The Mark of Discipleship

Discipleship can be defined as the ministry of multiplication or divine spreading. It is the art of fishing for lost souls for the kingdom of God for divine restoration and enduring fellowship with God. Discipleship is the training and equipping of men and women under the divine guidance and leading of the Spirit of God for divine service to God and humanity. This involves the systematic art of following Jesus, who has promised us earthly blessings and eternal life. It involves a selfless service or commitment as represented by a total submission of the self for servant hood. And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called them; And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4:19–22) Friends, discipleship demands total surrender and consecration or submission to he who has called you into servant hood; No half measure is acceptable. Note that in the aforementioned passage, the first four sets of disciples left all they had—fathers, nets, fish, and wealth—to follow him. This explains why Jesus asked us, as chosen disciples, to leave all and follow him. The reason for discipleship is that only Disciples of Christ will enter the kingdom of heaven. God wants everyone to be saved, and set for eternal glory in heaven. This is why God wants us to be well and fully trained in the art and manner of heavenly discipline, character, holiness and wisdom before we can enter into his holy heaven to worship and serve him forever. So the last shall be the first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chosen. (Matthew 20:16) What Jesus is implying here is that only well-trained Christians will see his Father in heaven. Discipleship has its central focus on global evangelism and was the original concept and vision of its author and finisher, our Lord. The global vision was to multiply faithful disciples with the imparted life of Christ, who would in turn teach and pass on this art to others. This explains the reason for the Great Commission as handed down to the apostles and the disciples of old and that has been passed on to our own generation for onward transmission. Friends, God has redeemed us with the precious blood of Jesus for enduring discipleship. He wants us to go to all nations and win souls into his kingdom through the divine art of Spirit-led discipleship. Have we met this expectation of our heavenly Father? Why is the church in a spiritual coma? Why does the church revolve in a circle? A cursory look at the churches on earth today reveals that we are far from meeting this divine expectation. The spirit of unfaithfulness has taken hold of the body of Christ. Discipleship is a very crucial and all-encompassing divine assignment that demands special power or supernatural enablement for accomplishment. No one ever calls himself or herself into this program and succeeds. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. (Hebrews 5:4) God is the only source of true discipleship. He has all the know-how required for a successful discipleship program. Discipleship makes room for the expansion of the kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. It is our opportunity to tap into God’s infinite resources. Friends, discipleship is about fruit bearing, and only the divine energy or power of the Holy Spirit through absolute faith and obedience to Jesus will make this feasible. Jesus promised us the gift of the Holy Spirit, before he ascended into heaven to assist us in carrying out the discipleship work he started. The Holy Spirit must dwell in us to empower us and teach us the pathway to excellence and breakthrough in our discipleship. The gentle, empowering, and overcoming Spirit is waiting for us to be willing to be sanctified by him and available for faithful service before he can enter us for supernatural indwelling. It is this supernatural indwelling and incubation that attempts to start, sustain, and accomplish this discipleship work that will qualify us to gain God’s divine approval and commendations. Many pastors have polluted the sanctuary of God; this has made the majority of the children of God wander hills and mountains (i.e., all church gatherings that lack the presence of God). Brethren, it is from the confusion on these polluted mountains and hills, that God will bring to his scattered people true pastors, and messengers to lead his children. I believe strongly that God, for this reason, has a spiritual regulatory body, the Holy Spirit, to assign spiritual ISBNs to every aspect of the discipleship program of the church to help check the spiritual and physical decay of the church. Every human life is a book written and directed by God. God uses the ministry of the Holy Spirit as a quality control measure to arrest spiritual decline and thus regulate the quality of discipleship in the whole of the church. The leadership must be spiritually sensitive, visionary, spiritually and physically disciplined, so as to inject these laudable qualities into the lives of all church members. With the dramatic rise of counterfeit revival as a direct consequence of the construction of false discipleship structures, the church must strive for quality and purity of life. The church is a unique people chosen by God to receive eternal life. God expects the church to live a separated and holy life distinct from that of the world. Its members should, however, with God’s wisdom and directions, engage the world and attempt to win it over to God. In doing so, God will approve our discipleship and guarantee us eternal and a blissful life in heaven.