live it What specific areas are we needing to bring the gospel to bear on?

Caesar Kalinowski:

What areas are we light in our knowledge?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Where do we still need to grow in our doctoral understanding?

Caesar Kalinowski:

What, what classes might we need to take together, or a few of us, or what book might, like, some of us need to be going through?

Caesar Kalinowski:

When we did the MRI in our community, I, we saw a consistent theme.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There was a real lightness to the understanding and submission to the work of the Spirit in people's lives.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So we agreed, like, that's an area together we're gonna learn this year.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But there was stuff that was unique to his and hers and his and hers and then so look, how's that?

Caesar Kalinowski:

How are they gonna grow in those areas?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And in some cases it's nothing more than just being aware of it so that when I see it coming up I know to bring an idol, uh, bring gospel to that idol or someone else in the community does or you bear with one another.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You work out the one another's a little differently because you're aware of where they're at in their discipleship.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So the question there is how can you make sure that you're giving regular and personal care to each member of your group based on their needs and personality and growth?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now see, that sounds impossible if you're a large church, but not if you're a missional community of like 8 people.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's totally doable.

Caesar Kalinowski:

In fact, that has become for us sort of the temperature gauge of what size is a healthy community.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Oh, there's no exact number.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If that can't occur, if there's not people and leadership that can know where everybody's at in their growth curve, it's too big.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Then we're not accomplishing the mission.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We've slipped into something else.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It might be cool.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It might be good stuff.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It might be doctrinally accurate and dead on.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It might not be discipleship anymore.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Next one.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's gonna need to be modeled.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Leaders, you're going to have to live this.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's going to have to be modeled.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We see that in Jesus life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

He was a consistent example of love.

Caesar Kalinowski:

He was a consistent example of submission to his father.

Caesar Kalinowski:

He was a consistent example of a prayerful man, dependent on the father, saying what the father said, doing what he saw his father do.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They watched his life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They had access to his life, not just his public life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There wasn't just a few people who had access to his life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

People had access to his life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

His disciples had almost non stop access to his life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

A few times we know, he took off.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, disciples are gonna need to see what sort of their life should look like and be expected, not just at church, or not just at Missional Community Night on Wednesday, which is a total wrong understanding of Missional Community.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They need to see what it looks like as a parent.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They need to see you fight and forgive.

Caesar Kalinowski:

As elders in our community, we practice an open door policy.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You can always stop by my house.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Anytime you don't need an invitation.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You can, you get to.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If I'm eating, you can eat.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There, there was for a season there, we had to have one night a week where we said this one meal out of 21 is for my biological kids and my bride and I, and y'all don't get to come to that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You can come after it, you can come before it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You can come to breakfast and lunch that day.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You can come every other day.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That one meal is going to be family dinner night for this part of my family.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I get to.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, there's, here's, here's the other side of it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

People say like, well, how could you possibly be in ministry if you had an open door?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Wouldn't people just be over constantly, non stop?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yes, and no.

Caesar Kalinowski:

People in my missional community are free to come and go, but I don't have people from 16 other missional communities or 80 other missional communities just showing up frequently because they've got a community who's meeting their needs.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They've got an elder that's in their world.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They've got a missional community leader.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And so when someone stops by, they not only know they have the freedom to come and observe my life, which see models to them and openness of my faith and my walk, but they also get to come and see, well, what does it look like to be a busy guy, involved in ministry full time, and love his wife and now adult kids.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They get to see what that looks like.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But I also have the freedom to say, Hey,

Caesar Kalinowski:

Knock, knock.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hey, come on in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

What's going on?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, I just thought I'd stop by, see what you guys are up to tonight.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, um, Tina and I were just watching a little romantic comedy, got a little wine out here.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just kind of hoping for a happy ending, if you know what I mean.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, uh, I'm going to say not tonight's a good night to hang out, but maybe tomorrow we could get together.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All right.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, see, see what gets modeled and all that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You know what I mean?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now, if they're like, like my, my child just got hit by a car or something, well, then you, you know, you put the bottle away and you, You know what I mean?

Caesar Kalinowski:

But you get to have a life, and that's all part of that modeling.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You live openly, but you also live with the freedom to say, no, it's not super.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Jeff and Janie, um, they just actually live in the same neighborhood as I do.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They have a big, huge front picture window, and their whole thing is, if the curtains are open, you can come on in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

If they're closed, It's our time and they're mostly open but it's weird because I'll drive by sometimes really like 11 12 at night And I'll see the curtains are open and I'll just stop by to test them Did you guys just forget to close the curtains?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Are you still up for hanging?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Come on in and Jeff Jeff doesn't even knock.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean he really practices what he preaches He just will book right into your house and zoom, you know, open up your fridge take out stuff get it I what are you doing?

Caesar Kalinowski:

I needed some wine for dinner and I'm out All right.

Caesar Kalinowski:

He says, why, is it your wine or is it God's?

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm just, all right, just checking.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, really.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, it's true.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm not even, I'm not making this stuff up.

Caesar Kalinowski:

This is how people go like, you just let him do that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's like, well, he's right.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, that's, it's not my stuff, you know.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How else will young disciples, believers, not yet believers, how will they know what it looks like to be godly husbands, godly parents, godly leaders, tired people who trust the spirit?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Parents who discipline in anger and ask their kids to forgive them.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How are they going to learn this stuff if they don't see it?

Caesar Kalinowski:

I mean, that was not in the nine week discipleship course I got taken through.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's going to have to be modeled.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's going to have to be modeled.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So here's the question.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How can you model as much of a Christ like lifestyle as possible for those you're discipling?

Caesar Kalinowski:

How can you model as much of a Christ like lifestyle as possible for those you're discipling?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Now for many of you, I know you'd go like, I can't, I can't do it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

My wife would never have that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's a gospel issue.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Whose life is it?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Whose house is it?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Whose family is it?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Whose kids are these?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Let me just, let me just jack with your head for a second on this.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You know, when people talk about, well, yeah, well, you have to protect your family from ministry.

Caesar Kalinowski:

No, you have to protect your family from overworked stuff done in the flesh that's not ministry, that's burning the crud out of you called church.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, you should.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You should.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You should repent of that stuff and quit that tomorrow.

Caesar Kalinowski:

What are we called as, as, as parents or as, let's, I'll speak to the men real quick.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Dudes, what are you called to protect first and foremost in your family?

Caesar Kalinowski:

The image of the gospel that they display.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You were only given a wife and kids to be a picture of the gospel to your, to the world.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what you protect.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Not their phobias, not their laziness, not their fear, not their idols of how many nights they should be able to sit around alone and not have anybody in their world.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You protect the image of the gospel, and the gospel is sacrificial and generous and gives itself away.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what we're called to protect, and at times that will require us to be alone and not have others around.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But it's not going to be six nights out of seven.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's not on a rigid schedule like, boop, this pet peeve.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, well, we'd really like to go out and be, you know, serving and helping that way tonight.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But the kids, you know, I think the kids are, one of them's getting like a cold.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They're getting a sniffle.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm like, are you kidding me?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Dude, we were just at the ballgame last week and all your kids are running around with candlesticks hanging around their nose.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It seemed fine then.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Or like, well, it's their bedtime.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We're not gonna be able to do that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's their bedtime.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Last week when we were doing this party, it seemed fine for them to stay up till 1030 and they were in everybody's hair and weren't that disciplined.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But now it's time to serve.

Caesar Kalinowski:

See, it's really all gospel issue.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We're called first and foremost to protect and promote and beautify the picture of the gospel in our families.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what we're called.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So that means opening up our homes because it's it's we're giving them as a display.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And the last one is expectation of multiplication.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Build in a natural boom.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just healthy things grow, folks, just so you know.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Healthy things grow.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Biologically, the reason we age is It's because our cells slow down in dividing and eventually stop dividing, and then we start losing cells, and then that thing wears out or falls off, or needs glasses, or thins away, or, you know.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's, healthy things grow.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Build into your missional communities, build into your disciple making an expectation of multiplication.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Part of being a disciple is you make disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's not an optional thing, like, well, I might.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Then you're not a disciple.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How will you know a disciple?

Caesar Kalinowski:

They're making disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How will you know a mature disciple?

Caesar Kalinowski:

They're helping others know how to make disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

They're not a mature disciple if they're not helping others make disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Build that in from the beginning so when your missional communities are multiplying, it's the most normal thing to do.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And both celebrate that multiplication and grieve that change.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Cause y'all been loving each other and having a blast on this gospel journey together.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And now by God's grace, you've grown cause healthy things always, always grow.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And now you're going to be two groups.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We're still going to see each other, but maybe not as often.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We grieve the change, but we celebrate growth.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just like with our kids.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's a sick parent that says to the kids, like, I've done such a fine job of raising you.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I hope you'll stay home and never get married and have babies.

Caesar Kalinowski:

But, but I'm telling you my, my 21 year old moves next month, first time out of the house.

Caesar Kalinowski:

She's the last one out.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm excited for her.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's gonna be really good for her.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Her mom and I will shed a tear.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's coming.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I just choke up thinking about it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I'm gonna grieve the change that I won't have a constantly dirty room.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I will, I will, I will grieve the change that my sweetie pie is no longer in the house every day, but I celebrate she's growing up and she's getting a life and she's working and she loves God and people and it's the right stuff, you know?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So expectation of multiplication should be built in.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So here's the final question then.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How can you give the vision to those you're discipling to become disciplers of others in the very near future?

Caesar Kalinowski:

And we're always in discipleship mode.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So even those new disciples, they're in discipleship mode.

Caesar Kalinowski:

How could you help them own that?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So they get real intentional about that.

Heath Hollensbe:

All right, man, more fire as usual.

Heath Hollensbe:

You were, I don't know what was going on, but you had some power there.

Heath Hollensbe:

Yeah.

Heath Hollensbe:

And some convicting things, man.

Heath Hollensbe:

One of the things that really stuck with me was there towards the end when you were talking about how this isn't something that we just do like when we serve people once a year, but.

Heath Hollensbe:

If disciples aren't being made and we're getting frustrated, maybe we look at the frequency at what we're gathering and how we're actually doing life together.

Heath Hollensbe:

Oh yeah.

Heath Hollensbe:

Because I've been in a lot of churches where it's like, well, they just need another class.

Heath Hollensbe:

And like you said, like, doctrine isn't going to be the thing that actually pushes you to make disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Oh, if it's one more class or killer sermon that we all needed and then the church would be like, powerful and relevant and making disciples and changing the world.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And we've been made there a long time ago.

Caesar Kalinowski:

There's some great preaching online these days.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, exactly.

Caesar Kalinowski:

The interwebs has changed, you know, so no, it's discipleship happens.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, in all those ways we talked about today, we hit up like it's holistic.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's kind of scary and creepy for people, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Like, I don't want to talk about that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hippie language, um, frequent, long term love that.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Experiential, like you got to taste, touch, feel this stuff.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Individually tailored.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's not one size fits all.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Modeled.

Caesar Kalinowski:

People need to see it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So that means they're going to have to be in your life.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And some people are like, no, no, my life's separate.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I do my ministry.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Anyway.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then expectation of multiplication.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That was a good one too.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That's what we covered.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And wow.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Those are all just in the phrases alone.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's convicting.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Hey, so.

Heath Hollensbe:

Yeah, man.

Heath Hollensbe:

Well, let's get to the big three for this week, which is, uh, if you're new listener, the big three takeaways that we don't want you to forget.

Heath Hollensbe:

We don't want you to lose it.

Heath Hollensbe:

If you leave with nothing else.

Heath Hollensbe:

Don't miss these points.

Heath Hollensbe:

And you get them as a free download, what Caesar's about to mention here, by going to everydaydisciple.

Heath Hollensbe:

com forward slash big three, and we'll get those notes to you right away.

Heath Hollensbe:

Caesar, what are the big three for this week?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Okay, if nothing else, don't miss this from today's, uh, the talk we just had.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Just listen to, um, Discipleship Needs to Involve caring for the whole life of a person.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Every area of person's life needs the gospel, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

We talk about our discipleships, the process of moving from unbelief to belief.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Um, not just the spiritual areas like Bible study and prayer, et cetera.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Um, a person's time, money, job, relationships, their body, all of that must all be shaped from a gospel perspective.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We get to discipleships, not fast.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It takes a lot of time, commitment and sacrifice.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And a disciple maker must be with his or her disciples frequently.

Caesar Kalinowski:

and must care for them over the long term.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Agreed, man.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, absolutely.

Caesar Kalinowski:

All right, number two.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Number two, people learn much more when they do something than when they just hear about it, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

So for this reason, we need to help people experience life lived in line with the gospel.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We need to live closely with them outside of church gatherings.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We can't just see people once in a while.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We have to engage in life, in relationships, in ministry together, and each person must be viewed individually.

Caesar Kalinowski:

in the same way that parents, you know, all of our kids, you're like, well, they came from the same two of us, but they're so different.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So is discipleship.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And you need to, you need to view the development of each of your children, quote unquote, disciples individually.

Caesar Kalinowski:

You have to absolutely.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And then third, third of the big three, uh, teach your disciples to expect multiplication to happen.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Sometimes I'll say, you know, like raise your kids to move out as disciples teach.

Caesar Kalinowski:

others to obey all of Jesus commands.

Caesar Kalinowski:

That includes his command to make more disciples.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So part of being a disciple of Jesus is making disciples of Jesus, right?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Duh.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So this goal of multiplication with disciple, becoming disciple maker, should be the stated and expected goal.

Caesar Kalinowski:

like goal from the beginning.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It shouldn't be surprising to people like, Oh, I know you love this, but you're, you're going, you know, you're moving out someday.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So though every person's not necessarily a gifted leader, every person is spiritually gifted by the Spirit and called to be a disciple maker.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's part of our, it's just part of our identity.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And as, and, and they get to be an important part of, of a gospel centered community on mission, which what's the mission?

Caesar Kalinowski:

Making

Heath Hollensbe:

disciples.

Heath Hollensbe:

Yeah, man, big three for this week.

Heath Hollensbe:

jam packed.

Heath Hollensbe:

We give them to you, again, for free as a download by going to everydaydisciple.

Heath Hollensbe:

com forward slash big3.

Heath Hollensbe:

You'll get those notes right away.

Heath Hollensbe:

Hey, if you haven't yet given us a review or stars on iTunes, please do.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I know you gotta get out whatever you're doing now and you gotta click a button with your thumb.

Caesar Kalinowski:

It's heavy lifting.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Yeah, and then you gotta click a couple other buttons, but I'm gonna guess it takes less time than us recording this, so like pay it forward by paying us back, by at least giving us a review, I really appreciate it, and we love them, and guess what, we read most of them online, uh, I mean, yeah, you'll read them on the show, yeah, yeah, so you're gonna You're going to hear your name and your little review.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Well, that's about it for today.

Caesar Kalinowski:

So, hey, don't forget to check out Slow Burn Relaxing into Theology.

Caesar Kalinowski:

I know you're going to want it.

Caesar Kalinowski:

Go to everydaydisciple.

Caesar Kalinowski:

com forward slash slow, pick yourself up a copy right away.

Caesar Kalinowski:

And hopefully we'll see you next week.

Caesar Kalinowski:

We're going to continue to dive deep into discipleship as a lifestyle, and I hope you'll join us for that.

Heath Hollensbe:

Thanks for joining us today.

Heath Hollensbe:

For more information on this show and to get loads of free discipleship resources, visit EverydayDisciple.

Heath Hollensbe:

com.

Heath Hollensbe:

And remember, you really can live with the spiritual freedom and relational peace that Jesus promised every day.