Resource Topic: Disciplemaking

“What is God’s will for my life? I think I’m going to change my major. What do you think I should do? I’m freaking out because I’m graduating and have no idea what to do next. Can you help me?” How often do you get questions like these from students? 

We all desire work that is fulfilling, meaningful, and aligned with who we are and who we strive to become. However, such opportunities are hard to find. The statistics consistently show this, but you don’t need to hear them; you see it around you—in people you know who feel unfulfilled, unhappy, burdened, and depressed by their jobs. It is frustrating to witness students struggle without effective tools or frameworks to address their challenges.

Students are at a stage where some key input from seasoned leaders could have a lifelong impact in this area. Because they don’t know their purpose, students often lack passion and confidence in their vocational direction. They struggle with anxiety, disengagement, and apathy because they lack clarity or a sense of God’s direction in their career choices. You have the potential to help every student you know avoid the trap of unfulfilling work.

Every student is unique, individually called by God, and gifted in special ways. Yet few are aware of how these factors should impact their lives or vocations. They need assistance in discovering a path that leads not just to a good job but to a fulfilling life centered in God’s design for them. To build the right foundation, they must ask the right questions, gain a clearer understanding of themselves, and gain real-world experiences and feedback.

Implementing a vocational discipleship plan for your students likely requires only minor additions to your current activities. However, the level of insight and deeper conversations with students could be revolutionary. Helping them find the intersection of their gifts, strengths, passions, and preferences with their calling will guide them toward career fulfillment, confidence, effectiveness, and the freedom to advance the Kingdom as they lead in ministry, mission, and marketplace.

The process requires two crucial building blocks: information and application.

These blocks enable students to ask the essential questions needed to discover their calling. To grow, you need a solid understanding of yourself, knowledge of your options, and an honest assessment of your current reality. With this understanding, you can develop a plan and take actionable steps to move forward. As students apply this information and gain experience, they will progress further and faster with a guide who regularly evaluates their progress toward their goals. When you create opportunities for students to engage in real work and receive constructive feedback, growth can occur rapidly.

Information is the first step, and you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

Many great discovery tools are available to help students get to know themselves. The best tools reveal students’ motivations, preferences, interests, behavioral tendencies, strengths, weaknesses, and growth opportunities. Great books and online tools can help, as can assessments like Strengths Finder or the Harrison Assessment, which I use almost exclusively. Some are inexpensive or like the Harrison Assessment require some investment.

The key is creating a systematic way of ensuring students in your ministry have a dialogue about these topics. Simple tweaks and additions to how you develop students to create vocational discipleship opportunities can have a game-changing impact on student confidence in this area. 

When it comes to Application, it is about the process.

You likely already do this, at least with your student leaders, interns, and staff. This should include planning, implementation, testing, feedback, course correction, and redirection. You can do this through group interactions with your leadership team and in one-on-one sessions as well. 

For leadership development to be effective for our students, it must include at least three elements: a plan or task that provides them with something to accomplish; implementation, where they actively engage in the task—typically, the best learning tasks are repetitive and occur consistently over a semester; and finally, reflection, where they can think about the positives and negatives, consider potential improvements, and receive feedback on how they can improve. 

Reflection is where you provide the most support. Asking insightful questions prompts them to pause, reflect, and possibly change their behavior, attitude, or thoughts to improve and change. I’ve found that coaching is the most effective format for this process. In coaching, the student is the one doing the thinking and reflecting; you don’t do it for them. By asking good questions, you help them draw out what went well, what needs improvement, and how to create a plan for next time. Personal ownership is crucial.

One of the greatest strengths experienced Collegiate Ministers have is their capacity to effectively gauge students’ spiritual and emotional health. Often, through a few conversations, you can gain a solid understanding of a student’s maturity and developmental needs. Tools like the Harrison Assessment offer extremely accurate and quick insight into these same dynamics, removing guesswork. The knowledge acquired in a single session reviewing a student’s results dramatically shortens the time needed for discovery through one-on-one meetings. This speed in understanding students can greatly enhance their growth during their time in your ministry. 

Here is my encouragement:

1. Find ways to talk about vocation and calling with your students, and develop a process for students to discern not only calling to ministry and mission but to the marketplace. 
2. Develop your coaching ability; this has been a game changer for me personally. Going through some training to understand the fundamentals of using coaching as a tool with our students has totally changed how we have conversations, and produces much more student ownership of outcomes. 
3. Build your vocational discipleship toolbox.  If you would like to request a free demo of the Harrison Assessment, email me at chad.wilkin@gmail.com. 

Your impact in this area has countless potential ripples. Students with a fulfilling vocation aligned with their calling, empowered to influence God’s kingdom, represent a beautiful vision. It’s disheartening to see students continue to grapple with confusion about majors, vocation, direction, and calling, particularly when they lack effective strategies for support. Surely, God’s plan is to deepen the pool of potential ministry and mission-focused students. The process isn’t complicated, but it’s not always easy. If you would like to continue this conversation, I would love to talk!

Chad Wilkin is the co-director of the BCM at Indiana State University in Terra Haute, Indiana.

When you look around churches and ministries everyone seems to be talking about discipleship but very few seem to be seeing real reproducible success in disciple-making. “Discipleship” has turned into a buzzword more than a reality. 

God has placed us in our ministry context to make disciples. This is the primary thing that we are called to do. Everything we do is to serve this goal: to see a footprint be left for Jesus on our campuses. We can look at our stories, we can look at others’ stories around us and we can see the importance of discipleship. But it is also part of the story that God is writing through His Church. Intentional, reproducible discipleship was Jesus’ idea. 

JESUS MODELED DISCIPLESHIP. 

JESUS COMMANDED DISCIPLESHIP. 

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20 

JESUS DID NOT SAY GO AND MAKE LARGE GATHERINGS. JESUS SAID GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES. Just to be clear, God uses gatherings and large gatherings are not wrong, but they are not the ultimate goal. They are a vehicle. 

When we look around at the college campus one thing is clear: Jesus is still building His kingdom. Jesus is still writing the story. He has invited us into it. One of the primary vehicles is intentional discipleship. 

Discipleship multiplies, and there is power in multiplication. If we won one person to Jesus every week for the next 16 years we would reach 932 people. If we won one person to Jesus every day for the next 16 years we would reach 5,840 people. If we won one person to Christ every 6 months and discipled them and helped them reproduce their lives into someone else every 6 months (and it worked out perfectly), then in 16 years we would reach 6,442,450,944 people. There is power in multiplying discipleship. 

But we have to define what a disciple is. Definitions matter. They bring clarity. 

1) A DISCIPLE IS SOMEONE WHO ADHERES TO CHRIST (MARK 8:34) 
2) A DISCIPLE IS SOMEONE WHO ABIDES IN CHRIST (JOHN 8:31) 
3) A DISCIPLE IS SOMEONE WHO ADVANCES THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST (MATT. 28:19-20) 

If that is what a disciple is… then how would you define discipleship?

A great working definition is: DISCIPLESHIP IS TAKING THE NECESSARY TIME TO WIN, INVOLVE, AND TEACH SOMEONE HOW TO FOLLOW JESUS. 

It is an intentional relationship. It is a time of practical training & accountability. It is a time of modeling. It is about multiplication. What if we could see this happen regularly & in a reproducible way? What could God do if we made this a top priority in our ministries? 

When it comes to discipleship we want to see TWO MAIN GOALS ACHIEVED: 

1) FULFILLMENT OF THE GREAT COMMANDMENT (SPIRITUAL GROWTH) –  MATTHEW 22:34-40. 
2) FULFILLMENT OF THE GREAT COMMISSION (SPIRITUAL MULTIPLICATION) – MATTHEW 28:19-20. 

College students are a strategic and important group of people in which to see this advanced. You know this. This is why you are in college ministry. They are going to step up and lead in churches, workplaces, and families. We have to disciple our college students well. 

What we have done is we have put together a “Discipleship Toolkit” to help you navigate this conversation in your ministries. All of us want to see this be a priority but sometimes we just don’t know where to start outside of gatherings and small groups. These are great but I believe there is another level. 

This is why the “Discipleship Toolkit” can be helpful for you. We have pulled together some people seeing real success in this area in their ministries to address critical topics in seeing discipleship move from a buzzword to a reality in your ministry. The “Discipleship Toolkit” has nine sessions that address: 

1. Defining Discipleship. 
2. Importance of Culture and how to build it. 
3. Developing a game plan. 
4. Developing disciples from spiritual activity to spiritual maturity.
5. Packing the right tools. 
6. Overcoming Distractions 
7. Disciple to Disciplemaker 
8. How it starts with you. 
9. How to partner well with your local church.

There are videos & discussion guides to walk you through major thoughts & questions. You can find it at https://baptistcollegiatenetwork.com/ministry-areas/discipleship/. 

We pray that it is helpful for you and that God uses you to help real people become real disciples who make real disciples. I believe with my whole heart that God has placed you where you are and has entrusted you with students to see them know and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. What an honor we have to make disciples. Nick Parsons is the Pastoral Ministry Associate for College and Young Professionals at Center Point Church. You can reach him at nick@cpclex.org or follow him on Instagram @nickgparsons1 or @collegecpc.

Last year a student (let’s call her Jessica) walked through the doors of BCM on a Tuesday night. She was a freshman, her life was a mess and she “felt like she needed God in her life” but didn’t know where to start. One of the prayers I pray pretty regularly is that God would draw students to Himself and allow BCM to be part of it! I had received a grant that would allow me to have some money to take new students at BCM out for a cup of coffee and a gospel conversation. I texted her and asked if she would like to meet me for coffee. She said YES! 

That morning I learned about a pretty tough upbringing. Her mom was 16 when she had her and her dad disappeared when he learned of her. Her mom had a lot of health problems so Jessica did all the chores and took care of her mom while in junior high. It was so hard for her. Feeling overwhelmed and unwanted pushed her into an abusive relationship with a boyfriend which lasted for many years and all through high school. Jessica was determined to make something of herself and she decided she was going to be the first person in her family to go to college. She started researching what you have to do to get into college. She made the best grades, was on the honor roll, and applied for scholarships and financial aid all on her own. She also lost 100 pounds in high school. She was DETERMINED!!! She was able to get enough scholarships to pay for her education, room and board the first year of college. She became a part of many clubs, a sorority, intramural basketball and of course BCM!

I asked her about her church background and she said “We don’t go to church, but I really feel like I need God in my life.” I realized she was not a Christian and had zero understanding of any religious lingo. I started talking to her in simple terms about Jesus, His love for her and His sacrifice for her. I prayed for her intently. She just didn’t understand and we had to start at the beginning! 

This was the day before my 20 year old son passed away suddenly. Satan was at work trying to hinder this relationship and conversation. Connecting with students was so hard when your mind and heart were absolutely broken! We started taking Jessica to church every Sunday morning. She lived in the same dorm my son Josiah lived in. Every Sunday after he passed away, I was on the verge of a panic attack pulling into the exact space I did everytime we had picked up Josiah. The last time I dropped him off, the night he passed away, 30 minutes later I ran inside to sirens and the flashing lights of an ambulance, fire trucks and police cars. Satan did not want us here, and he was pulling out all the stops to make this go away and to make us stop loving college students.

Fast forward to the night of our church’s IF Gathering. We had an emotional conversation about grief.  The people around Jessica’s and my table shared about grief over a divorce, a lost brother, a son’s suicide, an abusive relationship and I shared my own losses of my 20-year-old son as well as my 40-year-old brother within three months. I never felt more broken in my entire life. On the way home this girl was told the complete plan of salvation for the hundredth time.

She recalls this night as the night she started following Jesus! In July, she told our pastor she wanted to join the church and be baptized. She was baptized on her 21st birthday! She is part of our leadership team this year and she is telling sorority friends about Jesus. She is encouraging friends who went to church as children but don’t go anymore with her story! She even spoke up in class when someone was talking negatively about the Christian religion. She said: “Not all Christians are mean! My church is awesome and so is BCM. They loved me when I felt like no one else did.” Knowing Jesus is changing her life, and God has a big plan for her!

LaDonna Wilkin is a BCM Campus Minister at Indiana State University.