This is how God grows His people. He works through people to change people. Teaching, healing, and helping people is disciple making. Jesus modeled how to do it:
"He made friends with ordinary people, and then He gave them a vision for their lives. He gave them something greater than themselves to live for."
Jesus gathered them as He made disciples. Notice that Jesus did not wait until He had a church with a bunch of holy, heavenly Bible school graduates before He started discipling them. He began discipling them from the first moment He met them. He continued as they followed Him around. Making them disciples culminated in them believing and receiving Him as their savior.
"Discipleship is not a program; it is about relationship."
It is about stirring dreams in people, about inviting them to be part of what God is doing to change people’s lives. It is about calling people to be fully alive by spending time with Jesus every day.
Making disciples means helping people discover their spiritual gifts. It is about training them on the job to be disciple makers themselves. It is helping them learn the joy of sharing Jesus, leading someone to Christ and teaching that person how to grow in their relationship with Jesus. It is about giving people opportunities and assignments to lead, and then helping them when they fail or fall.
Disciple making is about holding one another accountable. It is about obeying the commands of Jesus, and learning to obey them in accountability to others. Disciple making is about setting goals for personal growth and then taking steps toward those goals. It is about growing as a follower of Jesus in our work habits, in fasting, witnessing, personal holiness, and forgiving others.
Disciple making also has to do with finding a spiritual mother or father and asking them to speak into your life. Everyone needs those who are more mature in the Lord to give them input for growth. Older Christians can serve as models, spiritual guides, advocates and mentors. That is why we honor the elders God has put in our lives.
Disciple making creates a net to gather in a harvest. When every one is making disciples it creates a big relational network that allows a church community to grow relationally. Jesus said we are to be fishers of men, and disciples making is how we catch the fish.
"God’s intention is to work through each of our lives to impact a sphere of influence He has assigned to us."
There are people He wants each of us to reach, to "catch" for Him. Disciple making is discovering who that is and focusing on those people through prayer, friendship and sharing Jesus.
(To be continued)
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