It’s not something that happens by accident or overnight, and it can’t be completed in a six-week class. It requires a commitment from the potential disciple and the disciple-makers. It means teaching people how to know and be like Jesus - to obey God and seek His best for their lives.ĭiscipleship is a journey of intentional decisions leading to maturity in your relationship with Jesus so that you become more like Him in your attitudes, focus and ultimately behavior. Making disciples of Jesus goes beyond teaching facts about Jesus. A disciple models him or herself after someone. The discipleship process is more than teaching people the right knowledge about God. This is where discipleship goes beyond evangelism. “And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” It’s about identifying with and giving your life to the God who knows you, created you and loves you. It’s clear from this instruction that Jesus’ commission includes people becoming his followers, but it’s not limited to it. A follower of Jesus should declare their allegiance to Jesus by identifying with His death and resurrection, which is what baptism illustrates. “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”īaptism is an inauguration into God’s community. Everyone on earth can become a disciple of Jesus, and Jesus commands His disciples to go to everyone. His message of peace and reconciliation - of restored relationships - isn’t just for Israel and Samaria it’s for the whole world. The Jews despised Samaritans, but Jesus was tearing down walls of hostility (Ephesians 2:14). Around the same time that He gave the Great Commission, Jesus told His disciples, “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV). Jesus was a Jewish man, but during His ministry on earth, He taught that God was not only redeeming the people of Israel to Himself He was redeeming the world. Communicating the gospel is a critical element of disciple-making, but it isn’t the end. It’s someone who has committed their life to following Jesus. A disciple is more than someone who converts to a new religion. To make other disciples, Jesus’ disciples would have to share the gospel message with people who had never heard it before. They would have to go out and make them, which speaks to strategic and intentional behavior. Christ’s followers couldn’t wait around for people to come to them and ask to become disciples. It requires intentional, strategic behavior. Let’s look at each part of what He said.ĭisciple-making is not a passive activity. The disciples would have understood Jesus’ words to have some pretty important implications. This would need to become their primary focus. When Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, they wouldn’t have seen this as a casual assignment to squeeze between other interests. They had left everything to follow Him, and for three years they soaked up His instruction, experiencing incredible highs and lows as they discovered what it meant to follow their Lord. The people whom Jesus gave these essential instructions to had a pretty good understanding of what it meant to be His disciples. It is someone who follows the teaching of, learns from and models their life after someone else - in this case, Jesus. How Did the Disciples Understand Jesus’ Instructions?Ī “disciple” is a kind of student.
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