Cedarville Magazine Fall 2019

What do the roof of a house, the student union, an overcrowded bus, an atheist’s dorm room, a church member’s garage, and a basketball arena all have in common? For me, these are the settings in which my life was transformed through the investment of godly mentors. When I was in college, I was privileged to be discipled by several godly men. When I started that process, I thought it would mean attending a Bible study and, perhaps, a weekly meeting. Next thing I knew, I was on a roof helping adjust a satellite dish. Another time, I found myself helping an elderly church couple clear their garage. Yet another, my mentor and I attended a basketball game on campus, cheering our team to victory and talking during timeouts. Some of the most meaningful investment happened as my mentor and I were serving others. We visited students on the campus of my state university to share the Gospel. We squeezed into a bus far beyond capacity on a missions trip in east Africa as we traveled to teach the Scriptures to young believers. These became unforgettable shared moments of following Jesus where we built up one another, and I learned how to become a disciple-maker. While I did not always realize it at the time, in all of these settings, God was working in my life through the faithfulness of others. In my experience, discipleship on the go bears the fruit of multiplication. Discipleship does not start when the small group meeting starts, and it does not stop when the Bible study workbooks close. On the contrary, discipleship is happening on the go at Cedarville University just as all of life happens on the go. Programs will always have their place in organizing, motivating, and facilitating people in discipleship relationships. At the same time, programs are not the point; transformed lives and multiplying fruit to the glory of God is the point. SHIP ON THE GO BY JON WOOD Cedarville Magazine | 11