When We Say Make Disciples, What Do We Really Mean? To be a disciple of Jesus is the highest honor to which we can aspire. Yet even though discipleship is one of the hottest topics in Christendom today, its also one of the least understood. Perhaps when most people hear the word discipleship, they visualize a curriculum. That would make a disciple someone who knows a lot about their faith. And that is partially true. To excel at anything you need to have the right information. But discipleship is a much deeper, richer, and fuller concept. It is also a lifelong process of becoming more like Jesus. It starts with salvation, matures through learning, and fulfills by loving and serving our neighbors. What then is a disciple? A disciple is someone called to live in Christ, equipped to live like Christ, and sent to live for Christ. Calling includes salvation and abiding in Christ (John 8:31–32). Equipping includes spiritual formation and growth (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Sending includes discipling others, good work, bearing much fruit, and neighbor love (Matthew 28:18–20, John 15:8, John 13:34–35). What is discipleship? Discipleship, then, is anything that calls someone to live in Christ, equips them to live like Christ, or sends them to live for Christ. Making disciples is God’s designated way to release the power of His gospel on every problem we face. Authentic discipleship is to raise up men and women who love above all else the God who loves them above all else. Thats because however a person got into their current situation, the only solution is to disciple them way out. Evangelism without discipleship cruel. The risk when we dont fully disciple new believers is that they will almost always become lukewarm in faith, worldly in behavior, and hypocritical in witness. For this reason alone, anything less than a plan to disciple every willing person is a catastrophic moral failure. So how do we do this? When God puts someone in your path who is stuck, discipleship means finding out why and then helping them solve that problem. Who has God put in your path who is stuck? Get to know them. Find out where they are in life, on their spiritual journey, and whats holding them back. Its the making disciples thing to do. Of course, not everyone wants to be discipled, but whos responsible for those who do? The first step to every great outcome is to imagine its possibility. Until every church disciples every man... Pat
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 12:36:20 +0000
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