Category Archives: Discipleship

Discipleship in both the broadest and most narrow sense

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Disciple Making (Sprirtual Version 1.0)

picture courtesy of ba1969 at sxc.hu18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

If you’re a Christian you no doubt have some familiarity with this passage from Matthew 28 – The Great Commission.  What fascinates me most about this charge that Jesus gives the 11, Judas is gone by now, is the way we interpret it today.  Researching the possible interpretations of this passage is truly amazing. You’ll find:

  • “This is really a specific command given only to the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus”
  • “This really speaks to evangelism and the importance of baptism.”
  • “There are no disciples today, as such, so this simply means to witness.”

If I look closely at how the majority of the church, and by this I mean main stream protestant denominations and non-denominational denominations, interprets the passage, and attempts to live it out, I think it looks something like this:

The term “disciples” in the New Testament refers to the followers of Jesus, most specifically the twelve very committed ones. Thus, this passage clearly means we are commanded to go make followers of Jesus, baptize them, and provide them with access to study materials that will enhance their knowledge of scripture.

I have to confess I struggle with that interpretation. First, the word “disciple” is secular word meaning “a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another”. John the Baptist had disciples, Socrates had disciples, even Buddha had disciples.  Second, in the context where Jesus’ words were spoken the people he was speaking to understood that any teacher worth his salt had disciples. Third, the notion of creating disciples carried with it a level of personal responsibility on the part of the disciple maker. Fourth, I struggle with it because it seems to let ME off the hook if I can just get someone into the hands of the “professionals” by getting them to attend church.

Thus I really firmly believe that the eleven would not have heard this ‘commission’ as “go make more followers of Jesus”, rather I suggest they would have heard: “Peter, go make disciples of Peter. John, go make disciples of John. James, go make disciple of James. Not pointing them towards yourselves ultimately guys but pointing them towards your father in heaven who has given me authority. And oh, by the way, baptize them in my name AND teach them all that I have passed on to you during YOUR discipleship.”

Radical perhaps?

Stop long enough to consider what it would mean for you to have a relationship with God that was strong enough, significant enough, secure enough, and steeped enough in the truth that He would actually ask you to grab some folks and have them follow you as you followed Him. That He would ask you to live life alongside this group of folks in such a way that they were drawn to Him by your very example.

Stop a second longer to consider what a church full of disciple makers would look like.

If our purpose in life is to “make disciples” then do some of us have some studying to do? Do some of us have some house cleaning to do? Do some of us have some serious consideration that needs to be given to have we live out a faith that is based on leading others rather than on personal growth?

What do you think? Is God calling you to be a disciple maker or an assistant convert maker?

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So…why Disciple Making as a concept?

image courtesy of cornnius at sxc.huThe word Disciple, for most people, either conjures a mental picture of the biblical twelve or of some quasi-cult-sci-fi-horror devotee of an incredibly evil/demonic villain. (Now THAT is an interesting contrast to explore in and of itself, but I digress.) The concept of discipleship is ancient and carriers many nuances depending on which particular tradition you examine.

The Greek philosophical schools used a type of discipleship model. Students typically paid masters to learn from them in a much more “dialogue through life” educational approach than our schools use today. Eventually the students became proponents of what they had learned from their masters. Socrates to Plato to Aristotle being perhaps the most well known of these linkages.

Eastern religions such a Hinduism and Buddhism contain within their practice the concept of disciples: those who submit themselves to the teachings of the master in order to climb the path towards enlightenment.

The biblical notion of discipleship grows out of an origin in rabbinical tradition where a student followed a rabbi, typically paid for the opportunity and devoted themselves to the teaching of the rabbi’s interpretation of the Torah with the intent of eventually becoming rabbis themselves.

In general them the common thread seems to be that disciples engage in four activities:

  • They commit themselves by choice
  • They pay for the opportunity
  • They devote themselves to deeper understanding
  • They seek to promote the teaching of the master.

In a marketing context the term we typically find used is “net promoter”, those people who, on a scale of 0-10, say that they are “highly likely” to recommend a good, or service, or business to a friend. There exist some pretty solid arguments for why this is such a valuable piece of information to track and such a valuable score for a business to increase.

I want to suggest that a Disciple goes beyond simply recommending IF they are given the opportunity. The third activity of the disciple holds the key.

They devote themselves to deeper understanding. This means they want more than the menu items. They want to know the back story. They find value in the business ethics and decision making paradigms of a company to whom they give their allegiance. They don’t just want to know and use “what” you do, they want to know “why” and “how” you do it.

Of course, you can’t just give lip service to the “why and how” you have to actually live it. Just like the rabbis and Greek philosophers and Buddhist monks have to.

When I was in full time vocational ministry I used to joke that there seemed to be a fine line between ministry and marketing when it came to church growth. This model of Discipleship lends itself to a different approach to spiritual discipleship than we see in most churches today but it also has some seriously strong ju-ju in the marketing world. Whether you run a corner store, a home based business, the local soccer club or a fortune 500 company you’ve got people out there who want to promote you if you’re giving them the goods.

Do you give potential Disciples access to the “why and how” of what you do?

Do they get to see your “corporate values” exhibited in your dealings with them?

More importantly do you live by them when the customer isn’t looking?