©2015 Tim Catchim. The ideas and information in this document are the intellectual property of Tim Catchim and are not to

be shared, copied, sold, etc. with other parties without expressed, effective permission.

Discipleship Is Imitation

By Tim Catchim

Discipleship is imitation. This is a hard pill for us to swallow because, in a culture that

champions innovation and novelty, the idea of imitating someone else can almost be insulting.

After all, you only copy someone else when you aren’t smart enough to figure things out for

yourself…right?

Yet Jesus says something about being a disciple that, in the midst of our “maker culture, can be

quite scandalous. He says “Every disciple who is fully trained will be like his teacher. (Lk. 6:40)

Wow, did you catch that? Discipleship is about being trained to look like the one who is training

you. It’s about learning the skills and sensibilities of another person so that you can do what

they do and, in some sense, be who they are.

The 3 Ingredients of Imitation This way of learning is mostly foreign to us. We are used to giving people books and classes.

Discipleship, on the other hand, requires more than just giving people information. Training

someone through imitation requires three essential ingredients: physical proximity, relational

frequency, and situational variety.

Physical Proximity You may be able to coach or inspire someone online, but you can’t disciple them through this

medium. Why? Because in order to truly disciple someone they have to have access to the

patterns and practices of your life. They have to literally be around you so they can observe you

©2015 Tim Catchim. The ideas and information in this document are the intellectual property of Tim Catchim and are not to

be shared, copied, sold, etc. with other parties without expressed, effective permission.

and how you live your life. This means finding ways to actually spend time together, face to

face.

Relational Frequency

Even if I have physical proximity with someone I am discipling, if I don’t open up the rhythm of

my life to them in both an organized and organic way, then they will not have adequate

exposure to my life. People can only imitate what they have been exposed to. As a general rule,

I have an organized meeting once a week with those I am discipling. We process what God has

been saying to them, and how they should respond to it. I also have organic times where we

spontaneously invite people over, or just have a meaningful phone or skype conversation. This

happens, ideally, on a weekly basis. A weekly organized meeting and a weekly organic

encounter through some form of electronic media.

Situational Variety

The people I am discipling, if they are going to be “fully trained” need to encounter me in

multiple scenarios and contexts. If I only meet with people in a classroom setting, then let’s be

honest....I am not discipling them, I am just doing some really up close teaching and coaching.

Imitation requires inviting people into the rhythms of our life. This means our time together

should include food, family, fun and faith. Hanging out with someone during their kid’s little

league game is just as important as hanging out with them at church. Discipleship is about

learning to be like Jesus in every part of our life, and it’s really helpful if someone can step

forward and offer their life as a model.

What Are You Already Doing? I know what u re probably thinking right now. This sounds great, but I don’t have time to do all

this? And you are probably right. But here is the secret: you disciple people by inviting them to

participate in what you are already doing. For example, do you eat dinner on the weekends?

Invite someone to share that time with you Do you go to the grocery store on a regular basis?

Invite someone to share that time with you. Every day routines are great opportunities to invite

people to share in your rhythm of life.

People do not get discipled on accident. We disciple people by inviting them into the rhythms

of our life and saying to them "Follow me as I follow Christ." My experience is that when we

offer both an organized and an organic process of discipleship where we invite people into our

lives, transformation begins to take place. And transformation is what it’s all about.