Bible Lesson for Bible Teachers, Lesson #4You Can’t Infect People with A Disease You Don’t Have

1 Corinthians 11.1; Philippians 3.7; 2 Thessalonians 3.7; 1 Timothy 4.12Good Questions Have Groups Talking

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OPENWhat is your name and one thing you love about Christian living?

DIG1. Review. Last week we talked

about the qualities of a disciple from John 8.31, 13.34 – 35 and 15.7, 8. Refresh our memories. What do these verses teach us about what a disciple is?

Three other marks of discipleship which Jesus taught were a Christlike love for other Christians (John 13:34–35), an unswerving obedience to God’s word (John 8:31–32), and abundant fruitfulness in life and character (John 15:8). — Discipleship Journal, Issue 12 (November/December 1982) (NavPress, 1982).

2. Were you able to live out the “with him” principle this week? Did you have an opportunity to spend time with the people you teach? Who has a story?

A second aspect of discipleship that is modeled in both Jesus and Paul is that they had a life to life association with their disciples. In regard to Jesus, Mark writes, “He appointed twelve (whom he named apostles), so that they would be with him” (Mark 3:14). The purpose of the selection of the twelve was so that they might be “with Him.” The disciples were with Jesus for over three years, observing, listening, and doing. Paul did the same with his disciples. A good example is when Paul picked up Timothy to go with Paul on his missionary journey. Acts records, “And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him” (Acts 16:1-3). In another place, Paul tells the Corinthian church, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1).

Someone once remarked, “discipleship is more caught than taught.” https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-11-principles-and-practice-disciplemaking

3. Let me ask four of you to read one verse each: 1 Corinthians 11.1; Philippians 3.7; 2 Thessalonians 3.7; 1 Timothy 4.12. What do all these verses have in common?

PFre Carbasson brought up an orangutan, which became so fond of him that, wherever he went, it was always desirous of accompanying him. Whenever therefore he had to perform the service of his church, he was under the necessity of shutting it up in his room. Once, however, the animal escaped and followed its master to the church: where silently mounting the sounding board above the pulpit, he lay perfectly still till the sermon commenced. He then crept to the edge, and overlooking the preacher, imitated all his gestures in so grotesque a manner, that the whole congregation were unavoidably urged to laugh. The minister, surprised and confounded at this ill-timed levity, severely rebuked his audience for their inattention. The reproof failed in its effect; the congregation still laughed, and the preacher in the warmth of his zeal redoubled his vociferation and his action; these the ape imitated so exactly that the congregation could no longer restrain themselves, but burst out into a loud and continued laughter. A friend of the preacher at length stepped up to him, and pointed out the cause of this improper conduct; and such was the arch demeanor of the animal that it was with the utmost difficulty he could himself keep from laughing, while he ordered the servants of the church to take him away. A crude example for the Christian, but yes, there are those who watch our lives so closely that they often imitate our actions. We must be careful what we are doing as we are also required to imitate Christ with our lives. We should be as Paul when he wrote: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). — AMG Bible Illustrations, Bible Illustrations Series (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2000).

4. Philippians 4.9. Paul was one of the most effective teachers ever. What was one key to his effectiveness in teaching? What do we learn about being an effective Bible teacher from this verse?

Then for the next hour, Dawson took those five hundred people through the New Testament and showed them what Jesus, the disciples, and Paul had to say on this vital principle of Christian living: “Jesus didn’t say to His men here by the seaside of Galilee,’ Listen to me and I will make you fishers of men.’ Nor did He say to those hearty men,’ Read some of the books on the subject, and that will make you fishers of men.’ No, Jesus said to them,’ Follow me.’ And for the next three years they did just that. Seldom did Jesus teach with mere words, but He taught by demonstration, illustrations, and living out His own life before them. In The Navigators, we call this the ‘with Him’ principle. It is based on the whole context of the Gospels, but particularly on verses like Mark 3:14: ‘He ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach’ (emphasis added).”

As the Mount Hermon crowd was busy taking notes, Daws turned with them to the book of 1 Corinthians. He loved to pitch his spiritual tent on the fourth chapter, verses 14-16: “My beloved sons … though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers … I have

begotten you … be ye followers of me.” Then quickly he would turn to 11:1: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

His speaking tactics were often unorthodox, and this evening was no exception. Seeing that his audience was getting tired, Dawson decided to illustrate his point physically to wake them up. He went out into the audience, selected two young fellows, and got in line with them. “Right foot forward! Left foot forward!” Those three men, as close together as possible, marched across the front of the tabernacle building as one. At the middle, in front of the pulpit, he made them stop. “Let’s call the first one in line Jesus Christ. You are the leader and we are followers.

“You in the middle, your name is Paul. Just like the man who wrote the letter to Corinth and the little church there. My name will be Crispus. My home is Corinth. Lived there all my life. Paul came in and preached in Corinth, I listened to all that he had to say, and I became a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“I, Crispus, am walking in the footsteps of Paul. Paul, you walk as closely as you can to Jesus. Get in step with Him. If you are following in His footsteps and I am walking in your footsteps, then I am walking in the footsteps of my Lord.

“If we are all in step, and Paul is keeping low and out of sight, when I look at him, I don’t see Paul. He is so close to Jesus Christ, that all I see is Christ.

“That’s pacesetting. That is the biblical pattern. This is what Paul was also telling the church at Philippi: ‘Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you’ (Philippians 4:9).” — Robert Foster, The Navigator (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2014).

5. Imagine a teacher who taught on prayer, but never prayed. He taught on Scripture memory, but never memorized scripture. He taught on service, but never served. Why would this teacher be an ineffective teacher? Spell it out for us. State the obvious.

In 1 Thess. 2:8 the Apostle Paul wrote these caring words, "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." This was not hit-and-run witnessing; the Apostle Paul recognized the importance of investing his own life into people who responded eagerly to the call of Christ. Later, he advised Timothy to "set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity" (1 Tim. 4:12).

It is said that most important concepts are more easily "caught" than taught. Making disciples is not a "do as I say, not as I do" enterprise. As I have watched the three disciples I’m closest to—my three daughters—grow up, I have been humbled (and sometimes dismayed) to discover how readily they imitate my actions. Spiritual disciples also model themselves after their disciplers. They listen to our words, which experts say make up only 37 percent of all communication. They also pay attention to the way we say things and watch our body language, which together comprise the remaining 63 percent. — Discipleship Journal, Issue 53 (September/October 1989) (NavPress, 1989).

6. Why is it impossible to infect people with a disease you don’t have? Why is it impossible to make disciples without setting an example as a disciple?

Truth is best communicated when it is presented simultaneously by example and precept. It should be fairly evident that we will have a difficult time convincing someone to do something that we are not doing ourselves. This is the principle of pacesetting. As Paul said in Philippians 4:9, "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice."

Nevertheless, we need to communicate by precept also. As someone has said, "Lip without life is hypocrisy, but life without lip is mystery."

One-to-one discipling is both an art and a science. Some things the disciple needs to learn will have to be "caught rather than taught" while others must be taught. — Discipleship Journal, Issue 15 (May/June 1983) (NavPress, 1983).

7. Perhaps you have heard teachers say, “Don’t follow my example; follow the example of Jesus.” That sounds spiritual. What is wrong with this picture?

Being an example may seem like an awesome responsibility for one desiring to make disciples. It is. But without our example of commitment to Christ, flaws included, who will set the pace for new Christians? We can’t leave that job up to the pastors. They’re human, too, and besides, we rarely see them except behind the pulpit. Fledgling Christians need to learn from someone they can observe in the trenches of real life.

But we need not feel like the weight rests on our shoulders alone. We have not only the greatest resource of all, the Lord, but also other members of His Body, which leads to disciplemaking reason number four. — Discipleship Journal, Issue 53 (September/October 1989) (NavPress, 1989).

8. How is it possible that we—sinners—can set an example? Do any of you feel it would be better to tell people to just follow Christ?

Paul invested his life in Timothy and Titus, two young men he coached in ministry. He encouraged them to follow his lead and model the Christian life for people in their care (1 Tim. 4:12; Titus 2:7).

Yet if you scan the book of Acts, you will quickly see that Paul was no angel. He had his flaws and shortcomings. He was human, just like us. So how did Paul, and how can we, resolve the tension between the reality of our spiritual condition and the notion of calling others to follow our example?

By being real—by sharing what God is doing in our lives right now. The practice of modeling is not about being perfect. Even as Paul was encouraging the Christians at Philippi to follow his example, he confessed his weaknesses to them. “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal” (Phil. 3:12–13 MSG).

This is where good coaching begins. Authentically modeling the life to which God calls us. — Bill Donahue and Greg Bowman, Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders: A Comprehensive Guide for Developing Leaders of Groups and Teams (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012).

9. Who has set an example for you? Who has inspired you toward discipleship?

One of the men closest to Dawson throughout his entire adult life was Jim Downing. Observing Daws by living with him, ministering with him, and serving with him in The Navigators elicited this observation from Jim: “The indelible impression that I have of him was that he was a pacesetter. He knew what should be done, he did it, and he never asked anybody else to do anything that he had not done himself. This particular quality would make him a success no matter what he went into. His energy, his drive, his intelligence, and his zest for life … coupled with his intense desire to ‘lead the pack’… made him successful in the one great job he undertook.”

Dawson’s account of Vic McAnney, a sailor aboard the USS Astoria, illustrates the power of pacesetting in witnessing: “Vic was a sweet guy. Now you don’t use that term often in connection with a ‘man’s man,’ but once in a while you can do it in a complimentary way; and Vic was, indeed, a sweet Christian sailor. We often refer to him as a ‘first-class baker and a first-class Christian.’

“Since he was a boss in the kitchen aboard ship, Vic didn’t have to mix dough or wash the pots and pans. The Astoria was going across the equator one time, and it was hot … and down in the bake shop in the hold of that ship, it was really hot. Vic was down there putting pies in the oven and sipping iced tea. He remarked to one of his men, ‘Boy, if it wasn’t for this iced tea, I couldn’t keep going.’ This fellow knew Vic real well, and although he had not trusted Christ as his Savior yet, this man had sensed Christ’s reality in the seaman first-class, and said, ‘Mac, you’ve got something bigger than that iced tea to keep you going.’

“Often under the South Pacific stars, Vic would lead a Bible study on deck beneath one of the eightinch gun turrets. Before the Astoria sank off the Solomon Islands, Vic had led forty of her crew to Christ, and as with most men, they ‘would rather see a sermon than hear one any day.’”

These Christian military men tried to do their work aboard ship not just adequately but excellently. Through their workmanship, they demonstrated the power of Christ in their lives. — Robert Foster, The Navigator (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2014).

10. Say these words out loud: “follow me, as I follow the example of Christ.” Does that feel uncomfortable? Are you comfortable saying that to your group?

One reason that Dawson Trotman was so persuasive in both his personality and his preaching was that he practiced in his day-to-day life what he was proclaiming to others. He lived what he believed and taught. He called this principle “pacesetting.”

If You Don’t Have It, Don’t Preach It

Daws didn’t see many pacesetters in the church of those early days. Being an example to believers seemed to be a lost art. He used to insist that it was necessary to do something yourself in order to get somebody else to want to do it. People generally didn’t seem to think the victorious Christian life was possible because they didn’t see it in their leaders. Daws put his faith into action first and then taught others what he had learned. He memorized Scripture long before he attempted to get others to hide God’s Word in their hearts. He was himself sharing Christ with others before he started enlisting Navy men to be “ambassadors for Christ.”

“If you aren’t setting the pace, then you have no life to pass on except that which is your own weak and ineffective experience.” Daws had a favorite expression: “Don’t talk an inch beyond your experience. If you don’t have it, don’t preach it. If you’re not practicing it in your own life, don’t talk about it to others.” This basic principle of pacesetting in part explains the success of Daws’s ministry. — Robert Foster, The Navigator (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2014).

11. We can’t be perfect in everything. What are the most important things we need to do and model?

The core discipline of the Christian life is to spend time daily alone with God in a time of prayer and Bible reading. There are other disciplines, of course, but this is the main one.

Truthfully, I have no concept of what it means to live the Christian life without spending some time most every day alone with God in unhurried prayer, Bible reading, meditation, scripture memory, and worship. There may be a way to live the Christian life and not have this time, but I cannot imagine it.

If the students are to have a quiet time, the teacher must have a quiet time. Speed of the leader; speed of the team.

Most people need ongoing, life-long accountability to help them in this area. Most people have a very external frame of reference. We all tend to do what we see the people around us doing. It is a good idea to ask your group on a regular basis, “What have you learned in your personal time alone with God the last week or two? What is God teaching you these days?” I have been in groups where this is just about all we talked about and it was a really positive experience for all of us.

The daily quiet time is the most important discipline of the Christian life. If you don’t do anything else, other than helping your students have a daily time alone with God, you would have served them well. — Josh Hunt, 10 Marks of Incredible Small Group Leaders, 2005.

12. 1 Corinthians 4.16, 17. Look carefully. Why did Paul send Timothy?

The TV show 60 Minutes ran a segment that tells us something important about fatherlessness.

The park rangers at a South African wildlife preserve were concerned about the slaughter of 39 rare white rhinos in their park. It turned out that the rhinos were killed not by poachers but rather by juvenile delinquents—teen elephants.

The story began a decade ago when the park could no longer sustain the increasing population of elephants. They decided to kill many of the adult elephants whose young were old enough to survive without them. And so, the young elephants grew up fatherless.

As time went on, many of these young elephants roamed together in gangs and began to do things elephants normally don’t do. They threw sticks and water at rhinos and acted like neighborhood bullies. Without dominant males, the young bulls became sexually active, producing excessive testosterone and exhibiting aggressive behavior. A few young males grew especially violent, knocking down rhinos and stepping or kneeling on them, crushing the life out of them. Mafuto, the gang leader, eventually had to be killed.

The park rangers theorized that these young teen-aged elephants were acting badly because they lacked role models. The solution was to bring in a large male to lead them and to counteract their bully behaviors. Soon the new male established dominance and put the young bulls in their places. The killing stopped. The young males were mentored—and saved. — Citation: Ken Sowers, Mentor, Ohio; 60 Minutes (January 20, 1999) / PreachingToday.com, Perfect Illustrations: For Every Topic and Occasion (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2002), 180.

13. If Paul wanted the Corinthians to imitate him, why didn’t he go himself?

Separated from them by hundreds of miles, from Ephesus, Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” Are the Corinthians to do this based on memory? No, Paul will send Timothy. “For this reason”—because they need to imitate, but Paul could not come himself—“I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 4:16–17). Timothy had imitated Paul; now the Corinthians could imitate the apostle by watching Timothy. In fact, by imitating Paul, they imitated Christ. — Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Church: Leading a Body of Believers on the Journey of Faith, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2010), 187.

14. “Imitate me,” Paul says. What does it mean to imitate? What are we to imitate in others? What are we not to imitate?

The word translated “imitators” is a replacement word for disciple:

The term “imitator” is one link between the disciples of Jesus in the Gospels and the believers of the early church. Although the word disciple [mathetes] is curiously absent from the epistles,

Michaelis’ conclusion is representative of recent scholarship: The mathetes … and the mimetes are one and the same.

Imitator describes a fundamental part of discipling: learning from others and using them as guides. Author Michael Wilkins elaborates:

It is used in texts such as 1 Corinthians 4:16; Ephesians 5:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:14; and Hebrews 6:12; and summimetes (“fellow imitator,” Philippians 3:17) are always joined in the New Testament with the verb ginomai (“be, become”) and are thus similar in meaning to the simple verb mimeomai (2 Thessalonians 3:7, 9; Hebrews 13:7; 3 John 11).

The New Testament calls on believers to imitate other believers, Christ, and God. Human objects are those most numerously given for imitation. Human imitation ranges from simple comparison with the conduct of other believers (1 Thessalonians 2:14) to presentation of examples of conduct to imitate (Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 9; Hebrews 6:12; 13:7). Paul gives himself as an example for imitation (1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 9), but he does not hold himself up as the ideal of mature perfection.… Twice Paul calls for his readers to imitate himself, but at the same time he names Christ as the final object of their imitation (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:6).

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but never confuse impersonation with imitation. Witness the modern scourge called the Elvis impersonator. In that case, impersonation means trying to be Elvis, trying to replace him. It denies the impersonator’s personhood and distorts the one impersonated.

The church is not trying to make Christian clones who share the same haircuts, mannerisms, language, and clothing styles, as if they came off a Christian assembly line. Leaders need to allow for individuality and obvious differences. While impersonation tries to be someone else, imitation focuses on learning characteristics from someone else. Characteristics, not clothing, haircuts, and phraseology, need to be imitated and reproduced.

The difference between impersonation and imitation becomes apparent in Paul and Timothy’s relationship. You could hardly find two men more different in looks and personality. Paul was a driven man, while Timothy was timid. Paul spoke out directly and to the point, while Timothy danced around issues. Paul was a cosmopolitan scholar, while Timothy had received his education at home. While Paul thrived on conflict, Timothy got heartburn.

But though obvious differences existed, the two men had vital similarities: “Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:16–17).

“I want you to imitate me,” Paul writes. “And in order for you to have a model, I will send Timothy. Why do I send Timothy? He is just like me when it comes to the characteristics of walking with

Christ.” Paul demonstrated the Christlike characteristics, and Timothy imitated them. Because reproduction focuses on characteristics, not personality or appearance, Timothy could serve as a stand-in for Paul.

Later Paul wrote Timothy: “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings.… But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it” (2 Tim. 3:10, 14).

Imitation of characteristics is God’s plan for reproduction. — Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Church: Leading a Body of Believers on the Journey of Faith, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2010), 141–142.

15. Can you think of other stories in the Bible that illustrate the principle of pacesetting?

One day in the spring of 1954, during a flight from Southern California to the Bay Area for a conference at Mount Hermon, Dawson began discussing his evening message with me. The text was Proverbs 23:26: “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” He wanted me to think out loud with him about some examples in the Bible in which people learned by seeing, not just by hearing. We mentioned some of the military leaders like Moses, Joshua, and David, who led their men into battle. They set the pace by being out in front. Suddenly Daws said, “Hey, Bob, how about the farm boy, Gideon? Remember how he went into battle formation with a mere three hundred men against a mighty force that was camped in the valley ‘like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude’ (Judges 7:12)?”

Daws got his Bible out of his little brown carrying case and opened it to Judges 7:17-18. As if he were reading it for the first time, he shared with me: “[Gideon] said unto [his men], Look on me, and do likewise... it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet … then blow ye the trumpets also” (emphasis added). I have never seen anyone more excited about anything than Daws was by that passage. He was so charged up that if that plane we were on had landed in Bakersfield, he probably would have flown on up to Santa Cruz on his own. “As I do, so shall ye do.”

The idea that gripped Dawson’s mind that Friday was this: A son will observe and imitate his father’s ways. Solomon said it, Gideon said it, but who was saying it now? That evening Dawson spoke to an eager audience of five hundred conferees. He started with some Trotman humor, gave them a few war stories, and then got into his message: “Pacesetting.”

“Have you ever watched a flock of sheep?” Daws asked the audience. “If you get that chance, take it. Sit and observe. One lamb will jump over a couple of boards. Then another will follow, and then another. The shepherd pulls the boards away and what happens? The lambs continue to jump over where the boards used to be. ‘Follow the leader’ is the game they are playing. Habit says to them, ‘Jump,’ even though there is no reason for jumping any longer.”

Daws went on to graphically describe how people are like sheep, playing games, with someone out in front leading the way. “You can’t get others to do what you aren’t doing yourself. If you don’t jump, don’t expect them to jump. You can’t give something away if it isn’t yours.” — Robert Foster, The Navigator (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2014).

16. 1 Peter 5.3. Paul said to imitate him. But, maybe that was just Paul. What does this verse teach us about setting an example?

“People are watching.” “Everything we do teaches.” “Vision is more caught than taught.” Many axiomatic expressions emphasize the importance of modeling. Likewise Scripture teaches the importance of a good example. Peter called leaders to be good examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:3). Paul encouraged others, including Timothy, to imitate him as he did Christ (1 Cor. 11:1; Phil. 4:9). Timothy did just that. — Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Church: Leading a Body of Believers on the Journey of Faith, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2010), 187.

17. Imagine you were talking to someone who was considering teaching. He loved to study and was an effective communicator. But, this would-be teacher said to you, “I could never ask people to follow my example.” What would you recommend this friend do? Would you recommend they teach?

Your life forms the ceiling above which you cannot influence people to grow.

This is not to say that they cannot grow beyond you. They most certainly can. But you don’t have any influence over that. If they grow beyond you, they are not growing because of you, they are growing in spite of you.

“A student should be satisfied to become like his teacher” (Matthew 10:25; NCV). Usually, they are satisfied. Very seldom does the students’ maturity eclipse that of his teachers.

That is why James warned, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1). Judged more strictly because to some degree we are judged by the lives of the people we create. That is what Paul meant when he said, “You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you” (2 Cor. 3:2; MSG). — Josh Hunt, 10 Marks of Incredible Small Group Leaders, 2005.

18. Think on this one. If someone is unwilling to say, “Follow me as I follow Christ” what are they really saying? What would motivate such a refusal?

Likely what they mean is, “I have not been able to make Christianity work in my life. I hope you have better luck.”

19. How would you summarize today’s lesson?

"Lip without life is hypocrisy, but life without lip is mystery." — Discipleship Journal, Issue 15 (May/June 1983) (NavPress, 1983).

20. Lesson #1 we talked about the importance of praying for the people you lead. How can I pray for you this week? Does your group have any special needs we can all remember in prayer?