Discipleship & the 3-Prong Life




2 years ago I sat in a session at a women's retreat where the breakout speaker, who happens to be a 3-prong friend of mine, walked through the differences between being alone and loneliness. Then she went on to talk about the need for having a 3-prong life, based on Jennie Allen's book Find Your People (if you haven't read or listened to it, you need to!). The idea is that a 3 prong outlet is safer and stronger than any other kind. We've all plugged things into weak outlets. What happens?? The cord falls out and the thing stops working, then we huff and puff and grunt getting up from the couch to go and tenderly plug it back in. But, imagine that same scenario now with a 3-prong outlet. You plug that appliance in and BAM... you almost have to use both hands to pull that sucker back out of the wall.

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As I have walked through life over the past, almost 2 years, I have heard and felt more and more the need for a 3-prong life. But what does that mean? It's essentially 3 levels of discipleship: 

1. Someone older than you who is pouring into you (this is your prayer warrior, your older accountability, a safe place, an intercessor, accessible wisdom and presence)

2. Someone your age with whom you have mutual accountability (this is the person / couple people that you walk life with in more depth than anyone else, that you share a similar stage of life with, that you can push on and get pushback)

3. Someone younger than you that you pour into (this is who you mentor, disciple, listen to, show up for, and cheer on)

That sounds like a lot of relationships to maintain and maybe you're nervous that you don't have what it takes... but rest assured! There isn't a cookie cutter way that this should look or a cookie cutter way it should sound. I think we fear discipling others because we think it has to be a certain thing or we have to know a certain level of theology and be able to answer all the questions that might be asked. 

And then we fear being discipled because we don't want to be held accountable, practice holiness, or ultimately....commit.

Mentorship... discipleship, it doesn't need to be a certain amount of time! It could be a commitment to every 6 weeks for a year, it could be a commitment to every week for 3 months, it could be every other week for 6 months. Whatever the case may be, we often don't pursue it because we feel like committing to discipling or being discipled is going to be this unending thing that we can never get out of. But that's untrue.

So now that we have stumbled through the fact that it doesn't need to look or sound a certain way... There are 2 Questions we need to answer

1. What is discipleship? In short, it's intentional spiritual formation with others. It is diving into God's word and wrestling with tough questions. It's doing life and practicing things that will help you grow in godliness, deal with tough situations, and heal from wounds. It's intentionally growing, changing, and putting language to your faith.

2. Why discipleship? Well, it's biblical... it's actually a part of the sanctification process. Jesus discipled 12 intentionally (and others by association) and then they went out and spread the gospel to others when Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father. The reason why we know Jesus TODAY is because of their commitment and the commitment of many others through the years to pour into people's lives. As a believer, if our goals are to love God and love others, then we need to bring our real lives and our real selves into discipleship communion with others. As well as invite them into our own. 

So, find someone today! Married, single, dating. You don't have to match your relationship status to theirs, you just want to pray and make sure you're both the right fit! (oh, and this is equally for men as it is for women)

Links:

Find your people: https://www.amazon.com/People-Books-Collection-Jennie-Hardcover/dp/B09V19PS48/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3MWTUZRLUDNT4&keywords=jennie+allen+find+your+people+book&qid=1697586914&sprefix=jennie+allen%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-5

Annie F Downs Podcast about mentorship: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-sounds-fun-with-annie-f-downs/id944925529?i=1000631061993

Ideas linked between Jennie Allen, AFD, and CVD as well as other books and podcasts

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