Devotion 1 – The Importance of Discipleship

Devotion 1 – The Importance of Discipleship

 Matt.28:19-20 – “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, 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.”
 

What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ, much less to make more disciples?

It is difficult to pursue and accomplish something we cannot clearly define. So, let us put first thing first.

A Christian disciple is one who is committed to a lifetime pursuit of spiritual transformation, to grow in the character of Christ that is anchored in Biblical principles so as to be empowered to bear fruit of eternal value. To put it simply, a disciple is one committed to an inward journey with an upward value to bear fruit outwardly.

What is Discipleship?

Discipleship can mean different things to different people. To some, discipleship is simply having a Bible Study together. To others, it is getting people baptised and incorporated into a local church. For still others, it is whatever we do to follow up a new Christian convert, which may involve imparting certain core biblical values.


However, based on the above definition, discipleship is the process of nurturing people into having a right relationship with God and helping them to mature in Christ so that they can multiply the entire process in others.

The strength and influence of the church is dependent upon its commitment to authentic discipleship; transforming lives and seeing these lives reproduce the process in others. It is a vital and fundamental ministry rather than just a supplemental program to fulfil the mandate of the Great Commission.

Paul and Barnabas’ ministry beautifully demonstrated the heart of a discipleship ministry.

Acts 14:20-22 - “The next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.  And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
 
After their fruitful ministry in Derbe, they began the journey back to Antioch. However, instead of taking the shorter and natural route back, they went back the way they came, for the purpose of strengthening the souls of the disciples. They are not just committed to make converts; they are committed to the process of maturing these converts, understanding the importance of not just spiritual addition but rather spiritual multiplication. They exemplify for us the importance of discipleship.

 

Why is Discipleship important?

Jesus commanded and modelled it. It was His strategy for winning the world. Go is the mission but discipleship is the mandate and mandate must precede the mission.

We are not called to “go and make converts” but to “go make disciples”. The core premise and mandate of the Great Commission is to make disciples. Spiritual knowledge is not the goal, spiritual maturity is. Hence, evangelism and discipleship must be yoked and strategically joined together.

Bill Hull, author of The Disciple making Church, wrote: "Unless the church makes making disciples its main agenda, world evangelism is a fantasy." It is impossible to win the world through mere spiritual addition. God intends the world to be won through the strategy of spiritual multiplication through intentional disciple making.

2 Tim.2:2 – “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

 This verse is commonly known as the “Timothy Principle”. Paul understands that the most effective way to expand the reach of the gospel was to invest deliberately and personally in younger disciples so that they are equipped to multiply the process to others.

A Redemptive Journey

Discipleship is a redemptive journey. When Jesus died on the cross, it was not just to forgive our sins and free us from the judgement from God. It was to redeem everything we have lost and to restore our intimate relationship with God.  One of the important aspects of discipleship is restoration of broken hearts and broken lives.

Lk.4:18 – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…”

Becoming like Jesus is at the heart of the Gospel. It is the desire of our Father God that humanity ultimately conforms to the image of His son. This is at the heart of our redemption. We are redeemed to be restored and conformed to Christ’s image.

The discipleship deficit in the body of Christ has resulted in many broken lives, broken marriages and broken families. If we want to restore the mandate of the Church of being the “salt and light” to the broken world, we first need to restore the mandate of discipleship back to the church.

Spiritual Maturity Precedes Spiritual Multiplication

Discipleship should precede servanthood. Jesus say, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me…” (Jn.12:26). A need does not always constitute a call. God’s call is first and foremost a call to intimacy, a call to Himself. We must get this primary responsibility right!
 
Spiritual maturity precedes spiritual multiplication and authentic disciples precedes intentional discipleship. Until and unless we grow to be an authentic disciple, we do not have the life and skills to do intentional discipleship.

One of the key emphases of New Testament discipleship is spiritual maturity and the opposite of spiritual maturity is not spiritual immaturity but spiritual indifference.

Gal.4:19 – “My little children, for whom I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you…”

Believers should not be left on their own to grow. There must be an intentional follow-up with intentional growth strategies to develop them into authentic disciples. God intends every believer to be a disciple of Christ and a discipler of others, who will in turn disciple others also.  We cannot give what do not have and we can only lead others to where we have been. If we do not get back to the root of discipleship, we will be distracted and tempted to “major on the minor and minor on the major”. Worse, our discipleship program can simply multiply the ‘wrong kind’ of disciples. At the heart of the Gospel is the call to being, not just doing.

“There is no doubt of the phenomenal growth of the church in many parts of the world… At the same time, we should not indulge in triumphalism, for it is often growth without depth. There is a superficiality of discipleship everywhere…” - John Stott

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