In part one, I talked about the Great Commision and our call to "make disciples" rather than make converts. In this post, I want to get more specific in trying to define the word disciple. Once again I am borrowing freely from the work of Jim Putman quoted in the previous blog.

  The foundation scripture that defines a disciple can be found in Matthew 4:19:

         "And he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (KJ 2000 Bible)

  This passage can be divided into three sections and seen together, gives us a picture of what it means to be a disciple. Let's examine each section.

   Jesus begins with the words "Follow me." On their face, these words are quite clear.  If you want to be a disciple of Jesus you must follow him. You can't follow a church or a preacher. You can't follow some idea in your head that you dreamed up or read about to be a disciple. If you want to be a disciple, then you have to follow Jesus. To follow means first of all becoming a convert. You have to put your whole trust and faith in Jesus to save you and put you back into a right relationship with God. Then you need to give your life to him and seek, day by day, to take up your own cross, and follow after him. This means a death to self and a rebirth to new life in Christ. 

   The next step in discipleship is the step of transformation. Once we decide to wholeheartedly follow Jesus, he begins to transform our lives. The words "...and I will make..." indicate that Jesus is going to take us and mold us or shape us into something different than we were prior to knowing him and deciding to follow him. He will transform us from our old way of living and looking at the world and into this new creature that he died to create. He will begin to shape our desires. He will give us new reason for living. He will call us into ministry and mission on behalf of God's kingdom. We will no longer be like we once were, but will, day by day, become more and more like him.

   The final step in the discipleship process is found in the words "...fishers of men."  We give our life to him. He takes us and remakes us into a new creature and he then plants within us the focus of what this new creature is to do. We are to fish for men. We are to be proclaimers of God's Word and Kingdom and we are to begin the process of telling others about Jesus Christ so that they can be converted, transformed, and set free to tell others.

   In other words, disciples are people that make more disciples. If you are not making disciples, then I think you must seriously question if you are a disciple or simply a convert. It's great to be a convert and experience the salvation that God offers through Jesus Christ. However, unless you are in the process of making new disciples, then you cannot call yourself a disciple.

  What do you think about this? Are you a convert or a disciple of Jesus Christ? Share with me you thoughts in the comment section.

  The Disciple Team and I are studying a book written by Jim Putman entitled: Church is a Team Sport: A Championship Strategy for Doing Ministry Together. One of the major premises of the book is correctly defining what it means to be a disciple. Putnam contends that through the years, the church has veered from the definition of disciple. He believes that we have equated convert with disciple and that the church has gone off down the road of making converts rather than disciples.

   He uses as his text the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16-20:

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 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.” (NIV)

   Note that this text does not say that we are to go and make converts. It specifically says that we are to go and make disciples. If you by into his premise, and I do, then the church has been putting the emphasis in the wrong place. We talk about how many professions of faith we have each year--not about how many disciples we have made. In his understanding you cannot equate disciple and convert. They are two different critters. Now, you can't make a disciple until someone is converted, but conversion is not the end of the process. It is merely the beginning step. The church celebrates conversions, though, as if that is the ultimate step in our relationship with God. Again, it is a crucial step, but only the first step.

Come back for the next post and see how I try to define the word disciple.

Share your thoughts in the comment section.

 Part of the Discipleship Process is learning how to lead. Not many of us are natural born leaders. At some point during our lives, we are often asked to take on a certain responsibility or task. If we are lucky, someone comes along side us and gives us guidance as to the best way to accomplish what we have been asked to do. If we are not so lucky, we are just given the task and told “Give it a go.” That is a formula for failure.

  The church is no different. We often just assign people to tasks and assume that from somewhere deep within them, they have the ability to succeed. What we end of doing is setting them up for failure and losing a potential leader for another ministry somewhere down the road.

   For 28 years of ministry, that was the way I was taught. Get somebody to say yes and then drop them in the middle of the fray and let them sink or swim. It’s only been the last two years that  I have taken seriously
 Ephesians 4:11-12
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

  I am seeking to equip leaders so that the body may, in turn be built up. As I come alongside you to minister with you, please understand that I am seeking to make you a better leader and ultimately put the ministry into your hands. I can’t do the ministry of the church. That is you role. My role is to help you do that ministry. That is what growth in discipleship is all about.

  As I read the Romans 12 article this week, from the General Board of Discipleship, the following sentence jumped out at me: “Hospitality is not just a committee, it's a whole church effort.”

I think that too many church members like to relegate things to committees. If there is a committee, then whatever the task may be, becomes the responsibility of the committee members. Unfortunately, such attitudes are detrimental to the overall growth and function of the church.

To be a disciple means that you are actively engaged in the ministries and life of the church. It’s not the responsibility of the evangelism committee to do all the evangelism. It’s not the responsibility of the worship committee to do all the worshiping. It’s not the responsibility of the Shepherd Team to do all the caring. It’s not the responsibility of the Hospitality Team to … do you get my point?

Most people act as if the only team that they are on is the sit-in-pews-on-Sunday-morning-team. Don’t get me wrong it’s nice to have bodies in the pews, but those bodies have to want to carry on the ministry of the church and not just assume that someone else is going to do the ministry—for them.

That is one key to being a disciple that makes other disciples. You have to want to get ACTIVELY involved in ministry and mission and not just leave it to someone else.