Pastors preach on a passage out of Matthew 28, often referred to as, The Great Commission. They charge their parishioners, as Jesus did the disciples, to go and make disciples!
When some people hear the admonishment to go and make disciples, they might mentally assent to it. Theoretically, it sounds good. Theologically it sounds even better. After all, discipleship has played a catalytic role in the development and growth of the Church around the world. So, we should continue on in that same vein and make disciples today. Right?
Well…here is where the “buts and what-ifs” begin.
Someone hearing the charge to make disciples might think, “but I’ve never been discipled before. How can I make disciples? Where would I even start?”
Someone else might think, “what if I’ve never received any formal theological training? What if I try to make disciples and fall flat on my face because I don’t have answers for their questions?”
Others might think, “what if I don’t have the gift of evangelism or teaching?”
Before we begin to address these very valid and more-common-than-you-might-think questions, I would like us to work through two other fundamental and foundational questions.
- When does someone become a disciple?
- What does it mean to “make disciples”?
What do you think? When does someone become a disciple? My husband and I had a really thought-provoking discussion about this very question. In fact, he is the one who posed it to me.
I chewed on the question for a bit and then said, “someone becomes a disciple when they begin to follow Jesus.” I really do think it’s that simple. I think someone becomes a disciple when they choose to accept the gift of salvation found only in Christ, by grace through faith.
Now, I will say, I have been discipling someone for a few years now and I was tempted to say she became a disciple when she and I first started meeting together. But really, that’s when she became my disciple, not a disciple of Jesus.
If my assertion is true, that someone becomes a disciple when they begin to follow Jesus, that brings us to question #2: what does it mean to make disciples?
Think about that for a minute. What do you think Jesus wanted the disciples to do when He said in Matthew 28, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”?
What if “make disciples” means essentially to, “make converts”? I don’t mean that in a project kind of way. I mean it in the life-changing, best-thing-that-ever-happened kind of way.
Wouldn’t it make sense that Jesus would want the ones He invested in for over three years to actively and intentionally make the Truth known, that others might know Him and choose to follow Him?
Once those people chose to follow Christ, they could be baptized, thus following the order of the Great Commission. Baptism is an outward sign of what has already happened internally, i.e. the washing away of one’s sin. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here.” (2 Cor. 5:17).
If we, like the disciples of long ago, have accepted Christ, we too are disciples. Knowing the powerful work God has done in us and beginning to grasp the abundant and unconditional love He has for us, we can’t help but want to share it with others.
Here is where the buts and what-ifs of discipleship come back into the picture. There is a conflict between our desire to share with others and our perceived ability (or inability as the case may be) to do that.
We might wonder how the whole discipleship making process works if we, ourselves, were never discipled. Where do we start? What if we’ve never had formal theological training? What if we don’t have the gift of evangelism or teaching?
My husband and I have a theory that there might be an awful lot of Jesus-followers out there who hear the strong, compelling words of the Great Commission and yet feel woefully inadequate to carry it out.
We asked our small group how many of them actually felt equipped to disciple others and very few said they did. Why? Possibly because too many church leaders make the mistake of telling people to “go” before they help their parishioners to “know.”
Why do you think Jesus told his guys to “go and make disciples…” at the end of three and a half years with them? Because they weren’t fully trained or equipped until then.
Now, I’m not saying someone has to be discipled for three years before they can disciple someone else, I’m just making an observation that Jesus was very strategic in His timing.
Making disciples has a lot to do with friendship, love and intentional investment. It’s about exposing others to the Gospel and praying they will accept the gift of salvation.
Discipleship is about helping others grow in their faith. The one who is discipling is not better than the disciple, but he/she might have more or different life experience and/or Biblical knowledge and practice.
If you are someone who wants to go and make disciples but you feel ill-equipped to do so, can I give you a little encouragement?
Like many in my small group, I think you know more than you think you do. Your knowledge of the Bible, the power and work of the Holy Spirit, along with your personal testimony and lifestyle, can go a long way in helping others see, know and understand Truth.
We’ll spend some more time talking through the “what’s” “how’s” of discipleship in upcoming posts.
In the meantime, I would love you hear your thoughts about your approach to discipleship or if you have felt the tension between wanting to make disciples but not knowing how. Please share your comments below.
Thanks for joining me today. Let us go be radiant this week!
Go Be Radiant 