Devoted to Making Disciples
Is there a difference between discipleship and disciple-making? Well, according to those who specialize in the field there are distinctions to keep in mind. Some might see this as splitting hairs, but this is the way I have been influenced to look at, and I want to commend this to you as well.
The Great Commission is where the church finds the clearest mandate regarding the command to make disciples. That is found in Matthew 28:18-20, and it says,
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
When Jesus spoke these words, He was not delineating everything a church must do, but He was giving the driving directive to the church. He was clarifying the mission and role of the church once He had ascended to the right hand of the Father. He was saying by word and action, do this until I return.
The activty within the mandate is to make disciples. The disciple making activity is to include going to nations, baptizing believers, teaching converts, and trusting in His presence and power throughout the process. Now, this gets me to the distinction between discipleship and disciple-making. His command was a disciple-making command. I have heard or read more than once that we should think about disciple-making as the two wings of an airplane.
One wing is evangelism. The church should always be training, praying, and going to share the gospel with unbelievers. We do evangelism well when we are giving testimony to God, preaching man’s sinfulness, proclaiming Christ’s atoning death, and calling for repentance and faith from the unbeliever. When people respond to the gospel the church baptizes them into its membership and covenant community.
The other wing is discipleship. Discipleship involves teaching those who have trusted in Christ how to follow Christ. We teach new believers how to read the Bible, how to pray, the importance of worship, the responsibility of giving, serving, and growing. We engage in teaching them all that Christ commanded by sharing the whole Bible with them.
Now, I do not know about you, but I have flown several times recently. In fact, as I write this, I am waiting on Susan to board a plane and fly to meet me. I am not boarding a plane or letting my loved one’s board a plane that has only one wing. But that is what happens if we do not try to distinguish the difference between discipleship and disciple-making.
Discipleship is important. But it is only one wing on the plane. We are not making disciples if we cut off the wing of evangelism or the wing of discipleship. I am reminding you and me of this because the early church in Acts 2 was devoted to evangelism and discipleship. They were following the Great Commission to be disciple-makers. So, we also want to be devoted to both evangelism and discipleship. Because as we faithfully engage in both evangelism and discipleship, we are making disciples. Be devoted to evangelism. Be devoted to discipleship. Or another way to say this: be devoted to disciple-making.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Pastor Mark
