Disciple-making is about investing in people. The fact that Jesus took twelve men and called them to Himself and invested three years of His life into them gives us a great model for discipleship. If you think about it, Jesus could have built anything. He could have started a business; He could have created a network; He could have restored the kingdom to Israel. There are so many different things Jesus could have done to leave His legacy but there is only one thing that He did do – He recruited people to become His disciples (learners) so they would, in turn, invest and teach others too.
Disciple-making is not about becoming perfect. It is sad to see people “select-out” of disciple-making because they do not think they know enough to build into someone else’s life. It is a little oxymoronic to claim to be a follower of Jesus but never get to the point of investing in someone else. But there are many who feel so inadequate they will never take the time to intentionally invest in others. The basic point of discipleship is that we care enough for those who are unbelievers and believers to help them embrace Jesus and allow Christ to shape the direction of their life. We simply need to be willing to enter into conversations with others about spiritual truth. If the Spirit of God works and a person comes to faith in Christ, it is the greatest privilege to be able to walk alongside that person to help them discover greater experiences in their walk with Christ. The “perfection syndrome” is more about being fearful than being perfect.
Disciple-making is about helping others become disciple-makers. Jesus commanded His disciples to go make disciples. It requires they tell others how to come into a relationship with Christ (the gospel) and then help them apply their lives to His truth. True discipleship is about helping everyone become a spiritual parent. This is not about spiritual gifts, it is not about leadership, it is not about programming, and it certainly is not about hiding from the world in a building. People who have a life-changing experience in meeting Christ are called to share what they learn with others.
Disciple-making is about whole-life change because of the Holy Spirit in us. The true work of discipleship is the work of the Spirit. We are not about mere behavior modification or simply moralism. Discipleship is certainly not about working through the questions in a book, nor is it about simply gaining more information. We may do some of those things in our process, but it is the Spirit of God who is actively changing us into the image of God’s Son, Jesus. We can waste people’s time by simply talking about discipleship instead of being a disciple-maker.
Discipleship is about evangelism and learning to obey all that Christ commanded. Jesus commanded His disciples to go make disciples – they were to baptize people and then teach them to obey all that Christ commanded. We are not a disciple of Jesus if it does not include helping people who do not know Christ, to come to know Him through the gospel. When a person surrenders to God through faith in Christ then he begins a journey of learning a new way of life. God changes everything and everything changes because of God.
Five challenges related to disciple-making:
- We can talk about discipleship, but it is quite another to be engaged in being a disciple-maker.
- Discipleship ultimately is about relationships that grow together. It is not just running a program.
- Disciple-making is about life transformation not just transferring information back and forth.
- Disciples of Jesus ought to become spiritual parents, helping others to become His follower.
- Discipleship (unfortunately) is not for everyone. People who do not want to be bothered with relationships will not become a spiritual parent.
Are you allowing someone to encourage and help you on your spiritual journey with Christ? Are you helping someone in their journey with Christ. We all need the investment of others, but fear is a great deterrent for people to truly be a disciple who is committed to making disciples.
Pastor Brad
