Making Disciples Who Make Disciples

The Great Commission is the driving force behind our actions as citizens of the Kingdom of God. It is a command that supersedes all human law. There is a right way to carry out this command. That way honors God and brings him glory. There are wrong ways to attempt to carry out this Commission. These grieve God and dishonor him before the world.

Mat 28:18-20 Jesus drew near and said to them, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."

If you have been in an evangelical church for any length of time, you have heard this passage of scripture explained and promoted many times. Jesus speaks here to his disciples just before he ascends into heaven.

Jesus reveals the foundation for the Commission in the first statement. After that he sets forth the pattern of ministry for his followers. As he has shared with them, they are now to duplicate his work out in the world. They are to be his Body at work until he comes again.

Since all authority is in the hands of Christ, his commands carry the force of heaven itself. What he rejected when Satan offered it during the wilderness temptations, he has gained through obedient suffering on the cross. Jesus has full authority to set the path for his followers and to expect obedience from them.

Making disciples of others must be a part of our daily lives. Jesus expects us to allow his Spirit to work through us during each day. Whether we are at home, at our jobs, or relating to our communities, we should be aware of the need to help others learn of Jesus and grow in their knowledge and obedience.

Through baptism an individual identifies with the Risen Lord Jesus. Baptism does not save an individual. Only faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to the leadership of the Holy Spirit can do that. Baptism, however, serves the purpose of a public testimony indicating the person is not ashamed to be called a Christian. In today’s world once again this has become a dangerous stand to take.

The Risen Lord is emphatic we are to teach other to be obedient to what he has taught us. Making a disciple is far more than sharing knowledge. It must be more than recognizing who Jesus is as the Son of God and his authority as part of the Trinity. Knowledge is not the same as recognizing Lordship.

Jas 2:19 Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe---and tremble with fear.

Obedience comes from a willingness to submit to leadership and authority. James tells us even the demons recognize the truth about the nature of God and through him Christ, but they are not submissive to his Lordship. We must learn what Jesus taught and then we must be obedient to it. We must teach others the same. Salvation comes through faith, not knowledge. To make faithful followers we must teach them the necessity of obedience through faith.

Finally we make disciples by helping them to see they have the ongoing presence of Jesus with them. His promise to be by our sides at all times until he returns to take us home is as old as God’s relationship with man. The Psalmist in the Old Testament took comfort and gained strength through that assurance.

Psa 73:23-25 Yet I always stay close to you, and you hold me by the hand. You guide me with your instruction and at the end you will receive me with honor. What else do I have in heaven but you? Since I have you, what else could I want on earth?

Making more disciples is every disciple’s job. It is a basic part of the responsibility of the Bible study group.

CATCH OR CLEAN ‘EM FIRST?

James Emory White wrote in his blog (Oct. 7, 2013, Vol. 9, No. 80) we need to keep “First Things First”. He emphasized the need to bring people into a saving relationship with Jesus first, and then we start the process of transformation leading to a fully devoted follower of Christ. Why bring up a topic like this? Because we have far too many churches who feel these people of the world need to come up to certain standards before we can allow them into the Kingdom of God (meaning our tight-knit little Christian family).

The Act comes before the Process, and conversion does not equal completion. You cannot shape someone into the image of Christ if that person has never met Christ. The words of Jesus to the rich, young man summarize the steps every individual must take to have that special relationship with him. (Mark 10:17-22) Rather than following all the right rules, a follower of Christ must eliminate everything that stands between him and Christ. “Sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.” When we remove the idols from our lives, then we can freely follow Jesus and begin the process of replacing our idols with Christ. How many of our church members would have been able to follow through on Jesus’ command?

The Apostle Paul provides a valuable insight, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, and see, all things have become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17) New creation leads to becoming Christlike. It is a lifelong journey that involves commitment. The beginning, however, is a point of confrontation with the Living Lord. Only then can there be a lifestyle change that is heart deep.

Before Zacchaeus met Jesus (Luke 19:1-10), he was recognized as a Rome collaborating tax collector. He was under suspicion of taking more money from the people than he was due. No one could question what he did because he had the full authority of the Roman government behind him.

Yet after one meal with Jesus, Zacchaeus was ready to give away half of his possessions to the poor and make restitution to all whom he may have defrauded. That is what happens when Jesus says I want you in my company. After you have learned from me, you will start behaving in a new way. You will be a new creature and the old will have disappeared.

Too often our traditional way of allowing people into our group has been through the three step method of adopting proper behavior followed by believing the proper doctrinal statements and concluding with permission to belong. People had to act right (act like us) proving they really wanted to be a part of our group. Once they acted in acceptable ways, then we would teach them the great truths of our faith insuring they were of the right blood line. After they had passed all the tests and shown they were good enough, we allowed them to add their names to the roll and become a member of our family (though often on a probationary basis).

That, however, is not the way we find Jesus doing it in the Gospels. Jesus took risks. Jesus demanded faith. Jesus looked at what people were and saw what they could become. The Jesus Way was asking someone to belong to him and his company. That lead to believing, having faith in what he said was Truth. The result was a life that focused on behaving in a way that honored God and the redeeming love he offered the world.

Jesus called to a smelly bunch of fishermen and said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Come and be a part of my company. While with me you will learn about the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Then you will know how to behave as a citizen of my Father’s Kingdom, as a child in the Family of God.”

Discipleship Is Free, But Not Cheap

Ask any Christian seeking to remain faithful to a walk with Christ in a north African, middle eastern, or south Asian country, and he or she will tell you that the grace of God is free, but it is not cheap.

When Jesus told his first disciples to follow him, he told them what he would do to them, but not how much it would change their lives. That would take three more years of discipling, of teaching them what it meant to follow him. They had to identify with him and imitate him. When he was gone, they were to take his place and do what he had been doing. That’s being a disciple.

A recent weekend spent in studying how to start the discipling process in the life of another brought the cost of being a disciple of Jesus home once more. The conference revolved around IECS, the Intentional Evangelistic Church Strategy (see ncbaptist.org). The focus was making the local church more evangelistic. Since the local church is made up of those who claim to be part of the local Christian family, the goal is to make the church member more aware of and involved in evangelizing and discipling a lost world.

In the past I had come to see four major areas involved in the discipling process. This IECS conference reawakened their importance to me.

The first area is clarifying priorities (Matthew 6:33). Jesus told his disciples to follow him. He was to be their priority. Placing God’s Kingdom first puts everything else in the proper perspective. When we choose to put God first, he promises to take care of all our basic needs.

The Gospel of Matthew records the second area as well (Matthew 22:34-40). This area focuses upon the priority of love for God that is then translated into a love for our fellow man. The nature of God defines love. Learning to love through God allows us to have the proper kind of love for others.

In Luke we find my favorite statement of the third area (Luke 9:23). To be a disciple of Jesus involves self-denial, daily cross-bearing, and the intentional following of Jesus wherever he directs. Jesus calls each of us to acknowledge what would build a wall between him and us and get rid of it. Our crucifixion must involve a death to the hold the world would have on us. Only then can we be truly free.

The final area is defined once again in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20) and has come to be known as the Great Commission. There are no limitations here. The command goes to every follower of Jesus, and it extends to the ends of the world. Every believer is a disciple and everyone deserves to be a disciple.

For my own ease of use I have come to call these four texts the Four Great “C”s: the Great Calling in Matthew 6; the Great Commandments in Matthew 22; the Great Commitment in Luke 9; and the Great Commission in Matthew 28.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that living as a disciple of Jesus is easy or cheap. He comes to each of us and asks us to follow him, be his disciple, and then go make disciples for him among other people. You cannot seek first the Kingdom of God without sacrificing your own kingdom. You cannot love God first and love yourself equally. You cannot seek your own wants in a lifestyle of self-denial and cross-bearing. You cannot make disciples of people throughout the world if your primary concerns are comfort and safety.

Becoming a disciple of Jesus is easy. Living as a disciple of Jesus is much harder. Becoming a disciple of Jesus is free. Remaining a disciple of Jesus can become costly. You cannot find a better teacher and daily companion than the Son of God. It’s also a friendship that will last for eternity. It’s the best investment you can make.