The Mandate of Making Disciples

We are living in a dangerous time, particularly in the Church. It is dangerous because of the false messages coming forth from the pulpits of America. Political correctness and outright heresy are rampant.  An example of such a danger that I have addressed is a prosperity gospel that promotes materialism in the body of Christ. I am convinced that we need to be patient and wait on God to take care of us – to persevere with faith and the expectation of the return of Christ to make all things new.

The reason this needs to be pointed out is because of the increased discouragement that is prominent in many. A growing number of people don’t seem to see the results they desire within the time frame they want it in. Therefore, they fall away from the faith because they are jealous that the wicked seem to prosper while Christians suffer or go without.

It is important to note that we are not in competition with the world! While the earth belongs to the Lord and will at some point be renewed, we are currently not of this world and its system. We are of another world and one that will ultimately come to the earth. But we must wait! While we wait we live according to the ways of the new world – the divine world. To have our hearts and desires in this world is to deny God’s world and God’s ways.

This is why we as a TRUE CHURCH must understand our calling, the vision and the way to go about fulfilling it. We must simplify our efforts. There is a three-fold effort that we must put forth that will achieve the Biblical mandate and qualify us as an obedient people of God without getting sidetracked by other gospels presented by so-called preachers of the Word. Mark these three on your heart: Making Disciples, Creating Community and Building Kingdom.

In this article, I will deal with the first of these – MAKING DISCIPLES! Matthew 28:18-20 says,

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Notice that Jesus said to make disciples of all nations. In other words, the NATIONS must be discipled. God is interested in the nations – every societal sphere coming under the authority of Christ (government, business, education, religion, family, art and media). All of these things and more make up a nation or a cultural spheres.

But how do you reach a nation? of course the answer is ONE PERSON AT A TIME! We must focus our efforts on making disciples through personal investment in others. We must be able to define a disciple!

The characteristics of a disciple can be described as one who sits at the feet of another to learn of Him and to become like Him. The goal of making disciples is to bring people into a relationship with Christ. They sit at His feet and listen to His voice growing to know Him intimately and becoming like Him. A disciple of Jesus loves Him with ALL of his heart, mind, soul and strength! He declares fro ma heart of devotion, “Lord, I am available to you for anything, anytime, anywhere!” A disciple does not just add Jesus to the bulk and busyness of his life; his life revolves around Jesus!

There are certain types of people in the church that fall into particular categories. There are those I call PROFESSORS. These are those who say they know Christ but live their lives distant from Him with no real focus or attention given to Christ. They only refer to Him when asked or in trouble, Then there are KNOWER'S. These are those that know a lot about Christ and will use religion for security purposes. They know enough of the legalities and fine print with their head to make others think they are true. In addition, there are FOLLOWERS. These are those that believe and follow Christ by being where they are supposed to be. They hear and agree but come up short of full application. They follow because they know there is something credible and wonderful about Christ but do not yet know how to move to the next level. Finally, there are DISCIPLES. These are those who are defined as “learners; those who are teachable and disciplined.” Many believers are followers of Jesus, but not so many are true disciples. Being teachable and disciplined are probably two of the greatest deficits within the Body of Christ in most western countries today.

We need the Lord’s vision for making disciples. Our goal in following Christ is not just material accumulation, but true transformation into the likeness of our Master. “Where there is no vision, the people perish, but happy is he who keeps the Law.” (Prov. 29:18)

I have found that there are consequences of having no vision. 

Where there is no vision, there is ... No Consistent Course in Life! Without a God-given vision, the power to hold us and keep us on course for God’s will for our lives specifically and corporately is lacking. 

Where there is no vision, there is ... No Development of New Believers! Unless we have a vision for making disciples, we will fail to get alongside new believers and help them mature in the Lord. Instead, we will busy ourselves with many worthwhile activities, but will leave this commission of the Lord unfulfilled. We leave new believers to their own progress, hoping they don’t fall away from the faith. As a result, many of them will never grow, develop and fulfill their God-given potential. 

Where there is no vision, there is ... No Wisdom for Our Own Choices! Being unrestrained, we may be unable to choose the best over the good. Not only will we fail to disciple others, but also we will find excuses for being lazy in the spiritual disciplines ourselves. 

Where there is no vision, there is ... An Open Door for the Enemy! When Christians have no vision for making disciples, it dramatically affects the church and the earth. The result: Instead of being strong in the Scriptures, some Christians pursue humanistic psychology and New Age philosophies for answers to their problems. They cannot apply the Word of God personally and cannot teach others. The Church has failed by not investing time and effort to disciple and equip the saints. 

Where there is no vision, there is ... Negative Impact on the Growth of the Church and the Kingdom. The importance of making disciples cannot be overstated. Dr. Keith Phillips says, “Discipleship is the only way to produce both the quantity and quality of believers God desires.” Consider these recent evangelistic statistics: 80% of those accepting the Lord fall away from Him within the first year! WHY? They were never personally discipled. When the floodgates of evangelism were opened in the Soviet Union with the fall of communism several years ago, many statistics indicated that only about five percent of those who made decisions for Jesus continued more than a few weeks in the faith. The Great Commission is not to go and make converts, but go and make disciples.

Jesus had a vision for discipleship and His ministry modeled it! The ministry of Jesus involved investing His life into 12 men for three and a half years so that they, in turn, could transmit that life to others. He showed them: Who the Father was, and how to have a growing, disciplined relationship with Him. He taught them to pray, to understand the Scriptures, to minister with power, and to walk in humility and love. Jesus’ earthly ministry was divided into two chief areas:

He Ministered to the Multitudes

Jesus described His ministry to the multitudes in Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, preach deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, liberate the oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

He Mentored a Minority

Jesus taught and trained 12 men, investing His life into them. John 17:6,8 describes Jesus’ ministry to these men: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world... I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.”

Later in John 17:18, the Lord’s disciples were sent out to do the same:  To preach the gospel and heal the sick to reveal the character and love of the Father; to convince others of the divinity of Jesus; and to disciple people in their personal relationships with God and His Word.

Our calling as disciples is exactly the same as that of His original disciples. We are to minister to the masses in the power of the Spirit through preaching, teaching and healing. We are to mentor and disciple others in their relationship with God understanding that Jesus did not try to disciple everyone. He only trained those whom the Father gave Him; He poured His life into those twelve men.

A disciple making strategy is the straight-forward, intentional impartation of God’s Word into another person through personal engagement. In the Body of Christ today we have volumes of talented, gifted and able people, but we lack when it comes to seasoned men and women who model the nature and lifestyle of the Lord Jesus. A deficiency in the Body of Christ is mature godly character. Many believers today still need to be taught how to know the Lord more personally, pray effectively, and study the Scriptures with the ability to apply God's Word to their lives.

May our focus for 2012 be to use our resources, time and effort to make disciples rather than to enlarge church membership. If we make disciples it will automatically build the church and the Kingdom. Let’s all decide today to be fully obedient to Christ in this endeavor. After all, that is the first step to being a true disciple!