#150 Disciple Making Plan: Air Force Chaplain
Introduction
This discipleship plan is based on the five P’s of discipleship. This plan is in the context of Air Force chaplaincy ministry. It covers the passages that inform the way disciples are made in this context. From those passages principles of ministry are derived. Then goes into detail about how to think through discipleship in this context in the philosophy section. Next a discussion of the practices that come from the role of a chaplain in this context and how to carry out the principles and goals of discipleship. Finally there is a section that goes into detail about how to track the discipleship process and its achievements.
Passages
There are many passages that guide my ministry. Including Matthew 4:19, Luke 9:23, Mark 16:15, 2 Timothy 2:2, Ephesians 4:11-16, Mark 10:42-45, and Hebrews 12:1-3. Another story that comes to mind is Matthew 8:5-10. Where a centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. That story is one of orders being carried out through faith.
Luke 9:23 (NASB) “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
This passage speaks to what following Christ looks like. It is not always pleasant but it means that we are with Christ which is best.
Mark 16:15 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation””
This is our call to action. We are to go do something. God has not called us to a life of stagnation but rather a life of action.
2 Timothy 2:2 “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also”
We are to teach others what we have been taught about Christ. This is an act of discipleship which we are to do as Christ commanded us.
Mark 10:42-45 “Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. “But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.””
We too are to serve those whom we are to lead. This is a way of showing love, respect, and value to those under our authority.
My ministry focus is in the process of changing. I am currently serving in men’s ministry, marriage ministry, and as a missionary in an office setting. But I am planning on joining the Air Force as a chaplain this summer once I graduate from Liberty University. My ministry focus will be young Airmen between the age of eighteen and twenty-five. I may be stationed anywhere within the United States or in another country. Likely, I will experience many environments. But there will be young Airmen wherever I go. My focus is twofold, first I want to reach the younger people, the lower enlisted, and draw them to Christ, and secondly I want to reach the senior officers and to improve the culture of the Air Force as a whole.
Principles
My core values in ministry reflect the previously stated passages. To embody servant leadership, to fulfill the great commission, to disciple others, and to teach the faith. My plan for discipleship is based on relationships. With God, family, believers, and nonbelievers.
The passages that I base these principles on are:
Matthew 4:19 “And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.””
This is a command and a promise. First we are to follow Christ. Second as a result we become fishers of men. This means we can judge the degree to which we are following Christ. And that we will see results here and now for following Christ.
Ephesians 4:15 “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ”
We are to be like Christ. Following all of His commands.
Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
This life is like a race and people are watching that race. Jesus endured the cross for the reward that it would bring. In the same way we too ought to endure our cross to receive the prize that comes in the end.
If I were to simplify all of this into three statements or principles of discipleship they would be:
Be like Christ. We are to carry our cross, follow Christ, and do the things that He did.
Disciple the Faithful. We are to pass on the knowledge of who Christ is to other faithful believers.
Be a fisher of men. Find the places that non-believers are and be there. Show the love of Christ to them and bring them closer to God with the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
Philosophy
Within the context of Air Force Chaplaincy my ministry may take on many different roles. But some things remain consistent. For example, I will be responsible for the spiritual well being of a group of people, one-hundred to one-thousand people, likely closer to a thousand. I will have opportunities for one on one contact, and group contact with the Airmen. This role is important to the military in order to have a resilient combat capable group of Airmen. As a chaplain and Christian this role is important as it allows me to reach people during some of the most challenging parts of their lives. This role puts me in the place of helping Airmen in need both Christian and non christian. I can help others to view their lives, work, and suffering through a Christian worldview and bring them closer to a relationship with God. The primary guiding assumption of this ministry is that “God is already active in the counselee” or whoever I am speaking to. That is an exciting realization that gives confidence that God is at work in all of our encounters. As part of my role I will attempt to build community among my fellow believers by “establishing the “one another” commands which result in biblical community.” Furthermore, I will be helping the body of Christ to live up to its potential “God has something in mind for the individual believer to do in His kingdom.” The same is true for the here and now. As we build community we help others find their place.
When it comes to non believers as a chaplain I must meet them where they are at. I offer guidance and hopefully am able to lead them closer to God. This follows the cycle layed out in DiscipleShift where I first share the Gospel “Christ’s life in a lost world and then invite people to respond to Christ.” Until an unbeliever becomes a believer the counseling process is like a shadow layer of this cycle where individuals become drawn further into the truth that they are learning about the nature of God. Jesus is called a wonderful counselor in Isaiah 9:6 and through counseling others I may help others to see how wonderful God is as Lambert writes “Biblical counselors should be people who worship and who lead counselees to worship.”
Practices
In the role of chaplain, I would not have a lot of say in the structure of my role. The Church style in this context is a combination of traditional and attractional. There is likely one or two pastors/chaplains. Chaplains have limits on how they may do evangelism, and small groups may or may not happen. Because of the non-religious nature of military life spiritual formation is in most cases an individual issue if it happens at all. While budgets may be small or non-existent. The ministry of a chaplain is in many ways the opposite of a pastor. Where pastoral ministry might place the most importance on Sunday morning or small groups and then counseling, the chaplain’s priorities are first as a counselor, then small groups, and thirdly Sunday mornings.
The first priority is counseling which can take two forms, either counseling a non believer through an issue or counseling a believer towards a goal. In either case as a chaplain it is helpful to “Let them belong before they believe.” By connecting individuals to the wider community I can better minister to the whole individual. From evangelizing the non believer to discipling the believer. The goal is to create “Is” small groups. To reach this goal I will identify leaders and meet regularly with them to develop them as leaders who will lead small groups. “Is” style small groups are ideal for the military setting. Once potential leaders are identified I can develop them as small group leaders using The Big Book of Small Groups by Arnold and training them to lead whatever group is of interest to them.
It can be said that,“Everyone enters discipleship alone, but no one remains alone in discipleship.” This means that when someone seeks out discipleship God may guide them to the chaplain and in turn they may start to disciple others in a myriad of ways including small groups. In this way discipleship is given a purpose that leads to more disciples. In the military setting small groups accomplish three goals, they build community, create opportunities for discipleship, and offer resources to troubled young Airmen. Moses said to God, “I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me” Numbers 11:14 (NASB). The same is true for chaplains which is why small groups are of central importance in this context. Furthermore the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.” Chaplains get to help sharpen God’s people in stressful circumstances. Small groups share this burden with others helping us all to be built up together. I will attempt to gauge interest in different small groups and events by meeting with people to identify needs. As a chaplain I will be surrounded by those whom I am to minister to. I can potentially talk with each of them one on one. By doing this I can learn about the life and needs of those in my community. I can keep notes of my conversations and as leaders and needs are identified groups can be started.
The types of groups created will be based on the needs that are identified in the community. God did not call chaplains and airmen “to hide from the world. He called you to go into the world.” With this in mind chaplains reach out into their community and disciple others. In turn creating disciple making disciples. Yet “We must offer ourselves to God and then ask him to mold and shape our work so that his kingdom benefits.” The way we conduct ministry must be dependent on this fact. Chaplain ministry is largely dependant on factors outside the control of the individual, but once placed within a context and aware of responsibilities through prayer a chaplain can discern what sort of ministry God is calling the chaplain to in that place. Chaplains can only make disciples if it is God’s will.
Of the groups created, I expect there to be a marriage group, men’s groups, and family groups. Furthermore, my wife plans to develop a moms play group to build community. We will also develop events as needed in our community. Many Airmen either cannot go home or have no home to go to on holidays so community Christmas parties, and Thanksgiving Day celebrations will occur. We also plan to have barbecues during the summer where anyone can come. Chaplains also have some control over family days and team building activities. Such as having summer pool parties, and weekend hikes. Beyond this the Air Force also runs fitness activities on a regular basis and has range days. In either case chaplains have the opportunity to use this time to speak with Airmen.
Proof
Because of the context of my ministry I will have the opportunity to meet with individuals on a regular occasion where they work, eat, and live. I will track how many people I speak with in a given day. My goal is to speak with every person in my care at least once a month. Depending on the specific circumstances this may or may not be possible. But at the very least I can visit every area of the base on a regular occasion. To this end, I will have a regular visitation schedule to go around the base. I will track how many people I speak to in a day to have an idea of my outreach progress. I will do this by keeping a rough estimate in the notes on my phone and updating a spreadsheet of all the tracked statistics on a weekly basis.
Chaplains meet people where they are. When airmen and their families seek out a chaplain it is usually a sign of suffering. Chaplains need to be aware of this fact, “Sometimes we are unwilling, shunning the very thing that will move His redemptive purpose forward. That “thing” is suffering.” When people come to a chaplain because of the ways they are suffering the chaplain’s role is not to end the suffering but to help the counselee discover how God is redeeming their circumstances. As a chaplain my main role will be counseling. I will track the number of counseling sessions that I conduct and keep notes of those sessions. In doing this each issue that comes up will either be resolved or unresolved. The goal is for every issue to be resolved, this will be tracked. I will also track the number of sessions to see how long it takes issues to be resolved. This will give me an indication of my effectiveness in counseling. Whenever the counseling of an individual is completed I will review my notes to see how I can improve the process and add them to the statistics. Furthermore, when it comes to small groups I will track the number of groups and how many people are in the groups. This will show me how productive the leader's development is progressing. And how many people are being reached on a regular occasion. I will meet with each group leader on a monthly basis and update my statistics accordingly.
I will use these statistics to improve my approach to discipleship. By identifying what works well and what needs to stop I can better implement my time to reach the most people. Over time I will also have a better idea of when counseling is working and not working, and how long it should take. I will learn from the statistics what sort of groups work well and which do not. Over time my ministry effectiveness will improve by tracking the statistics. Furthermore, chaplains tend to be stationed at bases for two to four years at a time. This means that I will have chances to improve the effectiveness of my approach to discipleship with each change of base.
I will be accountable to several people and groups as a chaplain. Chaplains are accountable to the base commander, their senior chaplains, as well as their sponsoring organization. Because of this chaplains have to regularly meet with and write reports for each of those people or groups. Yet the ultimate accountability for a chaplain rests in their relationship with God. We do not exalt our own efforts, rather “we choose to Exalt God Only, fear and pride will be replaced by humility and confidence.”
Conclusion
The role of a military chaplain faces unique challenges and opportunities. Chaplains are both legally limited to how they reach people and constantly around those they seek to minister towards. This paper has considered the five P’s of discipleship. Creating a plan using the relevant passages and principles for a chaplains ministry. Then considered the best way to implement those principles.
Bibliography
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