Disciple/Disciple-Maker

FREE PREVIEW

Men and women were Jesus’ method of making disciples. In three years He preached and ministered to the masses, sent out seventy followers, and trained and sent out twelve Apostles. (Yet even one of these dropped out.) He devoted extra time and attention to three: Peter, James, and John. Whatever a disciple-maker is—Jesus was; whatever a disciple is—the twelve were. The worldwide spread of genuine Christianity through the centuries is a result of those first disciples becoming disciple-makers themselves.

There is often a missing emphasis upon “doing” in Bible teaching, and a missing emphasis upon “training” in the life of a growing Christian. There must be an emphasis upon the “how-to” of making disciples. Jesus taught His disciples many things, but He never taught hearing and knowing without “doing.” “You know these things. Blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). New Christians who are not properly followed-up after conversion run the risk of remaining spiritual infants for the rest of their lives. Paul wrote about follow-up regarding the church in Thessalonica: “But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thess. 2:7-8).

Would a young man who had just joined the football team be sent onto the field with no training, physical conditioning or knowledge of the rules? Would an aspiring musician be allowed to perform publicly without first mastering the fundamentals of the instrument? Would a soldier be sent into battle without completing basic training? Of course not, yet new believers are often chosen to occupy places of ministry in the church without first being “followed-up–established in the fundamentals of the faith. It is equally unacceptable (even inexcusable) for a new or spiritually immature Christian to be welcomed into the church and merely encouraged to attend services once or twice a week, and nothing more.

The writer of Hebrews addressed the problem resulting from inadequate follow-up and disciple-making in the early churches: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:12-14).

Peter said it this way: “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord” (1 Peter 2:2). The needs of a new Christian are very much like those of a newborn baby: love, food and protection. After assurance of salvation, he needs love and acceptance by the body of Christ. He must be fed spiritually and taught how to feed himself from the Word of God. He must be protected from whatever would harm him, but especially from Satan’s efforts to hinder his Christian growth.

Suppose a mother wants to train her baby to eat. Would she simply give the child a jar of food, a can opener, and a spoon? Would she have her baby watch a video about how to eat? That’s absurd. She would feed the baby herself, and gradually teach him how to hold the spoon, dip the food, and bring it to his mouth. As parents, we provide our children everything they need in order to grow and develop normally. As disciple-makers, we have an equal responsibility to provide our spiritual offspring everything they need for normal growth and development. We cannot assume that the average Christian can simply read a book or complete a workbook on the subject of discipleship and/or disciple-making and go on to effectively lead another through the process. One-on-one instruction, interaction, and encouragement are needed. For this reason, we should refrain from simply giving a prospective disciple something to read and fill out.

Just as there is no shortcut to properly caring for a newborn baby, there is no shortcut to spiritual nurturing of a new convert or growing Christian. Unless these principles are thoroughly understood and incorporated into the life of the believer, he will not be able to successfully pass them on to another, thus terminating the process of spiritual reproduction. The one who is still seeking salvation—not yet a true believer—must not be allowed to come to the threshold of the kingdom of God and then be lost for lack of sufficient nurturing. You must direct or accompany him to a church where the Bible is preached faithfully, and to a Sunday school class or group Bible study. Pray for him daily and pray with him as you have opportunity.

As disciple-makers, we must be pacesetters; we must set the proper example for our disciples. The Apostle Paul was a man disciplined in the Word, prayer, teaching, preaching, working, and witnessing. No wonder he could say to his followers: “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9).