BE a Disciple-Maker

Jay Fast

(adapted from How Jesus Made Disciples by Doug Holliday)

If you run a Google search of the word “discipleship,” you’ll find 19,800,000 results. Google “disciple-making” and you’ll find 33,200,000 results. Needless to say, there is a lot of content and conversation about disciple…stuff. Most of us would probably agree that this is an important topic, and it deserves our attention. But what’s most foundational? Where should we start as we try to sift through the content and engage in the conversation? Here are a few thoughts:

Jesus.

53,000,000 different perspectives on the disciple stuff can be pretty overwhelming and confusing. What if we simplified things by focusing on just one perspective and just one person? Jesus. What did He do? How did he do it? What has he called us to?

Jesus is our model.

“Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
1 John 2:6

Jesus has given us our mission.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20

We are to BE disciple-makers.

When Jesus said “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,” that included the command he just gave to “make disciples.” So in reality, the command could be stated this way: “Make disciples who will make disciples” or “Make disciple-makers.” Since we reproduce what we are (Matthew 7:16), we have to BE disciple-makers. Disciple-making is the full-orbed process of seeing people come to faith in Christ, grow in Him, and be equipped to go back and help others repeat this process.

Disciple-making is more than discipleship, which usually defines how to help believers grow. While many terms can describe the disciple-making process, we have chosen four biblical phrases to define it:

  1. “Winning the lost” (I Cor 9:19)
  2. “Growing the believer” (Col 2:6-7)
  3. “Equipping the worker” (Eph 4:12)
  4. “Sending out proven multipliers” (John 20:21)

These priorities are reflected in the Great Commission with the participial phrases of “going”, “baptizing”, and “teaching to obey”…, and then doing this “of all nations.”

Jesus also reflected these priorities by modeling a process of developing fully trained disciples as He challenged them to “come and see” (evangelism), “follow Me” (discipleship), “I will make you fishers of men” (equipping) and then “go and bear fruit” (multiplying).

Disciple-making is not complicated!

Disciple-making is a relational process of helping people to “follow Jesus and be like Him.” It is recognizing that people are at different stages of spiritual development and then responding appropriately to help them. It is building a ministry that does the same.

But disciple-making is also a life-long process of becoming more like Him and helping others do the same. Because we are seeking to become like Jesus, and not just conform to a set curriculum, this is an ever-deepening process. It is an ongoing process of “abiding in the vine” and allowing Him to bear fruit through us.

Developing a disciple-making ministry involves looking at both the process and product of what Jesus developed. Understanding the process Jesus modeled is extremely helpful in developing a healthy balanced movement of multiplying disciples. This is good Christology.

But don’t take my word for it. I’m just one among 53,000,000 voices. I invite you to study Jesus for yourself. Each year, I read through the Gospels multiple times, taking a deep dive into the life of Christ to learn from Jesus as my model for life and ministry. I’d invite you to do the same. Let’s study Jesus together, and learn how to BE a disciple-maker directly from our model!