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Intentional
Discipleship A
“Tag-Team” Teaching by Jason
Lancaster, Pastor of Providence, The Christian & Missionary Alliance Church
of Santa Monica, California and Massimo
Lorenzini of Frontline Ministries The
following is from a team-teaching given at Providence Church in Santa Monica,
CA in August 2002. Jason “interviews” Massimo concerning the Great Commission
as a challenge to his church members to get involved in “intentional
discipleship.” This new-found emphasis was the result of Massimo’s work at the
church that summer that the Lord used to sort of remind Jason of the simplicity
and relevance of personal discipleship in the life of the church. It is offered
here to stir up others in getting back to the priority of the Great
Commission---making disciples for Christ. The Times New Roman font is used for Jason’s words and Arial
is used for Massimo. We begin with this illustrative citation from Walter Henrichsen: “Let’s say for example that a gifted evangelist is able to lead 1,000 people to Christ every day. Each year he will have reached 365,000 people, a phenomenal ministry indeed. Let’s compare him with a disciple who leads not 1,000 people a day to Christ, but only one person a year. At the end of the year, the disciple has one convert; the evangelist, 365,000. But suppose the disciple has not only led this man to Christ, but has also discipled him. He has prayed with him, taught him how to feed himself from the Word of God, gotten him into fellowship with like-minded believers, taken him out on evangelism and showed him how to present the Gospel to other people. At the end of that first year, this new convert is able to lead another man to Christ and follow him up as he himself has been followed up. At the start of the second year, the disciple has doubled his ministry—the one has become two. During the second year, each man goes out and leads not 1,000 people per day to Christ, but one person per year. At the end of the second year, we have four people. You can see how slow our process is. But note, too, that we do not have only converts, but disciples who are able to reproduce themselves. At this rate of doubling every year, the disciple leading one man per year to Christ, will overtake the evangelist numerically somewhere in the 19th year. From then on, the disciple and his multiplying ministry will be propagating faster than the combined ministry of dozens of gifted evangelists (Walter Henrichsen, Disciples Are Made Not Born, 141-42).” Matthew 28:16-20 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 (NIV)." Let’s first consider what we are commanded to do. Let’s read verse 19-20 again, “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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Massimo, it looks like there are 4 commands in here: go, make disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them. 1. In the Greek
structure are there four commands? The
heart of the Great Commission is one command explained by three participial
phrases. The only command of this passage is to make disciples. The
three participial phrases are: going, baptizing them, and teaching
them to obey. These phrases describe the process of making disciples which
includes evangelizing, edifying, and equipping. going – (having gone, when you
go, wherever you go, as you are going) tells us that making disciples is a
matter of lifestyle that takes place as we move about in the world and proclaim
the Gospel to those we meet. This phrase describes the lifestyle of continually
working to evangelize the lost for Christ. Baptizing
them – is
a reference to the formal act of publicly demonstrating repentance and faith in
Christ through water baptism. The word “in” is literally “into” which signifies
that the subject of baptism is brought into fellowship with and under the
authority of Him in whose name he is baptized as God’s own possession. For us,
the phrase, compels us to help people become rooted and established in the
faith after they come to salvation in Christ. It means edifying or
building them up in their spiritual growth as new believers. Teaching
them to obey
– is the process of equipping people to put their faith into action. A disciple
is one who chooses to follow his master and desires to become like him. Equipping
goes beyond teaching someone the Bible. It involves developing skills,
attitudes, and actions consistent with the life of Christ. It includes
equipping people to make disciples of their own peers. Are
you beginning to catch the dynamics of these words? They cover the entire
process of making disciples: evangelizing, edifying, equipping. This process
begins when we go to where people are, explain the Gospel to them, gather those
who repent and ground them in the faith, and teach them to share Christ and His
truth with others. There is a profound balance in this process; nothing
dominates to the exclusion of other priorities. So, there is one command to make disciples and the rest describe the process of making disciples. 2. What in the world is a disciple? Disciple
is a term that applies to every believer. It is someone who is a learner and a
follower. And just as disciple refers to every true believer, so the Great
Commission is Jesus’ mandate for every believer—the pattern of the normal
Christian life. One
author wrote, “The word ‘disciple’ occurs 269 times in the New Testament.
‘Christian’ is found only three times and was first introduced to refer
precisely to disciples . . . . The disciple of Jesus is not the deluxe or
heavy-duty model of the Christian—especially padded, textured, streamlined, and
empowered for the fast lane on the straight and narrow way. He stands on the
pages of the New Testament as the first level of basic transportation in the
Kingdom of God.” So, a disciple is a learner, pupil, or someone who learns by following. That makes since why Jesus’ followers were called disciples because they were learning from Him. 3. What are a few of the things that Jesus' disciples learned from Him? They learned to make the
kingdom of God their priority. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matt 6:33, NKJV). They learned that Jesus was
establishing His church. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18, NKJV). They learned that to follow
Jesus would entail great sacrifice on their part. 24 Then Jesus
said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever
desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake
will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the
whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for
his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His
Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly,
I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they
see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom (Matt 16:24-28, NJKV)." From
this passage of Scripture, the disciples learned four truths about
discipleship:
So, they learned to find
their place in God’s universe and God’s plan to redeem it. There were a variety of things that Jesus’ disciples learned
from Him. In the context we are reading
in Matthew 28 he has already died and resurrected and is about to ascend into
Heaven. This is one of the last
commands he leaves with them---Make
Disciples 4. Why do you think Jesus leaves them with this parting command? Because this is how we
fulfill our role in the Messianic program. God wants a kingdom of redeemed
humanity to live forever with Him worshipping and enjoying Him forever. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to
take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for
God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign
upon the earth” (Rev 5:9-10, NASB). This is what the Abrahamic Covenant is all about: God is calling out a
people for His name. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your
country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land
which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless
you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless
those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the
earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:1-3, NASB). When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this,
he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at
the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come;
for everything is ready now.’ “But
they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought
a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me
excused.’ “Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’
“Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ “And
the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the
household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets
and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and
lame.’ “And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and
still there is room.’ “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the
highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may
be filled. ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of
my dinner’ ” (Luke 14: 15-24, NASB). So from the divine perspective, the Great Commission is the greatest
priority in this present age. If we believe that, then we should make it our greatest priority. Now someone may object saying that the primary purpose of the Christian is to
glorify God and the Great Commission is only one way of glorifying God. In
essence, I agree. But what’s the best way to glorify God during this life on earth? John
Piper said, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church, worship is. Missions
exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is
ultimate, not man. When people from all nations are before the throne, missions ends.
Missions is a temporary necessity, but worship is eternal. They were to carry out the work here on earth. Disciples were not just going to happen or just going to be born that way they were going to have to be ‘made.’ 5. What did this look like in the New
Testament? Well,
Paul’s relationship with his younger disciple Timothy is a good model for us. Paul set the pattern that he wanted Timothy
to follow. “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2, NKJV). Consider
the following passages of Scripture written by Paul in which he mentions
Timothy. The following samples are from letters the apostle Paul wrote to local
churches. (The following Scriptures are from the NASB.) Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named
Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a
Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul
wanted this man to go with him . . . (Acts 16:1). Timothy my fellow worker greets you . . . (Rom 16:21) For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my
beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which
are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. (1 Cor 4:17). Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without
cause to be afraid, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am (1 Cor
16:10). Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our
brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout
Achaia (2 Cor 1:1). For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached
among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes
in Him (2 Cor 1:19). Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus . . .
(Phil 1:1) But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you
shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition . . .
(Phil 2:19). Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
and Timothy our brother . . . (Col 1:1). Paul and Silvanus and Timothy . . . (1 Thess 1:1). . . . and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s
fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to
your faith . . . (1 Thess 3:2). But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has
brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly
of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you . . . (1 Thess 3:6). Paul and Silvanus and Timothy . . . (2 Thess 1:1). To Timothy, my true child in the faith . . . (1 Tim
1:2). This
command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies
previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight . . . (1
Tim 1:18). O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you . . .
(1 Tim 6:20). To Timothy, my beloved son . . . (2 Tim 1:2). Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our
brother . . . (Phlm 1:1). What immediately strikes you about the
previous passages? Did you get the impression that Paul was very involved in Timothy's life? If so, then you're getting
the picture. Paul discipled Timothy, not with a discipleship workbook, but by bringing him into his ministry, passing
it on to him to duplicate it in the lives of others who would then also reproduce themselves. This is primarily a relational endeavor. In Titus 2:3-5 Paul says, “Likewise, teach the older women
to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much
wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and
children, 5 to be self-controlled and
pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so
that no one will malign the word of God.” Here we have a picture of women mature in the Lord training other women to love and take care of their families and to live Holy lives. 6. Considering these examples could we say that discipling someone is sort of like mentoring someone? Yes, and Jesus is the model
discipler and becoming like Him is the goal of discipleship.
Now we know that discipling someone is basically investing your life in their life let’s go back to Matthew 28. 7. This was a command given to the disciples. Isn’t making disciples just for super Christians like pastors, missionaries or teachers? Mention
of “disciples” in the Great
Commission causes many Christians to breath a sigh of relief, thinking
that it doesn’t pertain to them. Many think of disciples as super-Christians
who are more dedicated and spiritual than “normal” Christians. Most
Christians acknowledge the weaknesses of their faith and inconsistencies of
their lifestyles and therefore wrongly assume that they are only “normal”
Christians who will never attain the level of a disciple. As a result, they
believe that the G. C. must not apply to them since they are not able to “make
disciples” of others when they themselves are not true disciples. Through the
logic of this confused perspective, the Great Commission has been stripped
of all relevance and power. Christians who have this view have no passion
for outreach because they cannot see themselves in these words. When you
read the Great Commission, be sure to place yourself in it. Don’t excuse
yourself by thinking, “The Great Commission is the most important job in
the church for someone else to do.” Don’t exempt yourself from the Great
Commission. So, it is a command given to every Christian. OK, now that we all have come to the realization that it is a command that we are all to follow, what does it look like in our lives what are we supposed to do? 7a. Isn’t this
just for college ministries to do? Where
did such an idea come from? 7b. Don’t cults do this like the LA Church of Christ? These kinds of groups exert control or manipulation , they might call someone three times a day to see where they are at. Or they might have to approve every decision the disciple makes. How is biblical discipleship different? We cannot allow the church’s greatest priority to be
stolen from us just because some people have perverted it. Cults also pervert
the teachings of the Bible, but we don’t throw away the Bible. We must be
careful to make disciples biblically, which is leading by example, servant
leadership, and training others to live the way Jesus lived. We pour our lives
into the ones we disciple, we love them sacrificially, we hold them accountable
to biblical principles, and we encourage them to find their place of ministry
in the church and carry out the process of disciple-making themselves. 8. What does this look like? This process begins when we go to
where people are, explain the Gospel to them, gather those who repent and
ground them in the faith, and teach them to share Christ and His truth with
others. 9. Where do I start? Look
around and see if the Lord has already put someone in your circle of influence
that you can begin to disciple. Maybe that person is already a believer, but
has not matured in his/her faith. Or, it may be that the person is not a
believer and you can begin to spend time with that person just hanging out and
over time patiently and persistently share the gospel with them. Either way,
spend a lot of informal time with the person. Just get to know each other. Then
take the person into your life. Take him/her with you when you go to church or
Bible study. Take him/her witnessing. Pray with the person. Share the wisdom
God has given you in your walk with Him. Encourage the person to cultivate
spiritual disciplines in their own life. Go through a book on Christian growth
with them such as Fundamentals of the Faith, or Spiritual Disciplines of the
Christian Life by Don Whitney, or Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes.
Teach the person to become a committed disciple of Jesus. Then eventually
encourage this person to begin to do with someone else what you’ve done with
them. 10. I Thessalonians 2:8 says, “We loved you so
much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but
our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” Talk about how discipling someone isn’t just
about sharing information but sharing your life with them? When
we think about the way Jesus trained the twelve or the way Paul mentored
Timothy, it wasn’t just a formal program of teaching like we do today in
schools and classrooms. Jesus said to His disciples, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” The two disciples heard
him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following,
and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which
translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” He *said to them, “Come, and
you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with
Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour (John 1:37-39, NASB). And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He
could send them out to preach (Mk 3:14). Someone said, “Christianity is more caught than taught.” While I believe
teaching is absolutely necessary, there’s some truth in that statement. The seeing
eye is always a better pupil that the hearing ear. So, a lot of time could also be spent just hanging out together, meals together, church together, doing ministry together. We are not only trying to teach truth but model truth for them in our own lives. Conclusion:
You may be a Christian and say, “But my life is not perfect, I can’t disciple someone else.” We are to aim for perfection but if we wait until we reach it before we serve the Lord then we will never serve. You might not think you have much to offer others, but actually you do. You may think, “But I don’t know the Word of God enough.” Now is a great time to start. Start by repenting of your failure to know God’s Word as you should. Repent of your lack of involvement in the life of the church and being involved in other peoples’ lives. Now that you know what the Lord’s plan is for us, let’s set our minds to doing it. What we are asking you to do is ‘make disciples.’ We want you to be intentional about it. It isn’t just going to happen out of the blue. You have to be intentional in investing in someone’s life. You might say, “Yeah, but who?” Do you know of anyone at work that you could invest in, at school, at the park, relatives, etc. If you do not know of anyone then begin to pray and ask the Lord to help you find someone.
How do you start? Tell someone that you would like to encourage them in the Lord and teach them some things from the Bible and you want to meet with them on a regular basis. Now understand that this takes time and it isn’t always pretty. These are people who are new in the Lord and they are growing into maturity. It takes a great deal of patience. “What if someone says ‘no’ or starts and then stops wanting to do this?” Don’t push them or make them feel guilty but move on to invest in someone else. If you are a new believer or maybe even an unbeliever, you can have someone disciple you and train you in the ways of the Lord. This is so crucial for you to grow into being more like Jesus. Whether you are discipling someone or being discipled you will experience so much joy. You can come to the end of your life and look back on the people you have invested in and impacted for eternity. |
