Discipleship

[Albert Finch]

(Read Matthew 3:1-11; 4:17-25; Mark 1:8-18 and 1 Corinthians 1:17-24)

Matthew 28:18-20 18And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Nowhere in scripture did Jesus tell us to go and make converts. Jesus told His disciples to teach them to observe all the things He commanded. The words “teaching them to observe all things” literally is the word that is translated “Disciple” throughout the bible. Most versions translates this “go and make disciples”. The Lord commanded us to make disciples not converts. Somewhere along the way, the church has changed the emphasis from making disciples to getting people born-again, leaving discipleship to the mature.

 

Compare the following:

Case #1: If you evangelize 1000 people per year for 15 years, you would have 15,000 new believers (assuming they were all genuine converts).

Case #2: If you led one person to the Lord every 6 months and spent the next 6 months teaching that person so they could reproduce themselves – in 1 year there would be 2 new Christians. However, after 12 years, if each continues to reproduce themselves every 6 months there would be no one left on earth to evangelize! Jesus’ method of discipleship would have produced nearly 6 billion disciples in less than 13 years.

 

Discipleship evangelism works!