The apostle Paul knew the adventure of men discipling men. Wherever his missionary journeys took him, he always had traveling companions, men like Barnabas, Silas, and Luke. No doubt they encouraged and spurred him on in the faith. All the while he intentionally built up men in the Lord who would do the same with others.
Timothy’s another example. On a ministry trip to Lystra, Paul met this promising young man, invited him to join in the adventure, and invested in him along the way. Timothy became “my true son in the faith,” a man he eventually trusted as pastor of the church in Ephesus (Acts 16:1–3; 1 Timothy 1:2,3).
Near the end of his life, Paul charged his young protégé to continue the adventure with others: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).
Recently, I had an opportunity to show what this looks like today. At a men’s event, Petr shared how he’d discipled a man named Victor from his church. Victor then spoke of how this led him to look for a man, and he called up Igor. Wouldn’t you know it? Igor talked about how he’s now building into teens’ lives.
“Why join the adventure?” I asked. Petr, Victor and Igor responded as if one man: “God commands us to make disciples!”