A Command Worth Following: Disciplemaking at Whidbey Island

Clay Miller always knew he wanted to be an astronaut. When he was a kid, he told his dream to his father. His dad challenged him, sharing that most astronauts were Navy pilots, and most Navy pilots went to the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

So that’s exactly where Clay went. In 1978, he joined the Navy and became a flyer. Little did he know, his time in the military would be a catalyst for his future work with The Navigators Military ministry on Whidbey Island, Washington.

Growing up, Clay’s mother raised him to know God and His Word. However, it wasn’t until he was 17 that Clay gave his life to Christ. Later, he discovered The Navigators, who helped him grow and develop in his faith.

One important verse The Navigators taught Clay is Matthew 28:18-20: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

Though he has read that verse hundreds of times, the word “command” struck him into action. As a military servicemember, Clay was familiar with commands from his commanding officers.

“I looked up the word ‘Lord’ in the Greek, and it means two things: master and commander,” Clay says. “And so I knew that I had this military command that Christ had given to those 11 men after the resurrection, to go and make disciples of all the nations. And so just like other areas of my life that I had turned over, I remember telling the Lord, ‘Yes, Lord, I will spend the rest of my life obeying the command to make disciples of all the nations.’”

Multiplying to the Next Generation

Bob Blakley spent 35 years in the Navy, first enlisting in 1968. At one point in his service, Bob was stationed in Japan, where he was miserable and living in sin. “Nothing seemed to go right, and things weren’t going in the right direction,” he recalls. But in 1996, Bob gave his life to Christ.

Though Bob came to Christ later in his military life, he now wants to give others a chance to come to Christ earlier than he did. Living on Whidbey Island, he has seen the Lord provide that opportunity through The Navigators.

“I was introduced to The Navigators Military team when they came to chapel,” Bob says. “I asked Clay if he’d baptize me, and he did that one Wednesday night with the Navs.”

Every Friday, Bob, Clay, and other men gather for breakfast, where they discuss their lives and how to pass on what they have learned to others. It’s a time of fellowship and discipleship, where the men can meet and grow together.

“Like Clay and his wife, Bev, did with Lucy and I, we want to do with other people,” Bob says. “We want to put our lives into their lives by intentionally growing believers into fully devoted followers of Christ.”

The Command to Make Disciples

Clay and Bob’s experience is just a small picture of what God is doing on Whidbey Island. Following God’s command to go and make disciples from Matthew 28, they have created a chain of generational impact.

“The concept of generational disciplemaking is all over the Old and the New Testament,” Clay says. “The Lord is very interested in not just our children, but our children’s children. He’s interested in not just me coming to Christ, but other people coming to Christ through me. And He doesn’t have to use any of us, but He chooses to do that.”

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last — and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you” John 15:16 (NIV).

Discipleship Tip: 

Clay’s story illustrates how God can use our individual life experiences to reveal new insights into His Word. This week, thank God for the wisdom He’s given you through your life experiences — and ask Him to show you how you can share what you’ve learned with those around you.