July 2026
DISCIPLESHIP THROUGH LOVE
Dear Friend in Christ:
I pray you are having a wonderful July thus far. We appreciate you so much, especially during this season of personal and ministry challenges. In mid-June, I was finally cleared to come home to Mobile from UAB Hospital in Birmingham following my kidney transplant and subsequent heart attack. Thank God and all of you who prayed for us and supported the ongoing work of the ministry in this season.
I’m heading back to Birmingham (four-hour drive) in a few days for more checkups and couple of (hopefully) minor procedures. Praise God, my new kidney—courtesy of my hero donor Grant Simpson—continues to work splendidly. Neither the kidney nor the heart were damaged by the heart attack. I have a 99% blockage in one of my cardiac arteries, where a stent had been placed one year ago. However, I am too high of a risk to have that fixed right now; maybe in five months. But God is able; He’s never limited and He is at work even now.
For the past few monthly Pastoral Letters, I’ve been in a series on “Worship, Fellowship, Relationship,” and now this month, “Discipleship.” These blessings should all be present in the life of every believer. Most followers of Jesus have heard His Great Commission to each of us:
“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen”
(Matthew 28:16-20).
It’s astounding to me that Jesus entrusted this mission, not only to His most faithful followers, but even to those who STILL doubted Him; the fearful, the skeptics, the weak. Jesus SENT them out. If you feel unqualified or unworthy to live out Christ’s high calling on your life, please understand that in our WEAKNESS, His strength is made perfect. He’s not looking for your great learning, fancy clothes, poofy hair, great personality, or raw natural charisma. Jesus is simply looking for those who will say, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” It is He Who will qualify you on your journey.
Hey, you, reading this! The calling of Jesus is for you, so its time to get stepping. He will take you places far beyond what you could ask or imagine by His grace and power
A “disciple” (from the New Testament Greek word mathetes) is someone who follows a leader or teacher in order to learn more about Jesus from them. In Scripture, we see discipleship as a process, where we walk in life and real relationship with a godly, trustworthy, and wise mentor in community, study how the mentor follows Jesus, and listen to their teaching.
It’s a lot like the relationship between a master craftsman and an apprentice. First, the apprentice simply watches the craftsman work and listens to their instructions. Then, the craftsman begins to allow the apprentice to work alongside the craftsman and assist. As the apprentice learns, the craftsman gives more work responsibility to the apprentice but is right there to help the apprentice at any point. Finally, the craftsman gives full responsibility for the project to the apprentice and stands to the side and watches the apprentice work.
We are called to walk with Jesus as well as a mentor and spiritual community, declare the Gospel of Christ’s Kingdom, and to make disciples. However, before we can do that effectively, we need to receive and acknowledge Jesus’ Great Commandment. He gave us the Great Commandment in an answer to a religious lawyer:
“Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:35-40).
Discipling others is an act of love that results from Christ’s love for us. You cannot disciple anyone you don’t selflessly love with the love of Jesus first. Also, in order to MAKE disciples, you must first BE a disciple. Follow Jesus! And make sure that the person discipling you is following Jesus and has themselves been discipled by someone trustworthy, credible, and accountable.
Don’t go out and try to make disciples if you haven’t first learned Who Jesus is, what discipleship is, how to do it with wisdom, and why we do it. If someone wants to be your mentor in any area of life or faith, here are three fair questions to ask:
GENERATIONAL DISCIPLESHIP
The Apostle Paul wrote two letters to a young man named Timothy who Paul was discipling. In the second letter, Paul wrote:
“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:1-3).
First, we see four generations of spiritual family…
We see that the reason and the power for discipleship comes from the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We see that the goal of discipleship is to make disciples who can make disciples who can make disciples who will follow and serve Jesus Christ.
There are specific functional differences between pastoring and discipling. Pastoring is an ongoing care function, feeding, nurturing, leading, protecting, challenging, pruning, disciplining, vision casting, shepherding, and loving commitment in good times and in bad. A particular individual pastoral relationship may be for a season or it may be for a lifetime. But I believe every person needs a pastor … including (especially) pastors!
SCHOOL
Discipleship, on the other hand, is much more focused on a skill or task, and it’s often for a limited season. It’s like school … there is a time of teaching and equipping and then a time of graduation and release. You don’t want to stay in the tenth grade forever; hopefully, you learn, you mature, and then you are blessed and commissioned to move on.
Sometimes, both the Pastoral and the Discipling roles may overlap or they may be very specific and specialized. Not everyone may be called to be a pastor, but all of us as believers are called to make disciples.
Paul makes three comparisons to the discipling process:
The bottom line: discipleship is hard work; it requires love, vision, wisdom, discipline, dedication, commitment, intentional focus, collaboration, consistency, accountability, integrity, faithfulness, and selflessness. But the results of discipleship are multiplied fruit, reward, increase, and a crown of victory.
Where godly Christian shepherding and discipleship are absent, great peril and danger lurk. Paul continues to write Timothy, saying:
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:1-7).
That is as clear a picture of our Western Americanized society as we can get; it’s as if Paul had an advanced reel of 21st Century evening news and was reporting on our present culture. Particularly potent is his comment about those who are always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.
He says, “perilous times will come.” According to Strong’s Dictionary, the word “perilous” means:
“Perilous” (Greek – chalepos): Harsh, savage, difficult, dangerous,
painful, fierce, grievous, hard to deal with. The word describes a
society that is barren of virtue but abounding with vices.
Do we dare turn away our eyes and our hearts from the plight of this generation? Isaiah 5, which I quote often, describes a time when people would call evil “good” and call good “evil.” Welcome to 2026. Where are the people of God in this hour who understand the times, and know what we ought to do? If we spent more time obeying the Great Commandment and Great Commission, we could spend less time in failed culture wars.
Where are the people whose hearts are beating in time with God’s heart; whose passion is His passion? The people who refuse to be self-absorbed, self-pitying victims or apathetic spectators, but are ready to BE the redeemed of the Lord, get on with the mission, and love the world the way that Jesus does?
Would you consider standing with CSM in your prayers and giving this month as we continue in our mission: Restoring the Generational Bridge. I believe the hour is late and the call is urgent. I believe God is serious. We need allies today. Thank you so much for your friendship and care.
In Jesus,
Stephen Simpson
President
