“Who in your life has been most influential to you and how?”
My family was gathered around a pan of brownies baked over a camp stove when someone posed this question. I listened as my family members mentioned pastors, co-workers, college roommates, and dear friends, celebrating their godly attributes in detail. And yet I found myself convicted. Outside of a few close friends, my life was populated by casual relationships and Bible study groups that lacked real accountability. I thought about how I have stumbled over passages like Titus 2:3–5. The kind of mentorship Paul describes there has seemed elusive. Here I was, a woman who knew and loved the Lord, yet I longed for godly influence and accountability. I was, in a word, lonely.
I’d venture a guess that most Christians have, at some point, felt similarly. Loneliness is a trying thing. Because we are made to dwell in rich community, the lack of it chaps. Women are particularly prone to interpret loneliness as a personal indictment, making its pang even more acute.
Discipling is a beautiful word, and it’s the antidote to loneliness in the church. Every Christian wants to be discipled and to disciple others. After all, in
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