Discipleship: The Lost Treasure of the Church

By Charlie Costa, Missionary and Regional Coordinator for the Middle East

      I often find myself questioning whether discipleship is a necessity or a choice. Is it merely a program, a curriculum or a way of life? As I reflect on the Great Commission, I realize the numerous struggles faced by the church in the Middle East. While there is a hunger among churches and Christian organizations to expand God’s kingdom in all directions, we still grapple with theories and models of growth across the world.

      Over the past six years, I have been burdened to follow Jesus’ model of discipleship — life-to-life discipleship — without undermining any other approach. I have learned essential principles of discipleship from various models, starting in 2013 when I began discipling a young man. Together, we navigated through his struggles and failures, witnessing God’s transformative grace at work within him. Witnessing the impact, I desired to see this model grow further, recognizing the great need in our communities for dedicated followers of Christ who are willing to work with individuals. They should not be overwhelmed by numbers but ready to invest in others and embrace the cost of life-to-life discipleship.

      Discipleship is fundamentally a relationship and a life journey where we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us, transforming us to become more like our Lord Jesus Christ. What a privilege and honor it is to be called Jesus’ disciples!

      As the years passed, spanning from six years ago to today, I have had the opportunity to disciple many individuals and share my vision with them. Personally experiencing God’s grace and love, they have come to understand the purpose of their existence and now live in accordance with their faith in their daily decision making. They have also felt a calling to help others within their network by engaging in the same discipleship process. By God’s grace, I now witness a second generation of disciples who are living for God’s glory. These individuals have established a genuine relationship with him and are partnering with God in making new disciples. To date, the disciples I have had the privilege of mentoring have collectively impacted the lives of 225 individuals.

      Six months ago, we took a leap of faith and rented a place in Kfarshima, located in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. We spent time crafting our vision, mission statement, core values and action plan. Three months ago, we commenced weekly meetings with a group of disciples comprising 25 individuals from Muslim and Druze backgrounds. Our intention is to form a community of Jesus’ disciples who are committed to developing a personal, deep and intimate relationship with God, resulting in a daily partnership to advance His kingdom. Together, we study the core values of such a community, apply them in our families and navigate the challenges of everyday life.

      Our mission encompasses raising awareness about discipleship among churches, believers and new disciples. We aim to create new discipleship relationships with individuals from diverse religious backgrounds, both believers and non-believers alike. Furthermore, we seek to model, equip, send and provide ongoing support to disciple makers, all with the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission.

      To accomplish our mission, we have begun presenting workshops and training sessions that address disciple-making movements with various ministry groups. We plan to expand these efforts in the future.

      Additionally, we are focusing on reaching the younger generation with the gospel through sports. One of our disciples is leading a soccer academy and making a positive impact on the lives of more than 130 children and teenagers, as well as their parents. We see significant growth potential in this area, as one-on-one discipleship meetings and gatherings of 30 teenagers have been initiated to address inner development, such as teamwork and character building.

      Our goal is to establish stronger connections with the surrounding communities, utilizing the center in Kfarshima as a space for fellowship and holistic support — physically, emotionally and spiritually.

      Lebanon, as you are aware, is currently facing severe economic crises, with families and individuals struggling to meet their basic needs. Consequently, we are eager to initiate a weekly service where we provide two meals for 25 individuals. Through this act of service, we aim to demonstrate the love of Christ, initiate discipleship relationships and repeatedly witness God’s transformative work in their lives, as well as in their families and communities.

      As Jesus quoted from the book of Isaiah when He began His ministry, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19 ESV). Our prayer is to have a similar ministry, bringing glory to our beloved God.