Disciple-Making

Disciples are not born - they are made!   This is what Jesus told us in what many call 'the great commission.'   After his death and resurrection, and before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his followers that they are to "go and make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:19)   Make disciples!   This is our God-given mission in this world.   As churches we understand that this begins by evangelism and continues by equipping all believers to be disciples of Jesus.   

In a previous post we looked at evangelism.   Evangelism is telling others the good news of Jesus with the intention of spreading this message and the teachings of the Bible to the unsaved and throughout the world.   The good news is that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" (John 3:16) to die for the sins of the world.   Jesus describes this coming to faith and believing this message, as being born again. (John 3:3)   A spiritual rebirth has taken place.   The unsaved is saved.  The lost is found.  One's sins are forgiven and eternal life is secure!  While as Christians we have the responsibility to tell others the good news of Jesus, this "coming to faith" is ultimately a work of God, for as Jesus reminds us: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:44)  To be born again is really a birth from above - a spiritual rebirth!

All of know from experience that birth is just the beginning.  Think of your own birth.   That was something you had little to do with.  You just were born.  So it is with one's spiritual rebirth.  If you believe in Jesus, your coming to faith is less about you and whole lot more about God.   God drew you to himself.   Once you were lost, but now you are found.  But once found, what happens next, has a whole lot more to do with you.  As Jesus put it, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."  (Matthew 16:24–25)   Here Jesus describes what it means to be his disciple.   By definition, a disciple is someone who follows another person or another way of life and who submits himself/herself to the discipline and teaching of that leader or way.  Once saved, believers are called to surrender everything to Jesus and follow him, his teachings, and his ways.   That is discipleship.

We have been looking at the Biblical values that shape the culture of the CRCA, a contemporary, Reformed, gospel-focused denomination.   As we looked at the core Biblical value of being Gospel-Focused we considered the ideas of being kingdom-orientated, outward-looking, and evangelistic.   Discipleship is another key part of our denominational core value of being gospel-focused.  When we talk about discipleship, this is not simply what happens to new believers.   We are referring to the ongoing call to growth which is laid before all followers of Jesus (Ephesians 4:15; Colossians 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 1:3).   In our TRAIN strategy we emphasize the task: to equip our church members to be disciples of Christ.   Simply put, a Christian disciple is someone who follows Jesus Christ.   As they follow Jesus they learn from him and take on his way of life.   This includes making more disciples of Jesus.   

Being a disciple of Jesus and disciple-making is not easy.   It requires patience, persistence, and perseverance.   In another blog I compared discipleship to cleaning fish.   It can get messy but the outcomes are a real blessing to yourself and those you disciple.   You see yourself and others mature, becoming more and more like Jesus. (Ephesians 4:13)   

Disciple-making is not about a program but a part of everyday life.   As Colin Neyes writes, "Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, whoever you are with, you can be making disciples. It has nothing to do with events, programs and courses and everything to do with walking with Jesus and with people as we engage in everyday living." (As You Go, p. 6; check out a previous blog where I discuss Neyes' excellent book on making disciples:  As You Go)  

For many years in the CRCA we have been praying and talking about the necessity of discipleship becoming more and more a part of the culture of our churches and denomination.   Generally speaking, this is becoming a reality!    People are using the disciple-making tool we created, the Discipleship Matrix, as a guide in helping people explore the gospel, believe the gospel, develop their faith, and multiply disciples/leaders.  (For an overview of the Discipleship Matrix:  Making Disciples)   A growing number of churches have engaged The Vine Project which is all about shaping your church's ministry culture around disciple-making.    Many churches have used the The Way discipleship material produced by the RTC as an effective way to do discipleship development.   Personally I have been actively making disciples as I meet weekly with people who are either exploring the faith, or new and growing believers.   A key discipleship resource I have returned to time and time again, which I highly recommend, is Greg Ogden's book Discipleship Essentials.

So let me ask you, are you making disciples?   Do you spend time with new or growing believers helping them mature in their faith and in following Jesus?   Is the ministry culture of your church shaped around disciple-making?   These are the questions we need to keep asking of ourselves and our churches.   Disciple-making is core to what we value as churches.  Again quoting Colin Neyes,  "Jesus did not create an institution; He began a movement that required a revolution. This movement by constant reproduction would see disciples produced in every corner of the world. Is it time rejoin that revolution?" (56)  To be gospel-focused is to be disciple-making!