what is a disciple?
A disciple is a follower of Jesus. One who is yielded in all of life to the Lordship/Kingship of Jesus. Jesus is the Teacher. Jesus is the King. Jesus is the Leader. Disciples live by a simple motto…Jesus is Lord.
A common command and invitation from Jesus in the New Testament is to “follow me”.
Disciples follow Jesus in all of life. Disciples are taught about Jesus, are converted to Jesus by the act of of grace through faith, and then are taught to live like, act like, believe like, and be like Jesus over the course of their lifetime. Disciples are Christians.
So why the emphasis on making disciples?
The statistics are in and are showing a profound lack of disciple making in the church in the West. If a disciple is a Christian then are not all church going people disciples? The reality is no that is not true.
Disciples must be made. First by God through the proclamation of the gospel message by the Church…Jesus is Lord and Savior! Then by God again over and over and over again through the teaching, care, and intentionality of other disciples…once again…the Church.
Being a part of a church is a good step towards discipleship, but being a part of the Church is a necessary step to actually being a disciple.
The daily life of a disciple is marked forever by the dependance on the Holy Spirit to obey all of Jesus’ commandments and intentions.
We emphasize making disciples who make disciples because that is the call on every Christian’s life. So we want to promote, focus, and live intentionally with that call in mind and in practice.
How to make disciples!
We believe disciple making starts with the heart of God. God desires for everyone to come to repentance (change of mind on matters of the heart, God, life, faith, etc) and to be in right relationship with him. He has made a way for people to be right with him by sending Jesus to show us how to live, to die on humanity’s behalf, and raised him from the dead to show his power over life and death. God offers redemption and salvation to anyone who would place their trust in Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection.
So that heart which sent his only Son to redeem the world is where disciple making starts. As God’s heart grows in us we are moved with compassion (like God himself) to share with others the good news about Jesus. Jesus is Lord and Savior!
As people transfer faith from their own ways to Jesus; disciples are made. Converts are disciples. Then they like little children in our homes must be taught how to live according to the new King’s desires. The King is ruling a kingdom and the kingdom of King Jesus is essentially the opposite of how the world works. So discipleship is about learning to live according to the rules of the King with a heart that never leaves the heart of God.
These lessons include everything from daily living, choices made, principles, matters of the heart of the mind of the body, and teaching others the same.
We think a good introduction to Making Disciples is to go through our training.