I’ve often struggled with the idea of “discipleship”. Jesus instructs us go and make disciples but what is a disciple and how do we make them?
It has been a couple of decades that I have experienced Church and have to say I have heard about Jesus’ commission to go and make disciples, but I have not seen or experienced it.
Over the years I have seen and experienced various programs, Bible studies and have attended a conference or two and have gained a lot of knowledge but still was not clear on this thing called “Discipleship”.
At the conclusion of each program, conference and most Bible studies, I would go back to the Gospel of Matthew to see if what I had experienced lined up with this thing called discipleship.
I came away with a collection of Biblical truths. I memorized a few more Scriptures that I could repeat and all of that is good, but I still felt lacking in being discipled.
Jesus told His Disciples to go and make more disciples. His intention in the making of disciples had to be more than programs, collecting a few more Biblical truths while memorizing a handful of Scripture verses, right?
David Platt put forward this question, “If we are not making disciples, are we really disciples?”
When it comes to discipleship, what are we missing?
I believe many are missing the life of Christ. We focus on getting people to say, “the prayer” to invite Christ into your heart and we are satisfied in calling that evangelism. Do I risk saying it now or save it for later? That is neither evangelism nor discipleship.
Evangelism inspires discipleship.
Preaching the Gospel is sharing the teachings of Christ to both saved and the lost. The Biblical response to the Gospel is discipleship but should be weighed and measured carefully first before engaging. The Gospel is clear that there is a cost to discipleship, to following Jesus. It’s not all loaves, fish, miracles and listening to feel-good sermons on a Sunday morning.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”
Luke 14:28-30 NIV
The cost of discipleship is not being ashamed of the Word of God. It’s denying yourself for the sake of Christ, just as He denied Himself on the cross for your sake, for both your salvation and reconciliation to God the Father.
Jesus initially invited the twelve disciples to follow Him. Once they accepted His invitation, they began to watch how He healed the sick, raised dead, cast out the demonic, cleansed the lepers, and taught about the Kingdom of God. Then He gave them time to practice what He taught and exampled.
It wasn’t enough for the disciples to listen to Jesus and watch Him work, they had to show themselves to be His disciples by doing what He taught them to do.
That is the mark of a disciple of Christ.
