If you’re a ministry leader who wants to help your people live out Jesus’ call to make disciples, then one of the best things you can do is ask powerful questions.
Jesus questioned more than he taught
Jesus asked far more questions than he answered. Not only that, Jesus asks others far more questions than they ask of him. Throughout the Gospels Jesus asks 307 questions, is asked 183, and directly answers only 3.
If Jesus was so prolific in his questioning, then shouldn’t that inform how we operate when making disciples of Jesus?
Maybe part of why those we lead struggle to make disciples is that they’ve never had to struggle to answer hard questions on their own. Have we who lead them have been too quick to provide all the answers?
Six questions for disciple-makers
You probably need to ask more questions when discipling someone. To get you started, here are five powerful questions for disciple-makers:
1. In one word, how are you doing right now?
The state of our souls will often determine whether or not we’re in a place to be intentional about disciple-making. We live in a world that’s almost constantly distracted, and I truly believe that this distraction from the actual state of our souls/hearts is one of Satan’s greatest tools for keeping us from effectiveness.
The question, “In one word, how are you doing right now?” will challenge those you’re discipling to pause and take stock of the state of their soul. The specificity of one word forces clarity that a rambling response won’t contain and has the added benefit of taking less time to share if you’re in the midst of a meeting. And, obviously, it’s a simple matter to invite people to expand on what they mean by their one word.
2. What’s God saying to you?
Several years ago I my go-to question for those I was discipling was, “What has God been teaching you?” but after reading Mike Breen’s Building a Disciple-Making Culture I switched to “What’s God saying to you?” instead. Why?
“What is God teaching you?” positions God as an educator always trying to get a lesson across to us. While that is sometimes the case, the God portrayed in Christ is so much more than a teacher. He’s a friend, brother, gentle healer, counselor, and more. God may be teaching your people something. Or he may be encouraging, consoling, or simply inviting them to enjoy time with him. Also worth noting – “I don’t know,” is a valid answer to this question and a great opportunity for further conversation about listening to God through his Word, prayer, and more.
Asking “What’s God saying to you?” reminds your people that we follow a God who actively communicates to each of his children throughout daily life. It’s also a healthy challenge to put words to what God is communicating to them. Odds are if you can’t communicate it, you haven’t truly heard it.
3. How are you responding?
Jesus makes the stunning statement that those who simply hear his words and don’t act in response are fools whose spiritual houses will be destroyed (Matt 7:24-27). Being a disciple of Jesus isn’t a matter of knowing; it’s a matter of loving and, in response, doing.
Asking those you’re discipling how they are responding to what God said to them pushes them to clarify the path of obedience. It also gives you as a disciple-maker a chance to support, encourage, and challenge them to follow through on that response.
4. Who are you discipling?
Note that it’s not until half way through these questions that we get to one about making disciples. Being a disciple-maker requires that we first be actively being discipled by Jesus.
The question “Who are you discipling?” gives space to name specific people that they are intentionally investing in. It also encourages accountability to be actively making disciples and gives you an opportunity to help your people process what it means to disciple someone.
5. What’s the next step you feel God is calling them toward?
To disciple someone is to invite them to hear from, respond to, and follow Jesus in all of life. Oftentimes we have a sense of the next step that God might be calling those we’re discipling to take.
This question is a powerful reminder for your people to be praying for those they’re discipling and taking time to listen for God’s guidance in the relationship. It will also give you as their discipler a sense of how you can support them in making disciples.
6. How will you help them take that step?
This question is where things get practical. It will help your people identify what the next action is that they should take with the person they’re discipling, and will give you a chance to follow up later for accountability and support as they take that step.
Using the questions
There are two primary ways I’ve used these questions over the years as I’ve led.
Firstly, I start every one of our bi-weekly leader huddles with one or two of these questions. This sets the tone of the meetings and gives me a chance to hear how those I’m leading are doing and gauge the state of discipleship in our ministry.
Secondly, I regularly ask them (or some variation of them) when meeting one-on-one or in smaller groups with any fellow believers. They’re great conversation starters that begin on a Jesus-centered footing and often lead to much deeper, richer conversations than might be had with a more surface-level question.
Answering well takes time
A final note – don’t expect your people to be able to answer these questions easily when you first begin asking them. The first few times you ask the questions, start with a little coaching and explanation of why you’re asking the question and what an answer might look like by giving your own answer. Then sit back and embrace the uncomfortable silence.
For our own leadership team it took several times of asking the question “Who are you discipling?” for people to come with an answer. It took even longer for them to be able to consistently answer, “What’s God saying to you?”
Question like Jesus
Ask the questions consistently and watch them work. Avoid the urge to always give the answer. After all, if Jesus asked 100 times more questions than he answered directly, we ought to ask a few powerful question of our people as well.
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