Discipleship
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Matthew 28: 19 (ESV)
You have just read what is sometimes referred to as “The Great Commission”. It’s basically the one thing Jesus told his first disciples to do, and they in turn were to tell the next generation of believers to do, and so on. It’s not complicated; it means you baptise people so that their old life is buried and they start a new life where whatever Jesus taught, you firstly practise it yourself, and then you teach those whom you baptised how to do it!
It applies to us today as much as it ever did to them. It’s not one of the things we should be getting round to when we have the time; it’s not some plaintiff plea from Jesus for the keen ones in the Church to do; it’s the thing Jesus has commissioned his Church to do.
Imagine for a moment a generation of believers all obeying what they have been commissioned to do, with no one person having a desire to hang on to independence or seeing their spirituality as a “private thing”. Imagine that every person who claimed to be a Christian has been taught to observe all that Jesus had commanded his first disciples to do, and in turn discipling others to do the same. What a community! Think about it…real discipleship!
What would it mean practically? Well, what were some of the things Jesus commanded his first disciples to do?
Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (ESV)
Matthew 10:7-8 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. (ESV)
That’s probably enough for the moment! Be perfect and be full of power! Imagine what would happen if every Christian were taught how to be both perfect and powerful! The result would mean we’d be just like Christ was when he walked on this planet in his humanity; seeing what his Father wanted in Heaven and depending on God the Holy Spirit to make it happen on Earth!
In these days there is an increasing God-given dual desire for both a righteous standing before God with a clear conscience and for a visible demonstration of the power of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The two go together. There are no short cuts. The process of discipleship is what Jesus commanded his disciples to do in order for this to come about. In other words, discipleship is a community project that results in Christ-like purity and power!
In the Early Church, Paul expresses something of the heart of discipleship. Look how he writes to the Galatians: “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” Gal 4:19(ESV)
Paul was desperate to see Christ formed in the Galatian believers. As we look at one another, we should be no different. We need one another to see Christ formed in us. Discipleship is a major part of that process.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said: “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ”. He went on to say, “Only the believer is obedient – only the obedient believe”.
There’s a clarion call in the words of Jesus to be disciples and make disciples. With all the freedom of opening every home in the church to others, with the new found desire for fellowship and breaking bread together, let’s make sure that discipleship is still at the heart of all our lives. That we follow Christ and allow and help one another to follow him in all that we say and do. That’s how those desires born of the Spirit will result in Christ-like purity and power.
