Almost without exception, pastors and church leaders with whom I have ministered consider discipleship the process of teaching believers. They consider it something to be done with the members of the church, the congregation, those already in the faith. A close colleague recently made the statement that churches focus their discipleship efforts on being disciples rather than making disciples. Interesting!
In His post-resurrection address that we now know as the Great Commission, Jesus did not say to go and be disciples. He said that we are to go and make disciples. This, of couse, suggests that discipleship originates with lost people who are found and who therefore need to learn and grow and mature, utlimately being trained in how to live their faith and how to share their faith with someone else who is in the process of being made into a disciple. Disciples are not born, they are made after being reborn.
Oddly, most pastors and leaders would say that discipleship is something that begins after someone has come to Christ, but it seems to me that to skip step one in the disciple-making process, i.e. reaching lost people, places discipleship in a precarious position of missing the point entirely, that of making of disciples, not just pouring more education into people who are already disciples.
Consider this: what if churches took a position that they would not “disciple” anyone unless that person had been reached as a new convert? Step one of disciple-making would be required before moving to step two – no skipping ahead. How would our ministries be different? How would God feel about this? OK – I get that this might sound crazy and perhaps even unbiblical, but I think it’s neither. Give this some thought and see where it takes you.
