In this piece, I want to share a few thoughts with us on the need to take seriously, our discipleship trainings. The trajectory we're going to be following in this article is on the need to take seriously, our discipleship trainings. And the title is: Making the Most of Our Discipleship Training. I know by now that we are disciples, we are disciplers of our Lord Jesus Christ. And one thing I've realized is that if we're not going to fall into the trap of what Apostle Paul said to Timothy, that there are a group of people who are ever learning but they are never coming into the knowledge of the truth. I believe some of us can remember that Paul said something like that in 2 Timothy 3:7? He says there are a group of people who are always learning but they never come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

So, I perceive that if we're not going to fall into that trap of those group of people, then there is need for us to take this writing seriously, to take our discipleship training, you know, very seriously, because this is what our life and our destinies rests upon. So, making the most of our discipleship training, is what we're going to be considering in this piece. And I have realized while meditating on this that there is no one who is effective in one area or the other who has not undergone some form of training.

 

If you see people who are doing well, in their fields of endeavor, or people who are doing well in whatever it is that they found themselves doing, I discovered that if you trace the life and the steps, the trajectory that those people took before they got to that level of effectiveness, one thing that you will not find missing is training. There is no one who become good at anything, who has not undergone one form of training or the other. You see, that training may be virtual, depending on how you receive it, because there are people who learn things by you know, virtual meetings, and actually could also happen physically. But if we're going to trace anyone's life who is good and effective at whatever they are doing in life, and in destiny, one thing you will see in their lives is that they've had some form of trainings. And that was why the first thing that Jesus did, when He started ministry was to call His disciples that they might be with Him.

 

There was nowhere in the Bible where we read that Jesus called His disciples and then immediately deployed them. It was not written anywhere. If you read the book of Mark, I think chapter three, the Bible says He called first and foremost, those that He wanted, you know, to work with, it says He wanted them to be with Him. So, if we look at the lives of the disciples, and we read about them, and we appreciate their efforts in propagating the gospel, that did not fall on them all of a sudden. They had trainings. They undergone trainings with Jesus. For three and half years, we were made to understand that Jesus was pouring into them, He was training them, He was refining them, He was pruning them because sometimes, when you undergo training, it may require that you are pruned, it may require that you are refined. And so, at the end of the day; training is not meant to destroy anyone, training is meant to make us effective. Trainings are there to help us so that we can become the best in whatever we have chosen to do.

 

Now, while I was thinking, you know, many times I had bragged to my wife and I think myself and the president have also bragged about the fact that we are good when it comes to driving. Now I was thinking about it. See that driving effectiveness, it doesn't fall on us. First and foremost, we came from, you know, let me use the word paternity, or the lineage of professional drivers. My dad was a professional driver all his life. The President's dad also retired as a professional driver. And so, by virtue of the fact that we grew up with them, we drove with them a couple of times, we were catching some things. Now, one of the things I remember my dad did for me, was that anytime in those days they had trainings, because he worked with a foreign company. So many times, those foreign company, they organize trainings, where they bring in professional drivers from abroad to train them and all of that.

 

So, one of the things he did in those days was that when he's coming home, he will come with all the materials, all the training materials, and then will give them to me to read. Now, at this point in time, I was just a teenager, maybe about 14 or 15, at the time, because I officially learned how to drive at the age of 16. He taught me how to drive at 16. But all these periods, he will come with all those road signs. What happens when rain is falling and you are driving? What happens when you are driving very close to a quarry site? What happens when you are driving and then your tyre all of a sudden, suddenly burst? How do you maneuver? How do you handle the steering?

 

I remember the very first time, I'm going somewhere, please just pardon me. I remember the very first time I wanted to travel with my dad's vehicle from Lagos to Ibadan for a friend’s wedding. Now one thing is that my dad could not restrain me from traveling that far with his vehicle because he knew I could drive very well. After he taught me how to drive, I had driven him from home to his workplace several times and nothing happened. In fact, most of the time he will be sleeping. And that was when I knew that my dad was comfortable with my driving because it is not easy to drive on 3^rd Mainland bridge in Lagos, I don't know how many of us have driven in Lagos before. So, I have driven on 3^rd Mainland bridge several times and many times I would look at his side and he would be fast asleep.

 

So, it tells you that there is something he was comfortable with. So, when it was that time to travel outside of Lagos for the first time, the only thing he told me was okay, “this is how you travel on highway.” Now, “don't do over speeding. Because when you speed too much, maybe you're on 100 or 120 kilometer per hour and then, all of a sudden, your tyre bursts”, he says “most of the time in that situation, to be able to handle the steering will be difficult because you are over speeding.” He says but most of the time when you are driving and you on 80 or 100 Km/hr, even if anything happens, and you need to apply the brake all of a sudden, he says that the vehicle will cooperate. Why? Because you are not over speeding. And those were the things that he put into my consciousness even before I started driving. And at the time when you know, it's now right for me to start driving, he did not find it so hard to release his vehicle.

 

He knew that I could drive very well because I had done it with him a couple of time and nothing happened. So, in essence, what makes us effective in life, and in destiny is the amount of training that we have undergone. For example, when I was meditating, I also thought about the president. A couple of times, he handles website and handle so many things by himself. Now, that knowledge didn't fall on him. He either learnt them virtually, or he had an opportunity to learn them somewhere. But I know to a large extent that he learned many of the things he does virtually. So, if you're going to be good at anything in life, it will require training. And that is why we're bringing this thought into discipleship as well. If we're going to be effective as disciples and disciplers, there is the place of training. We need to make the most of our trainings so that we can be effective in the hands of God.

 

Let's open our Bibles to Genesis chapter 14. Let me show us something very briefly. Genesis chapter 14, from verse 14 to 16. Let's look at it from the pages of the Scripture so that we can understand all that I've said so far. Genesis chapter 14, from verse 14 to 16. Look at what the Bible says:

 

“Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants…” Now, in bracket in front of it, I paraphrased and put disciples because a disciple is also a servant. We are disciples and disciplers, we are servants of Christ. We are doing the things He has commission us to do. So, the Bible says Abraham saddled three hundred and eighteen trained, not untrained. “who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants [disciples] attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. ¹⁶ So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.”

 

Now, my emphasis in that place is ‘trained’. Abraham did not go to battle with untrained men and women, he went to battle with trained disciples, trained servants, and they were effective in that assignment. And they recovered all. They recovered everything that they went after. Now, how were they able to, you know, accomplish that task? The Bible showed us in a plain language, they were trained servants, because if they were untrain, maybe we will have seen the lacuna in the course of their assignments. They were trained servants; they went after the enemies and they recovered all. Now I was thinking about it. You see, there are trained disciples, and there are disciples. And you will agree with me that there are trained disciples, there are those who have given themselves to going through the process of discipleship so that they can be effective in their assignments and there are those who are disciples by association.

 

You have to be comfortable a bit with what I'm saying because they look a bit kind of hard. It's not all who call themselves disciples that are trained disciples. There are those who are disciples by association. There are those who are just churchgoers not because what they're doing church really appease them. They just want to be identified by that nomenclature, “I am a disciple of Christ as well, I am a Christian.” I believe we know many people say, “I am a Christian.” Now the first thing that comes to your mind when somebody says he or she is a Christian, and then you look at the way and manner that they behave, you will know that those are just Christians by nomenclature, by virtue of the fact that they were born in Christian homes.

 

So, there are trained disciples, and there are disciples by association. You see, this is how you know the dichotomy between the two. At the slightest of any provocation, a disciple by nomenclature will turn away, they will turn back. At the slightest of any challenge or responsibility that has to do with effectiveness in life, a disciple by association will not stay, they will turn back. Look at John chapter six. Let me show us these things in the Bible. An example of a disciple by association, John chapter six, from verse 66-68. There was something that happened in that place. Jesus was the one speaking, and the Bible made us to understand when he got to verse 66. It says: “From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” In other words, Jesus used the word disciples. It didn't just call them by any other names, they were also disciples, they were following Him. But peradventure, they could be those who followed their brethren or their brother to go and see what was going on. They never gave themselves to the requirements or what it entails to be a disciple indeed.

 

So, Jesus said, at this point, many of them went back and walked, it was in the past tense, they walked with Him no more. It then means from this moment henceforth, that was the last time Jesus saw them in any gathering, in any meeting, in any training. That was the last time. Now what make them walk away? Verse 67: “Then Jesus said to the 12, do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered Him: Lord, to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe, and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

 

Those who turn away, if you read the previous verses before that place, Jesus was saying certain things to them, and many of them felt offended, many of them couldn't bear what Jesus was teaching them, the training they were having at the time, if you want to put it in context. They felt, wow, how could Jesus be talking this way and all of that, and they stopped following Him. They could not make sense of what Jesus was telling them and so, they stopped. So, those were disciples by association, they were not trained. And I was thinking about it, if we are going to be effective, as disciples and disciplers, we must undergo our trainings. We must undergo our training.

 

Now I read something about Usain Bolt and I want to read it to us. It buttresses, you know, the importance of training. I think I read it on LinkedIn a couple of months ago, now look at what it says. We know Usain Bolt used to be the fastest runner in the world at some point in time. Now, they said Usain Bolt won 8 gold medals in three Olympics and he only ran for 115 seconds. So, he won eight gold medals in three Olympics that is in the space of maybe 12 years. And then the time that he ran for eight gold medals was 115 seconds, that is a minute plus. And in those, he earned $119 million for those outing. But look at where I'm going. But for those 115 seconds, that writer said Usain Bolt trained for 20 years.

 

Now, you will see why he was beating that record, almost every Olympics before he stepped aside. 20 years for 115 seconds competition race, in the space of how many years. And that is why when you look at some of these Western nations, and the way they prepare their kids for some of these competitions, it is not when they grow up. I saw a video recently on Facebook how these Tai Chi trainers, Chinese people and martial arts, how they train. They handpicked some of these guys from when they were very young, maybe 3, 4 or 5 years old. If you see the kind of rigorous training that they subject these students to? And that is why when you see a typical Chinese fighter and all of that and they do all those razzmatazz and they stand on one leg for some few minutes, those things don't come easy. Many of them have been doing those things since when they were little, young boys. They will make them to walk on rope unaided.

 

They will subject them inside cold ice water. Sometimes you will see some of these children crying and they are crying, is not easy. Sometimes they walk on hot coals, I'm telling you just google to some of these videos and see the kind of trainings that people go through just to be effective in whatever they've chosen to be. Now, here's the point. If we are going to be effective, because we are talking about Kingdom matters now, I'm just using those examples that are familiar so that we don't take spiritual trainings as “it is one of those things.” And the reason why it is like this is because it's spiritual. You get what I'm saying. We don't see the need. Many times, we feel like “well, let's just do it for doing it sake.” No, there are importance to these trainings. What we are doing is important.

 

If you are going to be important in the hands of God, you have to give yourself to training. Let's look at Matthew chapter 17. Let me show us an account of the disciples of Jesus in that place. We are going to read from verse 14 to 21. Look at what happened. I think a man brought his son for Jesus' disciples to heal him and they could not. But let's read from verse 14. The Bible says:

 

“And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

 

They could not cure him because the disciples lacked the training. Or they were not giving themselves to the training that Jesus was given them. How come they could not? If their Master could cure disease and healed, because the best of any disciple is to become like his master. When you have attained effectiveness, the yardstick is to look at your Master, how will my master do it? Or how is my master doing it? And then you also follow the path? They could not, they've seen Jesus heal the sick, raise the dead. They followed him a couple of places. This was what Jesus was doing all the time. And they were following him. So, what happened? Why couldn't they heal the boy, I was thinking, what have they been doing with their training? And Jesus was disappointed. If you look at what Jesus said in verse 17. “Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?” Now this statement made me to realize that Jesus had been telling them before now, he says, “How long shall I be with you? I've told you these things over and over again. How long will I continue to tell you until I am taking away, how long?” And Jesus showed them again in that place.

 

Jesus said to the man: “Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. ¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately…” and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” They couldn't do it openly because it didn’t say well of them. Well, you know, the Bible says, open rebuke is better than secret love. Jesus dealt with them even why the multitudes were there. So, like they were like, Jesus, just calm down, we'll come to you. And then we'll get it. They came to him privately.

 

From verse 20, it says; So, Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith…in other words, if you take heed to your faith training. I have been teaching you and showing you faith. If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. ²¹ However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” You can't be a prayerless Christian, and this will happen. You can't be a disciple who does not give himself or herself to fastings and this will happen. You know, two weeks ago, the President was teaching us on The Law of Cost. And he says “there are things you desire; you desire greatness you desire this and that but those things will cost you something.” He was mentioning it you can't be somebody who is not diligent, and that you aspire greatness. You can't be somebody who does not pray, who does not fast, who does not study the Word of God and then you expect these things to fall on you, there are costs.

 

To be effective as a disciple and as a discipler, it will cost you. You have to give yourself to trainings. It doesn't happen on the platter of gold, it happens on the platter of trainings, surrendering yourself to be trained. Let me show us some few requirements for making the most of our discipleship training. What are the things that are required? How can we make the most of our discipleship training?

 

Number one, I will show us this and it is the very, very and the most important thing in all of them. CONTINUOUS EMPOWERMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. You know, we come and we say these things over and over again, we are saying it again and again, because we have not yet gotten there, we have not yet arrived. You can't make the most of your training if you are not allowing the Holy Spirit to supply you the power. There is nothing you can do when it comes to discipleship. You need the power of the Holy Spirit. You need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Let's see, Ephesians 3 verse 14 to 17. Paul said:

 

“For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit [not through physical exercises] in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love…” How do you become strengthened? How do you become empowered? Paul said, by the Spirit. So, the very first thing we require, as disciples and disciplers to make the most of our trainings, this training that we are receiving on a daily basis, or weekly basis, or monthly basis, year in year out, is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we must be empowered.

 

1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 4-5. The same Paul said to the Corinthian folks. It says: “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” Did we see that? He says, not in the demonstration of man’s wisdom, but in the power of God. How did that power come? Through the Holy Spirit? Now the point is, if you are going to make the most of your discipleship training, you need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

 

Now look at the second point. The second point is PURITY. Let's open our Bibles to Second Timothy chapter 2, from verse 19-22. The second requirement for our effectiveness in discipleship is purity. See what the Bible says.

 

“Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” ²⁰ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. ²¹ Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor [for effectiveness], sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. ²² Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

 

A vessel is pure to the degree of the effectiveness, you want to put it to. You don't want to run a pipe that will bring water into your house and is filled with impurity. So, what do you do? You sterilize the pipe, you subject it to processes that will remove the impurities, and then so that they can bring pure water into the house. We are going to make the most of our discipleship training, we have to be pure, we have to be pure in heart, we have to be pure in spirit a and we have to be pure in handling our trainings.

 

Let me show us the last point as we begin to round up. Number three, PROMPT APPLICATION OF OUR SPIRITUAL DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING. If you want to be effective as a disciple, and as a discipler, you need to practice what you are being trained on. You need to practice you need to look for every avenue to subject yourself to practicing. You are being taught anything, you put it to work. You know, recently I wanted to, I wanted to analyze something, I wanted to analyze the data for someone. So, I needed SPSS statistical package for social sciences. So, I learnt it a long time ago while I was in school, but after school, I was not using it again. So, I had forgotten the whole principles behind it. I couldn't even post a single variable because I didn't know what those things look like, again.

 

So, I needed to consult somebody, I've forgotten these things, can you please just put me through again. And then all the person needed to do because, this other person I reached out to, you know, is someone who studied Demography and Statistics, so they always use it, the things is part and parcel of them. So, I say “please just put me through this thing.” And then the person just did a video, about 3 minutes video, showed me how to improve those things. And that was how I got it. And I didn't just watch the video and then relaxed, what did I do? I went to the package, and I impute it. I impute some of those things. And then that was how I got it again. Now what was the point I was trying to drive at? Because I didn't use it for a long time. What happened? I had forgotten the principles. Do we get the point now?

 

So, if we're going to be effective in discipleship, we must put our trainings to work. Why are you being trained? If you're not going to practice medicine, then why do you go to medical school? Why do you go to those trainings when you know you don't need them? So, what is the point I'm trying to make? Practice is what makes us perfect and not laziness. So, I have learned something that this is how to be effective as a disciple and discipler, and then we put it to work. That's how it works. Now let me show us something Hebrews chapter 5:14. Look at what Paul said. He said: “but solid food belongs to those who are full age, that is, those by reason of use.”  So, there is a reason of use. What you practice regularly don’t leave you. What you do regularly, don't leave you. You see, putting yourself to training and practicing the training you've received is like, if you want it to stick, it is just the way bad habits also stick. Do you understand that process?

 

So, if you want to be good at something, just practice, keep practicing it. The more you do it, the more you are effective at it. Now you will not arrive at it just in one day or in one week. It's a process. The more you give yourself to it, the more you become effective, the more you give yourself to it and then you notice you fail in some parts, and then you go back and train again, and then you do it.  The more you become perfect and passionate, the more you become effective. It says “by reason of use have their senses exercised. Did you see the word? “...to discern both good and evil?” It is as simple as that. So, how do I become an effective disciple and an effective discipler? I must give heed to my trainings. I must exercise myself in my trainings. It doesn't fall on anyone, it's not even by prayer and fasting sometimes. It is by exercising. It says “by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

 

So, in summary, what am I sharing? I said it's just a thought that I just want to share with us. So, what are we talking about? Making the most of our discipleship training comes on the platter of exercising ourselves, giving ourselves to trainings and then exercising ourselves in training, and then given ourselves to more training. This is how we become effective. This is how we become useful tool in the hand of God. And I pray that the Lord will help us in Jesus’ name.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!