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Knowing Doing KNOWING OING &D. C S L EWI S I N S TITUTE Learning to Make Disciples of Jesus: The Calling of Every Believer by Thomas A. Tarrants, III, D.Min. Vice President of Ministry, C.S. Lewis Institute This article originally appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Knowing & Doing. ave you ever been discipled by another believ- teaching and training that Jesus er? That is, did anyone help you in the process had given them in their appren- Hof coming to faith? After you came to Christ, ticeship with Him. Let’s look at did anyone help you grow more like Jesus, either in- Jesus’ call to make disciples and formally or in some organized fashion? Or, from the how we are to do it. other side, have you ever been in the discipling role, As we start, let’s briefly helping someone come to faith in Christ or grow as consider why making dis- His disciple? ciples is so important. First, If you answered yes, you already have some level of making disciples is the great Thomas A. Tarrants, III, D.Min experience with disciple making. If you answered no, mission Jesus gave His fol- fear not, for help is at hand. Help? Why do I need help? lowers before He returned to heaven. This mis- you say. I am not called to a ministry of disciple making. sion, which has been passed down from generation That’s somebody else’s job. If this is your reaction, you to generation by the faithful, now rests upon you have lots of company. Many in the church today think and me. that disciple making is someone else’s ministry. But Second, Jesus’ simple, yet brilliant plan—making Jesus doesn’t give us that option. disciples, who would in turn make other disciples, After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His dis- who would make still more disciples and so on until ciples, told them that universal authority had been He returns—really works! He is counting on us to ful- conferred on Him, and commissioned them to a uni- fill our assignment, and there is no Plan B. versal mission: Third, making disciples has been neglected for so long that there is now a crisis of discipleship in the All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. American church. Few professing Christians are liv- Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing ing as disciples of Jesus, and fewer still are making them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the disciples. This failure to be salt and light in our decay- Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have com- ing society has contributed greatly to the undermin- manded you. And behold, I am ing of the church, robbing us of credibility in the eyes with you always, to the end of the age of the world and accelerating the spiritual and moral (Matt. 28:18–20).1 decline in society. A fourth reason is that at the final exam of life, Judg- This was, and still is, Jesus’ plan to spread God’s ment Day, Jesus will ask, among other things, whether kingdom throughout the world, and you and I have a we obeyed His command to go and make disciples. As part to play. Simply put, they were to reproduce them- you look into His searching, all-knowing eyes, what selves by taking their disciples through the same basic will you say? 2 Learning to Make Disciples of Jesus: The Calling of Every Believer What Is a Disciple? and begin to practice as early as possible in his or her Christian life. To make disciples, we first need to know what a disciple is. Many people today are confused about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, and this is the What Is Discipleship and Discipling? root of serious problems in the church. Some think Being a disciple of Jesus and growing in Christlike- a disciple is a person in full-time vocational minis- ness is a wonderfully blessed but very challenging try—such as a pastor, priest, or missionary—but journey through life. This “ongoing process of growth not an ordinary believer. Others believe a disciple is as a disciple”4 is commonly referred to as discipleship. someone who has gone through a “discipleship pro- (Paul uses the equivalent idea of being conformed to gram,” studying the basics of the Christian life for the image of Christ [Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18] and calls several weeks or months. Still others think a disciple is believers to the same wholehearted surrender, com- a Christian who has made an optional, higher level of mitment, and transformation as Jesus [Rom. 12:1].) commitment to Christ than the average believer. Whatever language we use to describe it, we must The real question, however, is what the Bible says reckon with the fact that growing in Christlikeness a disciple is. The standard lexicon of New Testament takes time and will have difficulties along the way. In Greek defines the word disciple as a “learner, pupil, our “instant everything” culture, we periodically will 2 adherent.” With that basic definition in mind, we need to remind ourselves and those we disciple that must go on to observe how Jesus adapted and used this process cannot be completed in a matter of weeks the word to serve His unique purposes. Based on a or even months; it is the work of a lifetime and will comprehensive analysis of the word in the Gospels, require patient perseverance. Professor Michael Wilkins says: “a disciple of Jesus is With our American tendency toward individualism, someone who has come to him for eternal life, claimed we must also remember that it cannot be completed him as Savior and God, and has embarked upon the alone. An individualistic, do-it-yourself faith or “solo life of following him.”3 In other words, a disciple of Christianity” is guaranteed to fail. That is why we must Jesus is not simply someone who has made a profes- be an actively engaged member of a congregation of sion of faith, or even someone who has learned the God’s people, where we have Christ-centered friends to teachings of Jesus (or the Bible), but someone who has walk with us and help us grow as disciples. This need come to repentance and faith and is seeking to follow has given rise to the word discipling, which “implies the His teaching and example. responsibility of disciples helping one another to grow Some people may think the definition given above as disciples.” far exceeds the definition of a basic Christian and that Discipling is a ministry to which all believers are a disciple is after all a Christian who has made a high- called in some fashion. Someone has said that each er level of commitment to Christ. However, in the Acts of us needs to be in relationship with at least one per- of the Apostles, believers in Jesus are typically referred son who is like a “Paul”—a more mature believer who to as disciples, twenty-eight times, in fact. Only later can disciple (spiritually mentor) us; at least one like did the Gentiles in Antioch give them the nickname “Timothy”—a person younger in the faith whom we “Christians” (Acts 11:26), which stuck. But the two can disciple; and one or two peers like “Barnabas” words were clearly synonyms. To be a true Christian (who encouraged Paul) to cheer us on. is, by definition, to be a disciple. Following Jesus as a disciple (or true Christian) is a What Are the Qualifications of a Disciple process of learning to become more and more like Je- Maker? sus Himself. The heart of this process is learning and obeying the teachings of Jesus in the power of the Holy To make disciples, you must be a disciple yourself. Spirit. What are some of the teachings in Jesus’ curric- This doesn’t mean that you need to be a perfect dis- ulum? Things like denial of self, wholehearted love for ciple or a Bible scholar, only that you have a repentant God, sacrificial love for neighbors, forgiveness of en- faith, are committed to Jesus as Lord, and are seeking emies, humility, servanthood, sexual purity, the full- to follow Him in your daily walk. You should have ness of the Holy Spirit, mission, and obedience; these been a disciple for a while and be reasonably well are some of the major themes. They are basic, founda- grounded in Scripture and established in your spiri- tional things that every disciple should learn about tual life. And you should also be humble enough to let 3 Learning to Make Disciples of Jesus: The Calling of Every Believer your disciple know that you have your own struggles in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, and aren’t perfect. that he was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3–4). This simple message How Do We Make Disciples? “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). Jesus gave us clear, practical instructions. If we fol- Is it hard to share the gospel? Not really. The big- low them, we will find success. He said, “Go therefore gest obstacle is with us—our “fear of men” and what and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them . people will think of us, the impact on our reputation teaching them to observe all that I have commanded in the community, and the like.
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