.1
Each One Teach One Discipleship Lessons
Part Three:
FAITH THAT LIFTS UP
Learning to Share Your Faith in God
LESSON TEN:
The CONTAGIOUS DISCIPLE
At the end of Lesson Nine, we asked if you would like to have such a “contagious” faith that everyone you
touched would “catch” the desire to become a disciple of Jesus. In this lesson, we will consider what it would
take to be that kind of evangelist and disciple-maker.
Lunch Box Evangelism …
In a PEANUTS cartoon in the newspaper, Charlie Brown’s little sister Sally had her own idea how to “touch”
people to convert them. Speaking to her friend Linus, she said…
SALLY: I would have made a good evangelist. You know that kid who sits behind
me at school? I convinced him my religion is better than his religion.
LINUS: How’d you do that?
SALLY: I hit him with my lunch box!
We can chuckle at Sally’s “Lunch Box Evangelism” approach, but how many Christian groups make their
“converts” by hitting them over the head with the Bible or punching them with prophecies?!
The Lord does use a wide variety of methods through a wide variety of people to spread the Good News. Some
people do have their first exposure to seeds of the Gospel through a fascination with a prophecy seminar.
Notorious “sinners” may actually respond at first to the Gospel when “hit over the head” with hell-fire threats of
a tent evangelist.
But neither prophecy nor fear of hell fire can be used to bring disciples to maturity in Christ. They may not even
be among the best ways to introduce people to the Lord.
So how do you begin to become a “contagious” disciple? Are there “tools” you need? Are there special
“methods” you need to learn? Should you start by going to the Christian Book Store to get a Concordance, an
evangelism hand-book and a color-coded pocket-sized New Testament and Psalms to whip out when the
opportunity presents itself to “witness” for Jesus?
.2
While all those physical “tools” may be helpful, they will NOT make you a contagious Christian. Neither will they
identify you as a disciple of Jesus. What will?
[John 13:34-35]
“A new command I give you: _______________________________. As I have _______________, so
you must ___________________. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you
________________________________.”
Many Christian organizations emphasize the value of “signs and wonders” to spread the Gospel. Others
emphasize to potential converts that they alone have the special “knowledge” of the scriptures they need. But
what does the Bible say?
[I Cor 13:1-3]
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not ________, I am only a resounding gong or
a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if
I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not _________, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to
the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not ________, I gain nothing.
***** If you are going to go out and win others to Christ, you do need to be familiar with your Bible. You do
need to be able to clearly communicate the plan of salvation to others. It may help to study evangelism
hand-books to learn effective presentation methods. It may be helpful to have various Bible translations and
concordances. But all of those tools and methods will be worthless if you don’t have the ultimate discipling tool-
Godly love.
The Godly love of the Bible is not a “warm, fuzzy feeling.” It is not an “emotion” you have to work up. It is a
choice of action, a commitment, and a way of life. Feelings and emotions may follow, but they are not the
essence of this love.
In the rest of this lesson, we will consider some passages that help clarify what this kind of love is like. Examine
yourself in the light of what you read. By the standard presented here, are you really a disciple of Jesus, and do
you really have what it takes to be a contagious disciple?
If you go out trying to be an evangelist WITHOUT this love, your preaching will only be like a “clanging
cymbal.” You just may get “converts.” But they will be infected with “religion,” not the Life of Jesus.
***** We first learn about true love by seeing how God expressed it:
[John 3:16]
“For God so loved the __________ that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.
***** That’s well and good for God, but surely He can’t expect that kind of selfless love from us. After all,
“we’re only human”! Or can He?
[John 15:12-13]
My command is this: Love each other ____________________________. Greater love has no one than
this, that he lay down his life for _______________________.
.3
[I John 3:16]
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our
lives for our __________________.
***** Well, perhaps we can love our friends that way. But how about our enemies?
[Matthew 5:43-46]
“You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your
_______________, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who
persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and
the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what
reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
***** How can God expect us to love our enemies?! Didn’t He hate sinners?
[Romans 5:8]
But God demonstrates his own ________ for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
***** It should be obvious by now that this love isn’t just idle words or cozy feelings.
[I John 3:18]
Dear children, let us not love with _________ or tongue but with ________________ and in truth.
[I John 4:20]
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet _____________________________, he is a liar. For anyone who does
not ____________________________, whom he has seen, cannot _________ God, whom he has not
seen.
[I John 5:2]
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by _____________ God and
_______________________ his ________________.
***** If you are still not sure exactly what this love consists of, below is a pretty good summary of some of its
qualities. Is this describing the way of life you are earnestly seeking through the power of the Holy Spirit? Can
you see glimmers of this way of life in yourself, growing day by day? If not, you may not need a bigger
concordance or a new Bible to be more effective in discipling for the Lord. You may need to seek the Lord in
prayer how you can begin to change to be conformed to His image, for this is a description of Him. God is love.
[I Cor 13:4-13]
Love is _____________, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not
____________, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily ________________, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are
tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we
prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears… And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
.4
***** Few people in the world exhibit this kind of love. If you do, everyone you touch will feel it. They will
bask in it. They will want to know where you got it. And they may ask how they can get it. You will be a “living
epistle” (a living letter) that preaches the Gospel first by your own life, a living “witness” to what God can do.
Then you can get out your Bibles and concordances!
REVIEW:
1. God loved the whole world so much he sent His son to die for all.
2. A true disciple of Jesus will love with that kind of Godly love.
3. This love is toward God, toward brothers–even toward enemies.
4. This love is not just an emotion, but a choice of a way of life.
5. This love will show itself by obedience to God’s commands.
6. You need this love to go out and make more disciples.
MEMORY VERSES:
LESSON TEN MEMORY VERSE:
John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.
LESSON NINE MEMORY VERSE
John 8:31B-32
… Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
QUESTIONS:
1. Describe one difference between Godly love and worldly “love.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. What does the Bible call someone who says he loves God but hates his brother? Why?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
.5
3. Give your own description of some qualities of Godly love.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Keeping the commandments is an expression of love toward God, as it shows obedience and respect to Him.
But how can keeping the commandments also be an expression of love toward people?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. How is an unloving attitude a hindrance to sharing the Gospel?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Write John 13:35 from memory:
By this______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Fill in the blanks in these scripture quotes from past lessons:
For it is by __________ that you are saved, through faith…
For we are God’s _____________________ created in Christ Jesus…
The testing of your __________ works patience….
Without me [Jesus] you can do __________________ …
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my ______________…