Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
I have read heaps of books on discipleship, read copious amounts of Scripture on discipleship and written and ran study courses on discipleship.
With all the above you might begin to think that I would be qualified to disciple others - right?
But you know what, all the reading and all the academic credentials amount to nothing if my everyday life is not worthy of emulating.
That’s why parenting is an amazingly powerful forum to disciple our families in the fear of the Lord and the grace mercy of God.
The real test of being an effective discipler is in our own homes. But we must understand this is where not only our words are heard but also our behavior, moods and responses are seen, evaluated and taken on board by the lives of others - especially our children. It is generally true that we learn most and become more like those we have spent our formative years with. This is why God instituted families. Families are the forums for Christ centered discipleship, so that by God’s grace through faith, we are used of God to produce a following true spiritual generation.
Dann Spader in his book Growing a healthy Church. puts it like this:
A true discipling ministry will include every aspect of winning people to the Savior, building them up in their faith, and equipping them to win and build others.