HEALTHY CHURCH: Discipleship 101
Is the discipleship that local churches are practicing the same discipleship Jesus described and the early church practiced? One poll says that “83% of church attendees are clueless about the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.” Lifeway did a study of 2,300 churches and found out that “less than half of those churches said they had any plan in place for discipling people, and only 60% had anyone responsible for any level of spiritual formation among children, students and adults.” Where are you in the journey of making disciples in a way that repeats the process of multiplying disciples?
If you can honestly say that you are in the 17% or the 40%, praise the Lord, but you are more the exception than the rule. Western culture is overly obsessed with numbers, believing that bigger is better. Even in Scripture reading, you can easily become deceived into thinking that consuming more is better, but maybe you need to slow down to digest and absorb its truth better. With smaller portions you can meditate on and even memorize more. Take a look at all the admonitions in the Psalms to meditate on God’s Word. Consider that smaller and slower promotes spiritual transformation.
Jesus gave us several examples of doing things upside down compared to how we follow Him today. Jesus said that the humble are exalted, the last shall be first, the leader is to be a servant and the kingdom is a mustard seed. The number of people following Jesus in John 6 was sinking rapidly, yet He was succeeding. After 3 ½ years of ministry, there were only 120 committed to following Jesus, and He is the Son of God. Jesus slowed down for times of deeper prayer as He would get alone with the Father. He even prayed all night before He chose His first 12 to follow Him.
In Rediscovering Discipleship by Robby Gallaty, he stated, “Knowing the term discipleship and understanding it in the way Jesus meant it are two different things.” Jesus told them to come and follow Him. The journey with Christ is more about the relationship than the scholarship — knowing what to do and how to do it does not mean you are doing it. Jesus expected obedience because He clearly stated, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Jesus expects you to follow and do what He has told you to do before you become a maker of disciples. First, you are to follow Jesus and then help others follow Jesus.
It sounds simplistic because it is, but that does not mean it will be easy. You are to help everyone you meet to follow Jesus and equip them to help others follow Jesus. If you want to make a difference in people’s lives, you have to be different because of how Jesus has transformed your life. This is not about outward appearance but an inward transformation that leads to a focused commitment to discipleship. The goal in the Scriptures is not to find them, gather them or improve them. The object is to make disciples, and the goal is to have a transformed life under the rule of God.
In The Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman said, “Better to give a year or so to one or two people who learn what it means to conquer for Christ than to spend a lifetime with a congregation just keeping the program going… It might well be that some cherished plans of our own making will have to be redirected or perhaps abandoned altogether. Equally agonizing may be the adjustment of the congregation to the Master’s view of the ministry.” Is discipleship actually occurring? What do you need to stop doing, and what do you need to begin doing to be obedient to Jesus’ command?
Training events are good, but they are an event. Discipleship is a relationship. Studying Jesus’ discipleship pathway, the expectations were obedience and then passing on what you learned to others. Can you correctly call yourself a disciple if you have never made a disciple? The path to discipleship is not new but needs to be rediscovered. It requires a major shift in our way of thinking and following Christ. It is about new behaviors and will require a radical adjustment and commitment to making disciples. Discipleship was never meant only to be an endless number of lectures from spiritual giants.
It requires realigning activities where it is not just a church program or something we talk about. It requires actually following through. It requires time dedicated to one-on-one discipleship. It requires relevant, relational approaches, where our focus is on doing life day by day with people and not just attending classes or participating in programs. It requires redemptive action where we extend God’s grace to the lost, the last and the least, by walking with them and doing life together with an obedience mechanism in place.
Developing a discipleship system that produces strong, obedient disciples through strong discipling relationships is challenging. It is time-consuming and hard work. Many have never been shown how to disciple someone, and the temptation is to overemphasize quantity over quality. Proper discipleship of the few will lead to the salvation of the multitudes. Quantity and quality are not mutually exclusive, and just because a church is large does not mean that “they must be doing something wrong or unscriptural!” Commit to discipleship whatever size your church is (3, 30, 300, etc.).
Are you discipling others by teaching them how to share their faith? Are you discipling others by teaching them how to grow as Christians? Are you discipling others by teaching them how to feed themselves, not just be fed by someone else? Are you discipling others by teaching them how to defend what they believe with Biblical truth and doctrine? Are you discipling others by teaching them how to disciple others who disciple others?
Henry Blackaby stated, “When an unbeliever meets a Christian, the unbeliever ought to be face-to-face with everything he needs to know in order to follow Christ.”
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Larry Barker
Director of Church Planting and Church Health Larry Barker submits a weekly column titled, Healthy Church Solutions, designed to strengthen and encourage the local church.
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