Paul commands the Colossian believers to practice several reciprocal actions. They are to speak truth to one another (v. 9), forgive one another (v. 13), forbear with one another (vs. 13-14), and teach and admonish one another (v. 16). If a disciple is best described as a learner, then the command for us to teach one another is especially significant.
We tend to limit teaching to the classroom and the pulpit. As we have seen, Jesus taught as much by example as by word. This role of teacher is for all of us. We are through word, deed, and attitude to consider ourselves teachers of others. Disciple making, in other words, is a mutual activity. It is often possible for the new believer to teach his mentor if the mentor is open to learning. At the very least, the new believer can remind or exemplify in action what the disciple maker already knows.
This is possible because being a learning disciple is more than taking in knowledge. It is rather the renewal of the new self in knowledge after the image of the Creator (v. 10). Spiritual growth is more than learning spiritual doctrine. Disciple making is more than imparting spiritual data. Discipleship is in some sense a spiritual process in which we all teach each other and are renewed in Christ.
Who are you teaching? Who is teaching you? What believer have you neglected to learn from? What believer have you neglected to invest yourself in? Selection is an important process, for you can only focus on only a few people in intensive disciple making; but if your whole life is about making disciples, you will teach other believers, often unintentionally, and you will be taught by them to be more like Christ.
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