“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
Matthew 28:18-20
The emphasis from that text is: make disciples of all nations, and there is no way we would talk about discipleship without us considering the following: Who a Disciple is, why are we Disciples, the Goal of Discipleship, and Measuring and Growing our Effectiveness in Discipleship. So, in the cause of this teaching, these are the areas we will be visiting and I trust the Holy Spirit to help us in unravelling them and the purpose is so that we can remain focused and not be distracted in this important assignment that Christ has bestowed on us.
Listen to podcast: REVISITING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
Who is A Disciple?
I believe we know who a disciple is and therefore I am not going to bore us with so much as regarding that. But for the sakes of someone out there who might have not so much heard about this term, I will just avail us with this simple definition. A disciple is a dedicated follower of another person. You have identified a man or a woman, you have come to accept what they do, and you have decided to follow their works or teachings wholeheartedly, then that makes you a disciple of such a man or woman.
Another word loosely used for disciples is being a student of someone. Such a person could be a sage, a prophet, philosopher et cetera. And so sometimes, you hear people say “I am a student of Plato, I am a student of Aristotle or I belong to the Socrates school of thought.” There was a time apostle Paul even boasted that he was taught by Gamaliel, a Jewish law teacher, in Acts 22:3: “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.”
Now, bringing it down to the context of this teaching, a disciple is a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ. Anyone who would claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ does not just know Him, but have decided to be identified with Him and have left everything else to follow Him wholeheartedly. Matthew 4:18-22 shows us:
“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”
So, being a disciple is much more than just knowing Jesus, it is about a following. You see, many people know Jesus, but not everyone followed Him. Claiming to know Jesus Christ does not qualify you to become His disciple. In the days of Jesus, multitudes thronged Him everywhere, but not all followed Him wholeheartedly. See what happens in Matthew 13:36: “Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” Until you get to that point where you embraced and followed Christ with or without the multitudes, then you cannot claim to be a disciple yet.
Why Are We Disciples?
Much more than knowing who a disciple is, it is also pertinent we understand why we are disciples, because if you don’t understand the why, then you may end up abusing the privilege of being a disciple in the first place. Just as the saying goes “if you don’t know the purpose of a thing, abuse is inevitable.”
We are disciples because we are part of God’s great plan. What is this God’s great plan? Habakkuk 2:14 gives us a hint. It says: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” In this end time, it is God’s plan that His knowledge, and not any other thing, fills the earth as the waters cover the sea. God wants the whole earth to know Him and He has given us that responsibility to make it happen. We have been called into discipleship in order to make this happen. Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:14: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”
The knowledge of God is meant to fill the earth in this end times and we have been commissioned by God to make this a reality. God did not give the angels this assignment, but to us He has entrusted this assignment to, and we cannot afford to fail while at it. Also, in Mark 16:15-16 and 20, we also saw this grand plan of God. The Bible says “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” You see, it is the knowledge of God that will save people from condemnation and that is why we have accepted the responsibility as disciples and disciplers to spread it.
If spreading the gospel is not what you do, and you claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you aren’t a true disciple yet. It means you have not yet entered the core of your responsibilities as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Immediately Jesus left the earth, the disciples of Jesus Christ were not flexing all around. They were not seeing busy with their own assignment and preoccupation. Mark 16:20 says “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” It was from there going everywhere that Christianity spread and you and I were able to receive the knowledge of God.
The Goal of Discipleship
Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
Colossians 1:28-29
At the core of discipleship is the message of Christ. It appears modern day discipleship makes people become more like their discipler rather than pointing people and making them become more like Christ. Here, apostle Paul said “Him we preach.” In other words, apostle Paul was saying even though we are popular among you and we are apostles of Christ, we are not preaching ourselves to you. Christ alone is our message, and the end of everything we are doing is that you become like Christ, and not like us, because the best version of us cannot be compared to what Christ has in stock for you.
Even though apostle Paul said “Imitate me” (1 Corinthians 11:1), but it didn’t stop there. He put a clause “as I imitate Christ.” In other words, he was saying the moment you see me deviate from following after Christ, then there is nothing worth imitating about me anymore. In another place he said “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). Did we see that? The amplified version of that passage shed more light on what apostle Paul was trying to convey to us. “My little children, for whom I am again in [the pains of] labor until Christ is [completely and permanently] formed within you."
The goal of discipleship was until Christ is formed in them—and not until apostle Paul is formed in them. And it is important we understand why the message is about Jesus Christ and no one else, because the apostle Paul actually did a good job in letting us understand what exactly discipleship is all about. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 (AMP), the same apostle Paul also wrote:
“And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming to you the testimony of God [concerning salvation through Christ], I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom [no lofty words of eloquence or of philosophy as a Greek orator might do]; 2 for I made the decision to know nothing [that is, to forego philosophical or theological discussions regarding inconsequential things and opinions while] among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified [and the meaning of His redemptive, substitutionary death and His resurrection].”
So, as disciples and disciplers, our goal is that Christ be formed in the hearts of people, and that we present them perfect in Christ Jesus. But there is a clause here: You cannot make people perfect in Christ if you yourself is not perfect yet. Jesus said in Matthew 5:48: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The standard for our perfection is God, and not any man. The best version of any man may still be imperfect before God, and this is why man cannot be our standard in discipleship, but God. So, Christ cannot be formed in the hearts of people through you, if Christ has not fully formed in you yourself. Jesus said something fundamental to Peter in Luke 22:31-32 that corroborates this point.
“Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has demanded permission to sift [all of] you like grain; 32 but I have prayed [especially] for you [Peter], that your faith [and confidence in Me] may not fail; and you, once you have turned back again [to Me], strengthen and support your brothers [in the faith].”
Peter’s ability to strengthen others would be premise on him drawing strength from Christ Jesus. You cannot truly and fully disciple others if you haven’t been discipled by Christ, and this is very, very important. So, the starting point is not “Lord, I want to go for you”, No! The starting point should be “Lord, make me and mold me. Pour yourself into me so that I can in turn pour that dimension of you into others.”
Measuring and Growing our Effectiveness in Discipleship
How do we measure our effectiveness and growth in discipleship? The very indicator for measuring our effectiveness and growth in discipleship is in FAITHFULNESS. 1 Corinthians 4:2 tells us: “Moreover, it is required in stewards (disciples, disciplers, discipleship) that one be found faithful.” Your effectiveness in discipleship is measured by how faithful you are to the process. Faithfulness means being committed to the process or the course. How faithful have we been to this very important assignment that Christ has given to us? Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
Jesus didn’t charge them to go make religious adherents, but disciples. When multitudes come to us through the preaching of the gospel, we are expected to make disciples of them, and this is the system that God wants u to build— a system that keeps churning out disciples even from among the multitudes. When we are faithful to this very cause, then we can say we are growing in this assignment. Let us read Matthew 25:14-30 as we conclude.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.” So, I was meditating on this and I asked myself: how does this relate to discipleship? And the Holy Spirit pointed me back to when Jesus was going, He called His disciples and said to them “go therefore into all the world.” So, Jesus was the man in this picture, He was going back to the Father and then He called His own servants and delivered the goods (the assignment to them).
Let us continue the reading:
15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’
Now, it takes faithfulness for you to be able to multiply or increase what has been delivered to you. If this particular servant was not faithful, there was no way the talents would have multiplied in unfaithfulness. So the one who received five came back and brought five other talents, saying, “Lord you handed over to me five people, and look at what I have done with them, I have been able to gain five more, these ones, Christ has been formed in them.” Look at what happened next.
21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.” Jesus didn’t say he was unfaithful. Jesus didn’t say to him, “why is it that you couldn’t make ten or fifteen, why five?” That was not what the Bible says. And this is why we must be faithful in the things that has been committed to us, because the more we are faithful and effective in that, the more it is multiplied.
Jesus said to him: “well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” You were faithful over your family, have you discipled your family? Is Christ forming in your wife, is Christ forming in your children? In that Business that I have given you, you were faithful. Many souls have been won through that business. In your place of work, you have been faithful, your messages are resonating in the hearts of people in your office. He said further: you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things, enter into the joy of your lord.’
Let us read further: 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
And the unfaithful servant came as well and said:
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.” I believe this was the devil ministering in this man as he was talking. Because the devil believes that God is there to compete with him. So, this man was saying you know what you gave to me isn’t yours, in other words, you haven’t sown there, why do you want to reap? Look, there you have what is yours.’ There is no way I could have been faithful with just one, you could have given me more.
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant (ineffective servant), you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
So, in your sphere of influence as a disciple, have you been faithful. That is the question we should ask ourselves. In the things that God has given to you, the opportunities, the privileges, the means; have you been faithful? Okay people would say “I am shy, I can’t preach the gospel, this and that.” But on your social media accounts, what you been doing with it? What do you put there? So, you put your pictures or the message of our Lord Jesus Christ, are you faithful over little? So, the end point is this: know that you are a disciple by the things you are doing. Discipleship is not about tagging along, are you doing the work? Are you propagating the messages?
Jesus said “go to all the world and preach the gospel, make disciples of all nations.” As a child of God, are you making disciples of nations, these are questions I want us to meditate upon even as we begin to pray. Let us examine ourselves.
I believe we have been blessed!
Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!
Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!