Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20)As I go, I am to make disciples. There was a specific time in my life, as a teenager, when I decided I was going to do this Jesus thing. I decided to follow Him, to imitate and obey Him. He has all authority, both heavenly and here on earth, and I am filled with His Holy Spirit. Here we go.
If you look over the three years of Jesus' public ministry, the words we have recorded, what did He teach about making disciples? (Pause. Think.) Nothing, really. He didn't give us instructions on how to establish relationships with the purpose of discipling. He didn't give us a suggested dialogue with key words to share with people. He didn't give us a series of questions to pose to everyone we meet.
He did, however, live out an example. He called twelve men to Himself, out of the huge crowd that followed Him. Three of those men were His inner circle, and Peter was the understood leader, the Master's right hand. It wasn't a prescribed course that He put them through; He simply spent time with them and tried to help them understand what He knew (about how things worked in the world, about the Father, about the Son's purpose). They were kinda dense, and He just patiently stuck with them and tried to help them see.
He said that we would go about our lives, and we would help people learn what we know about Him. There is a lovely implied obligation that we had better learn about Him ourselves. You can't disciple if you don't know. However, if you do know something, no matter how small, you can share it with those around you. Someone is going to need to know what you have learned. Jesus, in His teaching, turned our understanding of everything upside down. People don't naturally arrive at the things He taught. If you want to learn what Jesus said is true, you have to stand on your head, see the world differently, be willing to lay aside your own perspective. It's not always easy, so we encourage each other with what we have learned.
The focus of your life should be trying to learn about Jesus, the things He commanded and who He was (is...I really feel I should say "is"). And then share it with those around you. Do you attend church? That's nice. Does it help you know Jesus and share Him with others? Because that is the main point. What about your home? Do you use the things you have to learn about Jesus and help others along? If there is something you are pursuing that doesn't line up with the Great Commission, consider getting rid of it.
Most of the disciples disappeared into historical obscurity. We have church history that tells us they dispersed into the world to tell people about Jesus. But they didn't leave behind curriculum and manuals. Yet...you and I follow Jesus today because they faithfully made disciples. They taught someone, who taught someone, who taught someone, who taught someone...who taught me.
Dig in. This is the system Jesus showed us. As you go about your life, you will see that it quietly works.
Let's go.
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