What Discipleship IS
- For everyone (Matthew 28:19-20)— It is not just an add on course or program. Rather, it should be done with every person and individual. It is used to not only bring people to Christ, but grow them in Christ.
- A Process (Mark 3:13-14)— It is not just a quick five step program. It is a process. It is a process of spending time with the other individual. It is a process of teaching them the Word of God. It is a process of helping them grow in Christ. Christ did this with His disciples. He did not just call them and then send them, rather He spent time with them and taught and trained them before He sent them out!
- Takes time Mark 3:13-14)— Discipleship is not something done overnight! Jesus spent three years training and teaching His disciples before completely sending them out to reach the world! We can’t expect just to teach 10 lessons and the person is ready to go! We should not rush discipleship, but rather take time and make sure the person is growing in Christ!
- A Relationship (I Thess. 2:1-12)—Proper discipleship is not just a one hour meeting each week. It is building a relationship and friendship with the person or people that you are discipling. It is taking time outside of your discipleship time to see how they are doing, to encourage them and pray for them, to keep them accountable in their commitments to Christ! It is building a relationship where they know you care about them and they are not just a number to you! It takes pouring your heart and soul into the individual(s). It is about getting them to walk worthy of God!
- A Necessity(I Cor. 9:16)— In order for the church to grow and go forward we must be involved in discipleship. If we are not reaching people with the Gospel and discipling them then the church will die. There will be not be a future generation of Christians! We must realize the necessity and need of reaching the world with the gospel and seeing people being discipled to maturity in Christ!
I could add many more things that discipleship is but I feel these are the core things. I pray that if you are involved in discipleship, you step back and make sure you are not just going through the motions or that it hasn’t become one of the many things I stated discipleship is not. If you are not involved in discipleship, I beg you to get involved! Find someone to begin discipling! In the next article I will share with you how you can be involved in discipleship!
What do you think discipleship is? What do you think discipleship isn’t? How can we improve our discipleship in churches?