Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples

Last fall I discovered Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples, written by Robby Gallaty. Gallaty reminds local church pastors and Sunday school teachers of the essential goal of our ministries, the goal established by our Lord, before his ascension. We preach and teach ultimately to make disciples, who make disciples.I have been teaching Christian education courses at a Christian university and seminary for 8 years, after serving as a missionary in France for 12 years. Throughout this time, I did not conscientiously correlate Christian education with discipleship. Gallaty has reminded me, with his book Growing Up, that the mandate for Christian education is to make disciple-making disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). I, therefore, have chosen Gallaty’s book for a seminary Christian Education course, “Teaching for Discipleship,” that I am teaching this spring. As Christian educators and pastors, the end of our ministries is not to teach and preach. The end of our ministries must be to make disciples, who make disciples.As teachers and preachers, Gallaty challenges us in Growing Up to recognize that our roles as teachers and preachers must vacillate between being an authority and being a guide and a facilitator in a classroom or Bible study. He also challenges us to remember that our teaching methodologies must be adapted in order to avoid rendering our learners as passive disciples and to see them as active participants in the teaching-learning process. In fact, they need to share in the teaching responsibility while being discipled.Gallaty argues that discipleship best occurs in “D-Groups,” small (3-5 people), closed, and gender-specific groups for the purpose of discipleship and not evangelism. The members in these groups experience intimate accountability and receive a model that is easy to replicate, when they make disciples. Multiplication, the goal of discipleship, occurs more easily.Gallaty provides the necessary steps for disciple making. He walks the reader through the process of teaching Christians how to pray, to interpret God’s Word, to follow Christ as Lord, to meditate on Scripture, to witness to the unsaved, to develop the discipline of Bible study, and to disciple other Christians in these disciplines.As a local church pastor, Gallaty practices what he preaches. He does not limit himself to the exposition of God’s Word through Sunday sermons. He follows his Master, who also discipled people in smaller groups. Gallaty’s goal is not to increase the number of Sunday morning sermon listeners. His goal is to replicate himself in the lives of other disciple-makers, who go out from the local church to make other disciple-making disciples.If this is your goal as a Christian educator or local church pastor, you will not regret purchasing Growing Up to learn how to serve Christ in obedience to his Great Commission. Everything that we are doing as teachers and preachers of God’s word--sermons, Bible studies, and discipleship groups--is done in obedience to Christ’s final command to make disciples, who make disciples.

This book is well.organized and easy to read. There is so much good information, I'm sure I will be re-reading it. The information is Biblical and not just an opinion, with Scripture references provided.

"Growing Up" is a difference maker to both the experienced Disciple of Christ who wants to disciples other sand the new follower of Christ that desires to become a Disciple. The book is not Dr. Gallaty's thoughts but rather models the Great Commission mandate "to go and make disciples."God has chosen us to complete his mission. He gives the increase but we are his ambassadors. I do not understand why he would choose us but his choice is clear and his command is even clearer. We must make disciples. Dr. Gallaty defines the task and plots a course that is crystal clear in all respects."Growing Up" lays out the plan in a way that I have never seen done before. It is brilliant, refreshing, and doable. I have read the book twice and starting a third time. It is deeply challenging and I have learned much from reading it and using my Bible.Let me quickly give honor and glory to God for how he has worked in Dr. Gallaty's life. He is not a person that is simply writing from theory. He is a product of discipleship. It is what he is when you talk to him. He lives, teaches, models, and disciples others. He is the real thing and gives all credit and glory to his Lord. I deeply respect the man and his passion for seeing the Great Commission fulfilled to make disciples of all peoples.I look forward to using the material in my next D-group. I think you will find it practical, useful, Biblical, and very useable for your disciple groups too.

Growing up is all about becoming. Becoming a disciple, and then becoming the disciple who makes disciples. You know, like Jesus said "make disciples." The instruction was not just to show up early and teach a Sunday school class, although that might be part of it. Jesus told the Apostles that they should go and do what they had seen him doing over the prior 3 years. Using a precise definition: intentionally equipping believers with the Word of God through accountable relationships empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to replicate faithful followers of Christ" Gallaty sets out to help us understand that process.There's a lot more to being a Disciple, than saying a little prayer and showing up on Sunday. But too many of us get so caught up in the business of day to day life, that we forget the basics of making disciples. Gallaty reminds us of some of those things, and provides a process that can be followed.It seems counter-intuitive to think that there is a process that works in a wide variety of cases: we're so used to hearing that this is "just a model, it won't work for everyone", but a big part of what disciple making is all about is the idea that the person you help to become a disciple-making disciple can take the process you use and replicate it.He even offers an acronym For the process: C.L.O.S.E.R. for Communicate, Learn, Obey, Store, Evangelize, and Renew: H.E.A.R.ing from God.Every member of the Christ's Church should be all about making disciples. This book might just help many of us get there.

Pastor Robby has shared what God has been refining in his life over these many years and now at two different churches. Chapters are succinct and extremely practical. They involve the why and the how by using enough illustrations to keep engaged the heart in the mind. Highly recommend.

One of the greatest book on discipleship that I have ever read in my life, i have been so blessed reading this excellent piece of work

Must read, I wish I read this when I first became a believer. Generations will benefit from this book. Will definitely implement from this point forward.

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