Discipleship in the Moment - Part 3
One of the most important things I can ask a person is where they are in their spiritual pilgrimage. This is a great beginning point for conversation, and listening to the answer is a way to express care and build a relationship. In any given ministry context, we must rethink discipleship and develop a strategy of gospel discipleship that emphasizes Scripture, prayer, and the kingdom. This approach arises because of the importance of each personal interaction in the discipling experience. I call this “discipling in the moment” or DIM for short.
Discipling in the moment is a way of discipling without a program that sees Christians and non-Christians brought closer to their Savior over the course of the conversation or interaction.
DIM arose because I realized that when I meet a new person, I do not know what kind of contact and interaction I will have with them in the future, if at all. I also realized my obligation and duty as a minister of Jesus Christ to see some good come of our meeting together regardless of the prospects of where they will attend church. Rather than make a high pressure sales presentation about the church or force feed them a four point outline of the gospel, I move forward in faith actively listening for where the three DIM components can be applied. The three DIM components are the Scripture, prayer, and kingdom.
DIM is my way of gospel discipling that puts the priority on the good and benefit of others. I am serving as a spiritual midwife trusting that God will use our interaction to take the other person one step closer to Him and into a fuller embracing of the gospel. When I am discipling in the moment (“DIMing”), authentic ministry and shepherding are carried out and I am truly concerned for their spiritual state, even though I do not know their future commitment to the church or if I will see them again.
The Place of Scripture in Gospel Discipling Since we understand discipleship as gospel re-presentation, then we must know that the content for a depth presentation of gospel happens in the moment through the Scripture. The Scripture as the Word of Truth is a principle means the Spirit uses in sanctification (John 17:17). The Scripture must be preached, meaning that “God’s redemptive work [must be] the content, the motive, and the power behind all biblical exposition.”[1] For until “people look beyond themselves for spiritual health do they find their sole hope and source of power to do what God requires.”[2]
Not only must the Scripture be preached, but also the Scripture must fill my DIM conversations so that disciples can look beyond themselves for understanding and integration. God uses His Word to call people to believe (Romans 10:17, Galatians 3:2) and His Word is the interpreter of our experience (2 Timothy 1:9). One of the goals of discipleship is to stop living for ourselves and start living for our Savior.
When we seek to understand our life through the lens of God’s Word, our self-orientation is challenged and kingdom priorities become a possibility for us to pursue.
Both in preaching and conversation, I have been impressed with the need to be biblical in discipleship. This means to point people to the Scripture for answers, to read the Scripture to people, and to guide people in looking at the Scripture for God’s plan and purposes. Scripture is at the heart of gospel discipling because it contains the transformative content the Spirit uses to make disciples.
The Place of Prayer in Gospel Discipling If Scripture is the content of gospel discipling, then prayer is the power for pursuing gospel discipling. Over familiarity with the message of the gospel[3], apathy, confusion, and demonic forces—all obstacles which disciples struggle with—are best addressed when I engage in prayer (Mark 9:29). So often I am tempted to trust and rely on my own resources: verbiage, personality, and gifting rather than the power of God to make His message through the Scripture clear and evident to a disciple in the moment of ministry by the power of His Spirit.
In my current setting, I am meeting new people almost every day. Before I meet with people, as I meet with people, when I shake hands, when I am listening to them, I should engage in prayer for them. I can also pray for them when I share the Spiritual Birthline and hear their story. I can praise God for His work in their life through prayer and I can pray over the Scripture passages I will preach and teach. In praying, the power for gospel discipleship is brought to bear in ministry.
The Place of Kingdom in Gospel Discipling The third and final component to gospel discipling is the kingdom of God. The Scripture is the content for gospel discipling, prayer is the power for gospel discipling, and kingdom is the purpose for gospel discipling. Participating in the advancement of the kingdom is where discipleship leads and requires that the disciple maker is an expert in how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of people.
It is my role in discipleship to listen, observe, and biblically guide how a disciple can connect with kingdom involvement.
Kingdom involvement connects the content of discipleship with the “nations” of Matthew 28:19. Sitting with people and talking through the implications of the gospel leads to a transformational and missional conclusion that affects family, friends, colleagues, community, city, country, and the world. Inviting people to participate in the advancement of God’s kingdom is where they can be challenged to grow in their reliance upon God as they come into contact with the truth of the gospel.
In the fuller context of kingdom involvement, the disciple orients his life with Christ at the center and is propelled outward in ministry. This centering on the King of the kingdom provides a continual energy of renewal for discipleship that scatters disciples in purposeful living and gathers them again around the Savior to push outward in worship, community, and power (Acts 8:4).
Conclusion In ministry I have made the journey of discipleship from a one-size-fits-all rigid program to rethinking that approach and seeing emerge a biblical and theoretical framework which is flexible and applicable to any person.
The components of Scripture, prayer, and kingdom are not part of a program and are not sequential. This allows for the components of gospel discipling to be presented in any order and to overlap. For example, we can begin discipleship with an invitation to join in kingdom purposes (a mission trip), followed by the Scriptural basis (John 3:16) , and both driven into the heart by prayer (“Thy kingdom come…”).[4] A hierarchy of discipleship and Christian pride are avoided since the discipleship process can be started at any point, is perpetual, and less structured. As a result, both the neophyte and the experienced are challenged by the same message of the gospel.
Discipleship is vital to any church ministry. I have been challenged by studying discipleship to seek in ministry to make disciples and not just converts. I have been challenged to enter into the process with people to assist in the Holy Spirit’s shaping them into Christlikeness. I have been inspired to seek to obey Christ’s last command using the means he gives to see him glorified.
This is Part 3 of the 3-Part Series, Discipleship in the Moment by Allen Taha. Here are parts One and Two of the series.
[1] Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 310, quoted in Stephen Smallman, The Pastor as Physician of the Soul. Grace-Centered Discipleship class notes.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Peace explains this problem with encounter evangelism (see Conversion in the New Testament, 296).
[4] Two seminary classmates of mine expressed in their testimonies how they took mission trips before they became believers.
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Dr. Allen R. Taha is pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Boerne, Texas. He also serves as a chaplain and firefighter for the Boerne Volunteer Fire Department. He graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis (M. Div., DMin.). He likes to bowhunt the backwoods of Texas in his spare time.
Discipleship in the Moment - Part 2
Having established that the content of discipleship is the gospel in all its riches and depths, what is the method to deliver this content? As a pastor and follower of Jesus, how do I communicate and apply discipleship as gospel re-presentation in ministry? The starting point is personal repentance. I have too often found myself lacking the faith to trust in the message of the gospel and the means of God to transform people’s lives. I must turn away from my confidence in my ineffective and supposed “extraordinary abilities and gifts” and trust in the “ordinary” means of God in the gospel which have the power to “destroy strongholds” (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Seeing Myself as a Patient Discipling is not about being a guru or modeling the all-together life. Where I have not lived transparently, I have communicated that I do not need a Savior. Instead, I must be convinced of the reality that I am a patient and God has called me to be a physician of souls as well. As I look to care for the souls God has entrusted me with in ministry, I see myself as needing the same cure they do.
The remedy that I commend to them in the gospel, is the same remedy I must partake. We must together soak the wounds of our sin, in the living water of the gospel.
Part of being a physician of souls is to carefully examine my own life in the light of Scripture and see where I could be “always able out of Christ’s fullness to select the spiritual remedies required.”[1] Archibald Alexander noted how he was inspired by the medical students of his day with “the alacrity and perseverance with which [they] attend upon anatomical and physiological lectures” and how “the men of this profession make experiments are highly worthy of imitation.”[2] Such effort is doubly worthy of pastors and disciple-makers today that we might see the Great Physician cure people’s souls through “inculcat[ing] clearly, fully, and practically, the grace of God as manifested in the Gospel.”[3] For until I learn this skill I can expect “no vigorous growth of piety among professing Christians”[4] or in myself.
Becoming a Spiritual Midwife In gospel discipleship, my primary role is to facilitate and assist in the work of the Holy Spirit in another person’s life. In this role, I am believing that God is already at work by the Holy Spirit in effectual calling or in sanctification (depending on whether a person is a Christian). This knowledge gives me tremendous confidence in the transformative power of God to affect change in spite of my failings and inability.
The Spiritual Birthline[5] graphically displays the spiritual reality that there is a process or gestation period where the Lord is bringing people to Himself. This gestation period culminates in the new birth experienced in conversion (John 3:3). However, by understanding God’s place in the process we are cured of our arrogance and confusion because we know we are not able to do that which only God can accomplish. Just as the midwife does not create the life or cause the birth, the spiritual midwife is primarily a facilitator of a process initiated and governed by God alone.
The Spiritual Birthline also helps to erase some of the false distinction that has arisen between evangelism and discipleship. This false distinction prevents people from knowing that the power that brought them to Christ, is the same power they need to live for him. In re-presenting the gospel, we are giving someone more of what they truly need. It was the power of God through the gospel which saved them, and it will be the power of God through the gospel which sanctifies them.
Starting with the gospel and staying with the gospel is the reality explained in Colossians 2:6-7: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
The New Discipleship The new view of discipleship as gospel discipleship or gospel re-presentation puts an emphasis on a “depth presentation of the gospel.”[6] This is the presentation and the re-presentation and application of the fullness of all that Christ has done and will do in the life of a believer. The Spiritual Birthline is a helpful tool here. The Birthline assists in helping a person grasp all that God is doing in their life, no matter where they are at spiritually. In addition, I can present the Birthline and ask where a person is in their spiritual pilgrimage as a diagnostic and, in listening to them, build a relationship and get to know them on a deeper level. Spiritual Birthline interpretation is soaking in the gospel as I assist people in recognizing God’s work in their life.
Giving myself to gospel discipling, begins with the Spirit enabling me to “be a man whose inner life has been gripped through and through by the message of the Cross.”[7]
In being gripped by the cross, I can become the pacesetter, “who motivates an ingrown church to outreach by setting the example.”[8] How does this happen? It is a transforming work of the Spirit who utilizes the meditation on gospel truths in Scripture, prayer, and faith-filled experience in ministry, to revive my own heart and renew my pastoral and leadership abilities.[9]
As I lead out from being centered on the gospel and Christ, the effect overflows into the faith community. Our confidence rests with God’s sovereign calling, so we are engaged in the process of seeing faith form in others. We do not feel the pressure to coerce or manipulate decisions for Christ, but give people the freedom to belong before they believe.[10] We can be tremendously open and hospitable as a church plant, or established church, and yet maintain our commitment to the “exclusive nature of the Christian faith.”[11]
When we embrace our calling as a faith forming community, the distinction between evangelism and discipleship disappears.
People are welcomed into the process of becoming a follower of Jesus and we affirm that the way we come to Christ is the way we live for him. Our emphasis shifts from narrowly defined Damascus road type testimonies to embracing diversity in the process of coming to faith.[12] We shepherd and midwife the people who are in process from the understanding that both the greatest resource for evangelism and the greatest resource for discipleship is the gospel.
This is Part 2 of the 3-Part Series, Discipleship in the Moment by Allen Taha.
[1] Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit, Vol II, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 213-215, quoted in Stephen Smallman, The Pastor as Physician of the Soul. Grace-Centered Discipleship class notes.
[2] Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience, Third Edition, (London: Billing and Sons, 1967), 43.
[3] Ibid., 166.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Stephen Smallman, Spiritual Birthline: Understanding How We Experience the New Birth, (Wheaton: Crossway,
2006).
[6] Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press), 72-74, referenced in Stephen Smallman, A Vision for Renewal, Grace-Centered Discipleship class notes, 13 January 2006.
[7] C. John Miller, Outgrowing the Ingrown Church, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 115.
[8] Ibid., 15.
[9] Ibid., 118.
[10] “The missional church…evangelizes primarily by immersing the unchurched in the experience of community…the medium [of evangelism] is the community of believers themselves.” Webber, Ancient-Future Evangelism, 62.
[11] Weber, Ancient-Future Evangelism, 56.
[12] The Apostle Paul’s conversion “has provided the model of what Christian conversion is supposed to be like.” This taken with the fact of “how we conceive of conversion determines how we do evangelism,” leaves us little room for allowing time for people to reflect on their spiritual state even though conversion for the twelve was “a process that unfold[ed] over time.” Richard V. Peace, Conversion in the New Testament: Paul and the Twelve, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 19, 286.
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Dr. Allen R. Taha is pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Boerne, Texas. He also serves as a chaplain and firefighter for the Boerne Volunteer Fire Department. He graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis (M. Div., DMin.). He likes to bowhunt the backwoods of Texas in his spare time.
Share the Gospel & Your Life
Discipleship happens, not just by sharing the gospel but by sharing our lives with others. Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul comments: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thess 2:8). Paul and Silas shared the gospel and their lives with these men and women. Paul lived with Jason, worked with the Thessalonians, ate meals with them, had an affection for them.
They shared life in the rhythms of working, eating, suffering, and serving, like a family.
So how do we go about making disciples?
Mentor Discipleship Paul describes discipleship through two primary relationships: brother to brother and father to son. Perhaps more people are familiar with brother discipleship relationships, where you have shared life and the gospel with your peers. All too often these Christian relationships stop at sharing life. They don't go deep into the gospel, mining grace through conflict, suffering, and mission. The other disciple relationship God has given the church is the father to son or mother to daughter. This relationship is not peer-based but mentor-based, sharing not only life but also gospel wisdom.
I’ve had the privilege of sharing life and wisdom with some great mentors. Tom & Julie Steller shared their lives and the gospel with us our first year of marriage. We lived on the first floor of their home, which was connected to their floors with a winding staircase. We popped in on one another, talked in the front yard about life, and occasionally shared meals. The Stellers gave us an example of marriage during our first year. Julie intentionally prayed for Robie and walked with her through some trials. Tom also helped me fumble through the first year by sharing wisdom with me, not just life. He was the first person to show me that, when 1 Peter 3:7 calls us to “live with our wives in understanding way”, it literally reads "dwell with them according to knowledge." In other words, husbands should be students of our wive's needs, hopes, fears, and dreams. We should know them intimately not just provide for them financially. This insight has compelled me to love my wife over the years by asking her questions about her joys, fear, concerns, hopes, and dreams. I’ve passed it onto many.
How to Speak Wisely Mentors speak wisely in a variety of ways. There's not a one size fits all way of sharing wisdom. Paul discipled through speech by exhorting and encouraging. He wrote to them saying: “For you know how, like a father with his children"exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (2:11–12). A fatherly mentor observes his disciple and takes time to exhort, encourage, and charge others in the faith.
A mentor observes his disciple and takes time to exhort, encourage, and charge others in the faith.
Tom exhorted me to understand my wife as a display of the gospel to the world. Doug Birdsall encouraged me in seminary. We met together regularly but he also took the time to attend the Sunday School classes I taught, in both my first year and my last year. Then, after each class he would pull me aside to specifically tell me how I had improved. When I began writing, published author and mentor, Steve Macchia, encouraged me to keep writing even when my article queries were turned down. He insisted that I had a voice and something to say, and that one day, I would get published. He endorses my first book, which comes out in March. Exhorting and encouraging can and should happen in peer discipleship relationships too, though exhortation and encouragement from a mentor carries a particular weight. Use it wisely.
The discipleship crisis can be redressed if we will simply take the time to be disciples who share the gospel and our lives with others. If this kind of discipleship had stopped with Paul and Barnabas, Christianity would have gone nowhere. But Barnabas discipled Paul, Paul discipled Silas, who discipled the Thessalonians, who discipled others. Four generations of disciples. The church grew, in depth and number, through the multiplication of shared life and wisdom. What if this kind of discipleship had stopped with the Thessalonian church? Where would we be? If it had stopped with me, my now friend and fellow pastor would not be discipling others. When I first met him, he was a burned out musician and recovering alcoholic in need of shared life and gospel wisdom. After taking in some gospel steroids, sharing life, and devouring wisdom, he's discipled others. Now he’s not only a peer disciple but also a mentor to others.
Life and Gospel What would happen if you and your community took the opportunity to share life and the gospel, not just as peers but also as mentors to one another? You could stave off the crisis and advance the church.
Jesus wasn't born, crucified, and raised just so you could go to church; he came so you would go make disciples.
Good discipleship relationships share life and the gospel. Sometimes they take the form of brotherly relationships and other times they take the form of mentor relationships, father to son, mother to daughter. Everyone needs a mentor but not everyone is promised a mentor. However, everyone can be a mentor to others. If you know Jesus, you know more than enough to disciple someone.
It is these discipling relationships that cause the gospel to spread, for disciples to multiply. What would it look like for you to invite one person into your life, to share just 25% of your time with? Who has God sent you to? Are you intentionally making disciples? Who could you deliberately pursue to share life and the gospel with? Jesus wasn't born, crucified, and raised just so you could go to church; he came so you would go make disciples. Don't just go to church; go make disciples!
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Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) serves as a pastor of Austin City Life in Austin, Texas. He has written articles in numerous blogs and journals such as The Resurgence, The Journal of Biblical Counseling, and Boundless. Dodson has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others.
Discipleship in the Moment - Part 1
Discipleship is the lifeblood of the church. Jesus’ final command is a call to discipleship:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
How is the church doing with respect to accomplishing Jesus’ final command? Are we making disciples? Jim Peterson, of the Navigators ministry, makes the startling statement at the beginning of his book on discipleship, “Thirty years of discipleship programs, and we are not discipled.”[1]
What has happened to discipleship? How is it that Christianity in America is so shallow, given the accessibility and availability of resources and knowledge? Where is the power of Jesus in the lives of Christians? I need look no further than my own experience and journey in discipleship to see the failure of programs to accomplish Christ’s commission. As I trace my own journey in exploring what discipleship is, I must rethink discipleship for the advance of the gospel in order to see the emergence of a new discipleship framework.
Discipleship as Program? Previously, I viewed discipleship as a program. Discipleship was a set body of information, usually the basics of Christianity, taught to a disciple in a structured academic environment. Once a person converted, discipleship was sharing information to produce behavioral conformity to evangelical Christianity. This view was established in my campus ministry experience with a parachurch ministry. In fact, once a person came to faith and went through one semester of Bible study, they were assimilated into a second Bible study which we called a “discipleship group.”
When discipleship is a program, there is a defined beginning and end with a distinct accompanying methodological emphasis.
Following the proven methods of discipleship to reach the end goal was key. Deviating from this method was not encouraged. Deep down I knew something was amiss in this one-size-fits-all approach, but I was too young in my faith to articulate it and there were no other presenting alternatives.
I eventual came to see that utilizing a program made the end goal of discipleship not so much following Jesus and becoming like him, but the goal was self-perpetuating the particular parachurch ministry. This goal was accomplished by recruiting laborers from our pool of disciples. Progress in discipleship was more measured by involvement in and commitment to the parachurch ministry, rather than following God’s call to give Him glory in whatever vocational sphere into which He has called us.
I knew that there had to be more to discipleship and the Christian life than recruiting other parachurch staff. In time, I left the parachurch ministry and headed to seminary. My desire was to continue serving in ministry, but I knew I needed to not only grow in biblical knowledge and ministry skill, I needed a new paradigm found in the gospel.
Discipleship NOT as Program[2] Through seminary and the following years of ministry, I vacillated when it came to discipleship. My past parachurch ministry experience was still my tendency, even though I knew something of the rich diversity of experimental religion. It was because I knew something of the grandeur and sovereignty of God, that I refused to force a program on people. So discipleship was no longer a program I followed, but having lost the intent and structure of a program, I resorted to a haphazard approach. Having come into contact through seminary with the gospel of grace in a fresh way, I knew discipleship was more than working hard as a Christian and checking off godly behaviors.
During these years in ministry, I frequently met with spiritual hungry Christians and personally directed them spiritually. I would informally ask questions and discern how people were doing. Based on their answers or struggles, I would give some sort of guidance or comfort based on my knowledge of the Scriptures. Often I would evaluate a person intuitively to discern what they needed to hear and then gauge the effectiveness of my discipling efforts on how well they listened and obeyed. While this was no longer a rigid program, it was still highly informational. I knew people needed contact with the Word of God and exposure to the truth, but my downfall in terms of discipling effectiveness was becoming an informational guru rather than an incarnational reality.
Discipleship as Gospel Re-Presentation[3] If discipleship is not a program, if it is not a body of information, if it is not a class[4] to take, if it is not sitting at the feet of a guru, what is it?
Discipleship is presenting and applying the truths of the gospel in a way that cultivates the transforming knowledge of our Savior and results in following him.
The knowledge a person gains in knowing and trusting Christ is transformative because of the work of the Holy Spirit[5]. The Spirit’s work is to reveal the depths of knowledge (John 17:3), that we would look into the mirror of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:1-6) and see God’s glory reflected there. In discipleship the gospel is unfolded and “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3) are discovered in Christ.
Though discipleship can be defined as growth in knowledge, it is not an academic exercise or reducible to book learning. The intimate and relational knowledge that the Spirit uses to transform lives is centered on Christ. Jesus Christ is the gospel by virtue of His position at the center of it.[6] He is the object of our faith (1 Timothy 1:14) and the mediator of the message (1 Timothy 2:5) which is the “power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16).
The New Testament pattern for discipleship is the presentation and re-presentation of all that Christ has accomplished.[7] So to disciple is to teach and model all that Christ has done and will do. To disciple is to remind and explain how the Scriptures proclaim the good news (Isaiah 61:2, Luke 2:11, 4:19) and the implications of that news for godly living.
Discipling begins and ends with the good news of the gospel.
The gospel is our starting point as the Father effectually calls people towards conversion, and the gospel is our end point as we continually experience the transforming and renewing power of the Spirit by faith in Christ. We start with the gospel in discipleship, we stay with the gospel, and we end this life and begin eternity with the knowledge and power the gospel supplies.
This is Part 1 of the 3-Part Series, Discipleship in the Moment by Allen Taha.
[1] Jim Peterson, Lifestyle Discipleship: The Challenge of Following Jesus in Today’s World (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1993), 15.
[2] “Turning the process of spiritual formation into a program will undermine its very purpose. It is a spiritual process, a process that the church sets in motion to engage the heart, the mind, the will, indeed the whole person, in a lifelong commitment of discipleship.” Robert E. Webber, Ancient- Future Evangelism: Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 47.
[3] I first heard the phrase “gospel re-presentation” from Bryan Chapell’s lecture during the 2005 Sacrifice of Praise Worship Renewal Conference (http://www.covenantseminary.edu/resource/Chapell_WC05_WorshipAsGospelRePresentation.mp3).
In this sense, worship is an aspect of discipleship, which is the point Webber makes: “In worship the unchurched are immersed in truth as the community remembers God’s great acts of salvation, discerns the ways God’s presence and power are now available, and points to the eschatological vision of the new heavens and earth…This kind of worship—worship that proclaims and enacts the gospel so that our relationship with God is rehearsed—speaks to our postmodern way of knowing.” Ancient-Future Evangelism, 63-64.
[4] Webber offers the following interpretation of “teaching” in Matthew 28:20, “Teaching is not divorced from disciple making; it is not a separate responsibility apart from discipleship, and teaching does not mean a mere intellectual framework.” Ancient-Future Evangelism, 22.
[5] “One’s whole life involves trusting in Christ, who by the Spirit continually transforms us into the likeness of God.” Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996), 75.
[6] Stephen Smallman, Grace-Centered Discipleship Class Lecture, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, 11 January 2006.
[7] Romans is an example of this pattern of discipleship: Romans was addressed to believers (1:7), the letter begins with a definition of what the gospel is (1:16), this is followed by a depth presentation of the gospel (chapters 1-11), after which the implications of the truth of the gospel are worked out (chapters 12-16). Ibid.
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Dr. Allen R. Taha is pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Boerne, Texas. He also serves as a chaplain and firefighter for the Boerne Volunteer Fire Department. He graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis (M. Div., DMin.). He likes to bowhunt the backwoods of Texas in his spare time.
Everyday Discipleship
Teaching "Along the Road"Life context and word content for discipleship reflects the setting of the great summary of Israelite faith: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). Israel’s identity as a people was tied up with the “word” spoken to them by the Lord. It was God’s word that constituted them as his people at Sinai (Deuteronomy 5:4; Hebrews 12:19). Peter Adam says, “The basic structure of the theology of Deuteronomy is that God has spoken. . . . The command ‘Hear O Israel’ is characteristic of Deuteronomy . . . followed by instructions to remember, teach, discuss, meditate on and practice the words of God.”5 This creates a “verbal spirituality” in which the only appropriate response is to “love the Lord your God with total commitment, with your total self, to total excess!”6 What is significant for the practice of discipleship is the way the book of Deuteronomy then brings both this lofty theology and all-encompassing commitment down to earth: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). This truth and its response are for everyone, and the way to teach them is in the routine of life. Chris Wright says, “The law was to be the topic of ordinary conversation in ordinary homes in ordinary life, from breakfast to bedtime.”7
This is not to denigrate the importance of formal teaching times at church but rather to emphasize the need also to bring teaching out of the pulpit and embed it in life. Just as the Law defined Israel’s identity and shaped her life, so the word of God is to define what we are as the church. And that process of definition occurs in the mundane setting of everyday life and relationships. The gospel word should be central to a formal meeting, but it also has to be the heart of all we do as the people of God and how we relate to the world.
The teaching along the road in Deuteronomy 6 is seen in the ministry of Jesus. He taught as he met the sick, as he answered questions, as he ate with people, as he walked along the road. Chapters 9–10 of Mark’s Gospel are an extended explanation of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. And all this teaching takes place along the road. And it is not any old road. It is the road to Jerusalem. It is the way to the cross. And that mirrors the teaching.
To be a disciple, as Jesus keeps reminding the twelve, is to follow the way of the cross.
We should be teaching one another the Bible as we are out walking, driving in the car, or washing the dishes. People should learn the truth of justification not only in an exposition of Romans 5 but as they see us resting on Christ’s finished work instead of anxiously trying to justify ourselves. They should understand the nature of Christian hope not only as they listen to a talk on Romans 8 but as they see us groaning in response to suffering as we wait for glory. They should understand the sovereignty of God not only from a sermon series on Isaiah but as they see us respond to trials with “pure joy” (James 1:2). We have found in our context that most learning and training takes place not through programmed teaching or training courses but in unplanned conversations—talking about life, talking about ministry, talking about problems.
Let us make a bold statement: truth cannot be taught effectively outside of close relationships. The reason is that truth is not primarily formal; it is dynamic. The truth of the gospel becomes compelling as we see it transforming lives in the rub of daily, messy relationships. Jay Adams says, “A whole person will affect whole persons on all levels; that is the goal of discipleship training. . . . It all involves commitment to God. Therefore, truth incarnated in life is the goal. For reaching this goal, only one method is possible—the biblical one—discipleship. Whole persons must teach whole per- sons; the Word must be made flesh.”8
You could start simply by telling someone today about your relationship with God or your struggles with sin. Tell him or her about how God has encouraged you, answered your prayer, spoken to you through the Bible, and given you opportunities to share the gospel or serve other Christians. And then ask that person about his or her walk with God. Make it a habit to talk about these things together “along the road.”
Training "Along the Road" The same principles apply to training people for leadership roles. Alongside teaching “along the road,” we need training “along the road.” We are not against theological colleges, but we need a big switch of focus from the isolation of residential theological colleges to apprenticeships in the context of ministry. This is how Jesus trained people. This is how Paul trained people. In residential colleges the academy sets the agenda. With on-the-job training, ministry and mission set the agenda.
Colleges also suit a certain type of person, and this then shapes a view of what it means to be a church leader. Most church leaders today are middle-class graduates who were trained in a college and whose qualification for ministry is a degree. The first apostles were from very mixed social backgrounds, most with no education. They trained by accompanying Jesus, and their qualification for minis- try was that they knew Jesus. When the Jewish leaders “saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). One of the reasons we have middle-class churches that are failing to reach working-class people is that we have middle-class leaders. And we have middle-class leaders because our expectations of what constitutes leadership and our training methods are middle-class. Indeed working-class people only really get into leadership by effectively becoming middle-class.
Paul had the highest education possible (Acts 22:3). It is not bad to be highly educated. But the qualities he outlines for Christian leaders are not skills-based but character-based. The focus in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 is on the character of leaders—their godliness, their maturity, their example. The only skill needed is the ability to teach—and that does not necessarily mean giving forty-five-minute sermons. It is the ability to apply God’s word to the life of the church and the lives of its members.
Having caught a glimpse of the benefits of mentoring when I was much younger, I made the decision early in my ministry to provide a number of young people with the opportunity to work alongside me. The aim was to see lives changed by the gospel and people equipped for gospel ministry. Integral to the process has always been relationship. These young people not only worked for me, they worked alongside me. They witnessed firsthand both how I conducted myself in public and how I related to my family. It was a life-to-life thing—close, intimate, and demanding. But how can anyone really learn what it means to be a disciple unless he or she sees someone living out his or her discipleship? How can some one learn the need of grace without witnessing the power of grace using a flawed individual? I have to confess to being skeptical of any approach to leadership training that stops short of this level of exposure and this depth of relationship. Certainly much information can be imparted, techniques can be learned, skills acquired, but without the relational dimension, it will always fall short of true discipleship.
This is an excerpt from Tim Chester and Steve Timmis's book, Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community.
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Tim Chester (PhD, University of Wales) is pastor of the Crowded House in Sheffield, United Kingdom, and director of the Porterbrook Institute. Chester also coauthored the forthcoming Everyday Church (Re:Lit) and has written more than a dozen books. Steve Timmis is cofounder of the Crowded House, a church-planting initiative in Sheffield, UK, and codirector of the Porterbrook Network. He is also director of Acts 29 in Western Europe and the coauthor of Everyday Church (September 2012, Crossway).
What I Learned from Being Discipled
About a year ago, I met Jeremy. He is now as close as a brother—a brother who has refined, challenged, and equipped me in areas that would have otherwise gone untouched. My relationship with Jeremy has not only been a major personal blessing, but has also broadened my perspective of the value of intentional, discipleship-driven relationships. Jeremy is about 30 years old, married, and has two young kids. In between various odd-jobs, he invests in many men at Moody Theological Seminary. He intentionally pursues, meets and prays with those who still don’t know what they want to be when they grow up.
Our initial talks primarily consisted of exchanging one another's background information, as he also began to probe my framework for ministry, marriage, and life in general. Over time, I began unpacking more and more to him. Through it all, he has listened patiently to my various struggles, fears, and questions. Sometimes, he just listens. Other times, he listens and then provides counsel. But he’s always there, deeply investing in me. I often wonder why. Typically, I leave feeling undeserving to have an older, wiser man so intentionally pouring his life and the gospel into me.
At this point in our relationship, I comfortably express anything to him. Sometimes I find myself digging up a fear, doubt, or concern deeply embedded in my heart—something I thought I'd never talk about. These conversations can be hard in ways; but overall, they are deeply freeing and ultimately, life-giving. Moreover, Jeremy always extends opportunities of spending time with him, besides one-on-one conversations. He’s intentional and provides deep counsel while also being fun and spontaneous.
Making Disciples Who Make Disciples Because of the blessing of this relationship, I’ve often wondered about the impact this type of relational dynamic could have on 21st century Christianity. Unfortunately, we are typically too busy for such a relationship to develop, or we question whether there is much value in it for. For most of us, we stiff-arm this kind of friendship because the thought of being weak, confessing our struggles, asking for counsel, and growing in prayer are things that do not come naturally. We would rather just talk football, play with power tools, and eat red meat.
Many of our church programs and tactics enable us to hear the Word of God; but over time, our forms of ministry tend to lack the initiative to enhance one’s growth over the long haul. The gospel calls us to a pilgrimage and persevering discipleship in Christ. Gospel-centered, intentional relationships can and should be foundational in this. I'm deeply grateful for people like Jeremy who purposely seek to make disciples of Jesus, and encourage others to desire discipleship for themselves and others. This diffuses the powerful relational dynamic of 'making disciples who make disciples'—something we most likely agree with but are somewhat perplexed as to how it should be implemented.
How to Pursue a Discipleship-Driven Relationship Most of us agree that a discipleship-driven relationship is a healthy thing. The trouble is we vaguely know how to pursue such a relationship. What if I don’t know anyone who is willing to disciple me? What if people at my church aren’t really into this idea of discipleship? What do these types of relationships look like? I’m fine with being mentored by somebody, but I don’t feel equipped to mentor/disciple someone myself. This all sounds more awkward than I am comfortable with exploring right now. These are all normal concerns.
I'd like to share some things I have learned from being discipled. My hope is that they will address and clear away some of these concerns. Though not exhaustive, hopefully they will provide clarity on how discipleship relationships can develop.
1. Pray for a refining, gospel-centered, discipleship-driven relationship. Do not overlook the value of prayer. God is surely in favor of an iron-sharpening-iron relationship. Praying for this does not mean God will suddenly drop this person into your life (although he could), but it will definitely be something that he answers in his time and in his way.
2. Ask someone to mentor/disciple you. Unless you are a part of a small church, the lead pastor is not the best person to ask. Otherwise, he may already have too much on his plate. If this is the case, search for someone in your church who would not only be willing to disciple you, but would feel blessed by it. This is a great indicator that such a relationship will be truly refining. On the other hand, if this is something they agree to, but are going to have to squeeze it into their already tight schedule, I recommend searching elsewhere. It will be the greatest blessing for both individuals if each is fully on board and can consistently hang out and build depth. Also, don’t get offended if somebody denies your request or isn’t fully on board. People are busy, many have numerous kids. And while excuses can sometimes be frustrating, they are often perfectly valid.
3. Search for someone who is older and wiser, yet still close to your stage of life. If possible, the person should be at least a few years older, although there can certainly be exceptions. In some cases, a new believer may be conveniently mentored by someone who is his exact age and who has been a believer for a while. In other cases, a believer may be mentored by someone 40 years older. That’s certainly OK! But the blessing of someone who is older and wiser yet still close to your stage in life is that they can more naturally relate to you. They’ve walked where you’ve recently walked and also have the wisdom and experience on how to handle various facets of life. Also (and perhaps this doesn’t need to be said), only seek such a relationship from someone of the same gender.
4. Joining a small group is not the same as being in a discipleship-driven relationship. Small groups are important, but often the same degree of gospel depth cannot be reached in this setting as it can in a mentoring relationship. There are certain things you would never talk about in a small group setting. This is because people whom you barely know are in the room, like the young mom with the baby who you’ve seen once in the church lobby. Small groups could actually be a great place to meet someone who could provide discipleship, but they will most often not fulfill one's need of gospel cultivation that digs more deeply and personally into one’s heart.
5. It shouldn’t be super serious all the time. A buzz phrase in Christian culture is life-on-life discipleship and there is major value in this. A discipleship-driven relationship shouldn’t solely consist of deep, spiritual conversations or lengthy Bible studies. Such relationships should be much broader. Life should be enjoyed together. Christians need to have more fun. Go out to eat. Play basketball. Go to a baseball game. Play video games. Start your own rap group. Build an all-around relationship. Then also meet to talk about Scripture and plant it into each other’s heart and life; but make the relationship broader than merely that. Truthfully, when the relationship is broader, then the depth of the spiritual matters will more naturally open up even more. A deeper gospel friendship will grow, while vulnerability and weakness will follow.
Discipleship-driven relationships effectively diffuse the idea of 'making disciples who make disciples', because true, gospel-centered discipleship should lead to such a ripple effect—where communities of believers make disciples who will in turn make more disciples of Jesus. This will happen through a generation who grasps the value of discipleship relationships and in turn learns how to implement them in their everyday life.
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Haddon is a graduate student at Moody Theological Seminary. In 2010, he graduated from Cedarville University, where he met his wife, Julie. They are currently residents of northwest Indiana, and plan to move to Haddon's hometown of Rockford, IL, where they will invest in urban and youth ministry. You can find him blogging at HaddonAnderson.com.
Reinterpreting the Great Commission -- Part Two
This is part 2 of the 2-part series, “Reinterpreting the Great Commission” by Jonathan Dodson Gospel of Luke: Resurrection Stories Luke's commission also emphasizes preaching the gospel: "repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things" (Luke 24:47-48). In particular, we are called to preach "repentance and forgiveness of sins." A social gospel will not suffice. Christ calls us to repent — to turn our heart allegiances away from all things other, and to receive forgiveness for betraying our Creator. But a forgiven and repentant person is not idle; they are compelled to witness — to tell the story of their transformation.
Where Matthew and Mark respectively emphasize distinctive discipleship and preaching a worldly gospel, Luke calls us to witness — to tell our distinct gospel stories. No two stories are alike, but all share the same Savior. What does it mean to be "witnesses of all these things"? Well, at the very least it means sharing Jesus' self-sacrificing offer of forgiveness, but that is just one thing. What of the other things?
We are to tell of Jesus' death, but we are also to tell of his resurrection. Consider the context of Luke's commission. The eleven disciples were discussing the reliability of Jesus sightings, when suddenly Christ appeared in the room. Thinking he was a ghost, they were filled with fright. Jesus responded: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (24:39). To make his point, Jesus proved he had a body by eating some fish and chips. In flesh and bone, Jesus charges his follower to be witnesses of his resurrection.
The problem with many of our stories is that they contain all spirit and very little flesh. We communicate our mystical encounters with God, our mountain top experiences with Jesus, and our superhuman victories over sin. Many people see right through our spiritual stories, precisely because our witness is too good to be true. We fail to mention our bad, unless it is in the past, failing further to witness of resurrection, in the present. People want to touch redemption, which means they need to see resurrection power in our personal struggles.
Jesus' body was resurrected as an expression of God's commitment to creation (1 Cor. 15). God does not jettison the body for the soul. His gospel of redemption is for the whole world, beginning with enfleshed people. His resurrection is a bright reminder of new creation in the midst of bleak darkness, of tangible transformation in gross dilapidation. The stories we tell should boast of Jesus' death and resurrection, of his forgiveness of sin and of his restoration of sinners — reconciled families and marriages, restored and housed homeless, renewed life among AIDS orphans, and so on.
According to the Gospel of Luke, we are to be witnesses of death and resurrection, to live and recount the stories of a resurrected, fleshly Jesus who lives in the midst of broken humanity offering healing and hope.
Gospel of John: Humble and Cultural Accommodation John's commission is short and sweet: "As the Father sent me, I am also sending you" (John 20:21). Whereas the previous gospel writers emphasized Jesus' command to make distinctive disciples, preach a worldly gospel, and witness a fleshly Jesus, John stresses Jesus sending his disciples. As the text continues, Jesus makes plain that the disciples are sent as a forgiving community, offering the grace they have received from him to others.
According to John Piper, we are either goers, senders, or disobedient, but according to Jesus we are all the sent. Missionary activity is not the exclusive task of people who sell all their possessions and move overseas. All followers of Jesus are called to live as missionaries in their culture. If we are all sent into our cultures as distinctive disciples to share a worldly gospel about a fleshly Christ, how then are we to live as the sent? Jesus said, "As the Father sent me, I am also sending you." Our paradigm for living a sent life, a missionary life, is the sending of the Son by the Father.
When the Father sent the Son, Jesus left the glory of his trinitarian abode and became a helpless infant in the care of humans he created. This required an accommodating humility. Jesus grew up and became a first century, toga-wearing, sandal-sporting, temple-frequenting Jew. He accommodated first century Jewish culture (also known as contextualization). So, within reason we should take on the trappings of our culture in order to contextually relate the gospel. This can entail wearing broken-in jeans, togas, hand-made sandals or a suit and tie.
However, our accommodation is not purely cultural; it is missional. It leads us to immerse ourselves into the humanity of our neighborhoods and cities in order relate the gospel to people and their needs. Being a local missionary requires more than relevant attire; it demands humility of heart to listen to the stories of others, to empathize with their frustration, suffering, and brokenness and to redemptively retell their stories through the gospel. To be sent by God is to follow the example of the incarnation, to redemptively engage others with a humble heart and cultural accommodation.
In John's commission, the paradigm of accommodating humility is accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is not too holy for distinctive discipleship. After sending his disciples, Jesus breathed on them and they received the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). The power of missional living does not spring from cultural savvy or social sensitivity; it requires the otherworldly, utterly personal power of the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can make men new.
According to the Gospel of John, we have been sent as missionaries to humbly demonstrate and culturally accommodate the gospel of Christ through the power of the Spirit. In being sent, we do not abandon the cultural commission, but instead, unite it with our redemptive mission.
The Gospel of Genesis: Creation Mandate The "good news" of Genesis 1-2 is that God created all things to be enjoyed, managed, cultivated, and recreated by humanity. The gospel of Genesis 3 is that, though Adam rejected God, God did not reject Adam. Still possessing the creation mandate, Adam was expelled from Eden, but clothed with the hope of a new creation (Gen 3:15, 21).
The creation mandate charges us to be fruitful and multiply, to rule and subdue the earth. This fruitful multiplication continues both physically and spiritually through the reproducing ministry of missional disciples, who increase in number and good works (Acts 6:7; Col. 1:6, 10). These good works include ruling and subduing creation through the careful, creative arrangement of the elements of the earth into art, technology, infrastructure etc. for the flourishing of humanity. The basis for our cultural activity is found in Genesis.
Retaining the cultural impulse of Genesis, the Gospels call us to a missional discipleship that entails creation care, cultural engagement, social action, and gospel proclamation. Missional disciples will not content themselves by preaching a culturally irrelevant, creation indifferent, resurrection neglecting message. Instead, they redemptively engage peoples and cultures through Christ for the renewal of his creation.
By digging deeper into the great commissions, we have unearthed a wealth of cultural and theological insight. This rereading of familiar evangelistic texts has demonstrated that God in Christ has called us not to mere soul-winning, but to distinctive discipleship, to heralding a worldly gospel of a fleshly Christ who humbly accommodates human culture and understands the human condition. These commissions call us to missional discipleship — to redemptive engagement with all peoples and cultures.
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NOTES
- It is certainly possible that there are more commissions. In fact, the Abrahamic covenant in Gen 12:1-3 contains a programmatic mandate for all of Scripture: Go and God will make you a blessing to the nations, which is progressively manifested in making a new people of God, comprised of Jews and Gentiles.
- It too is variously repeated in the Old Testament, upwards of 20 times, e.g. Gen. 9:1,7; 17:2-6; 26:3; 28:3; Ex. 1:7; Ezek. 36:11; Jer. 23:3.
- Andrew Walls, The Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1996), 51. The original Greek reading of Matt. 28:18 is literally "disciple all ethne" or "make disciples all nations" and does not contain a preposition. However, the grammatical construction of the phrase leads to an "of" reading, not a "from" or "in" reading.
- It is widely recognized that this verse and the latter portion of Mark's gospel (16:9-20) is absent from many Marcan manuscripts. However, we can not be certain that the ending is missing from the original text. If it was absent, our point concerning the "worldly gospel" of Mark still stands in that Mark repeatedly depicts Jesus as the Restorer of creation: driving out demons, healing the sick, resurrecting the dead, calming the sea.
Reinterpreting the Great Commission - Part One
There's a good chance you've misinterpreted the Great Commission. Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20) is frequently summoned to validate countless evangelism programs. Great Commission flags are planted at end of sentences and sermons in order to summit all kinds of discipleship agendas. What was the agenda of Jesus in giving these commissions to the church? What if the Great Commission means something different or deeper than we imagined? In order to mine the meaning of the Great Commission, I propose we read all five commissions together.1 The four commissions in the NT are actually variations of the same mandate (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:48-49/Acts 1:8; John 20:21), each issued by Jesus, emphasizing a slightly different aspect of what it means to be a disciple. The operative verbs in these NT commissions are: make disciples, preach, witness, and send. They are gospel mandates. The OT commission, frequently referred to as the creation or cultural mandate, was issued by God before the Fall of humanity, emphasizing creative activity with the following verbs: be fruitful, multiply, rule, and subdue (Gen 1.27-28).2 It is a creative mandate. Did the Great Commission swallow the Cultural Mandate? Are these commissions at odds?
Make Culture or Make Disciples? A surface reading of these Old and New Testament texts certainly seems to pose two different mandates: one for culture-making and the other for disciple-making. In Genesis it would seem that the purpose of humanity is to produce people and culture, whereas the Gospels appear to advocate pulling away from people and culture. As a result, many choose one reading over the other, disciple-making or culture-making, soul-winning or social action. Depending on which we choose, we may end up leaning "liberal" or "conservative". Misinterpretation over the Great Commission has lead to a great divide between Christians. The gospel actually bridges this divide. We need to allow both Genesis and the Gospels to speak into our understanding of Jesus' great commission. In fact, reading the gospel commissions in light of the cultural commission reveals a multi-layered, mandate. When read in stereo, these commissions transmit a mission much bigger than we might have imagined.
The rest of this article will move beyond poverty-ridden proof texts into the wealth of the biblical commissions. This will require confrontation with the Bible's demands to make culture and disciples, to care for creation and be agents of new creation. As a result, we will be challenged to understand and embrace discipleship as more than spiritual disciplines or evangelistic programs. We will see that Scripture calls us to missional discipleship, a following after Jesus that requires redemptive engagement not just with souls but with creation and culture.
Gospel of Matthew: Distinctive Discipleship Part of what makes the Great Commission great is its scope. When Jesus said: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" he was orienting a primarily Jewish audience to a distinctly multi-ethnic mission. Ralph Winter pointed out that this is not calling Christians to Christianize nation-states, but to evangelize particular ethnic groups. We get the word, "ethnic" from the Greek word for nations, which refers not to modern geo-political states, but instead to non-Jewish ethnic groups (aka Gentiles). In other words, Christ does not advocate Christendom, a top-down political Christianity. Instead, in affirmation of the cultural mandate, he calls his followers to transmit a bottom-up, indigenous Christianity, to all peoples in all cultures.
In light of the cultural orientation of discipleship, Andrew Walls makes an interesting observation. He points out that the command in Matthew is to make disciples of all nations not from all nations. What's the difference? If we interpret the command as "make disciples from ethnic groups", then one could easily misconstrue the commission as a command to remove disciples from their culture. However, if his command means to "make disciples of all nations", the command implies we are meant to make disciples within their culture. Is the gospel meant to rescue disciples from their cultures or from their sin? Is the Great Commission meant to quarantine Christians from the world in order to create one vast Christian subculture? Not at all. Walls comments:
Conversion to Christ does not produce a bland universal citizenship: it produces distinctive discipleship, as diverse and variegated as human life itself. Christ in redeeming humanity brings, by the process of discipleship, all the richness of humanity's infinitude of cultures and subcultures into the variegated splendor of the Full Grown Humanity to which the apostolic literature points (Eph 4.8-13).3
What we should strive for is distinctive discipleship, discipleship that uniquely expresses personal faith in each disciple's cultural context. As a result, disciples in urban Manhattan will look different than disciples in rural Maehongson. They speak different languages, worship in different buildings, eat different foods, and encounter different challenges. These differences allow for a flourishing of the gospel that contributes to the many-splendored new humanity of Christ. Matthew's commission calls us to make disciples that reveal the various beauties of Christ across cultures. Jesus' command is neither soul-centered not culture-centered but gospel-centered. When the gospel is transmitted within nations, it will produce culturally diverse, distinctive disciples.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, distinctive disciples are those who who, in following Jesus, refuse a one-sided, soul-centered gospel, and instead live out faith in context. The distinctive disciple retains the image of Adam — a culture maker — while growing in the image of Christ and becoming a disciple-maker.
Gospel of Mark: A Worldly Gospel Mark's commission reads: "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mk. 16:15).4 Where Matthew emphasizes the action of making distinctive disciples, Mark stresses the importance of preaching to all creation.
When Jesus used the word "preach" he did not mean converse. The Greek word for preach always carries a sense of urgency and gravity. What is to be proclaimed is of great importance. In Mark's case, it is the gospel that is of utmost importance. This gospel is to be proclaimed to "the whole creation." We might say it is a worldly gospel.
The Greek word for "creation" can be used both broadly and narrowly, referring to the cosmos or to people. Given Mark's context, it should be taken broadly, referring to the world, its peoples and its cultures. Preaching the gospel of Christ has cosmic implications. So it is with Paul: "this gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister" (Col. 1:23). Paul perceives himself as an announcer of a worldly, Christ-centered gospel. Jesus has reconciled all things to himself, whether on earth or in heaven (Col. 1:20). Paul preaches with Mark's great commission emphasis — preaching for the redemption of all creation.
Interestingly, while this worldly gospel saves, it also condemns. In Mark, Jesus explains that not all will believe this grand Story or receive its great Savior: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mk. 16:16). Mark's commission reveals the divisive nature of the gospel. For some it brings life; for others it acknowledges death, but all are to be given the opportunity to be written into the story of God's redemption.
As with Matthew, the scope of God's redemptive activity is important. From the beginning, God's design for creation was for it to flourish and become inhabitable. Outside of Eden, the earth was uninhabitable. Humanity was charged with the task of caring for the earth and creating culture, making the uninhabitable habitable.
Adam failed to trust God with this task and sought to rule not only over creation, but also over God. As a result, the creation project was subjected to sin and calamity (Rom. 8:20). Israel followed in Adam's footsteps. Then came Jesus. Jesus preached a worldly gospel, a restorative message that put the creation project back on track. His glorified, resurrection body is clearly proof of the new creation to come. He redeems both physically and spiritually.
Just prior to ascending to heaven, Jesus told those who believe that they will be given power to heal the sick, restore the demon-possessed, and to speak new languages (Mk. 16:17-18). This worldly gospel is for the redemption and renewal of the earth, the body, the heart, the mind, and the cultures of the world. It is a saving message that rescues people from their unbelief, not their world, and reconciles their alienation from one another, their world, and their Creator.
According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus died to bring life to all creation, to restore the environment, renew cultures and remake peoples, spiritually and physically. We are called to preach a worldly gospel.
Why Make Disciples?
When we’re told to make disciples, to share our lives and the gospel with other people, very often objections spring to mind. Here are three possible objections to why you might not be making disciples, followed by two reasons to make disciples.
Objection #1: I don’t have time. To this objection, Jesus would say: “How can you not have time?” This is why I gave you the gospel, to multiply disciples. Remember my parting words before I ascended to heaven to pray for you, the Great Commission? “Go therefore and make disciples, teaching them to obey all I have commanded” (Matt 28:19)? How can you not have time to share my words, the greatest news on earth, with your family, friends, and neighbors?
The truth is, we all have time to disciple others. The obstacle to making disciples isn’t time; it is our values. We simply value something else more than we value making disciples. We may value our independence, our convenience, our comfort, or our work more than we value sharing our lives and the gospel with others. It’s not that we don’t have time; it’s that we don’t have the value for making discples.
Objection #2: I don’t know enough. That simply isn’t true. Most Americans have more theological education than most Christians in the world, and yet African and Asian Christians are multiplying disciples rapidly. Moreover, discipleship isn’t knowledge-based; it’s gospel and life based. Don’t put your faith in knowledge; put your faith in the gospel, which bears fruit when we share it and share our lives. Share the gospel with others by sharing how the gospel has changed you. Tell your story of redemption. Testify to the power of Christ in forgiving your past, present and future sin. Disclose the reckless love of Christ in dying your deserved death, so that you could receive an undeserved life. If you know the gospel, you know enough. If you have a story of redemption, you have a story to tell! There are people in your neighborhood, workplace, and church that need you. More importantly, they need Christ. It’s not that you don’t know enough. If you know Jesus, then you know more than enough!
Objection #3: I don’t want to. Two brief responses. First, your wants need to change. You are too easily satisfied. Pause, search your heart, and inquire what you want more than Christ. What is it that is so important, that it is worth denying others the opportunity to hear the greatest news on earth? Confess that to your merciful Master, and ask for a changed heart.
Second, you need more to boast in. Paul writes: “But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face…For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy” (1 Thess 2:17–20).
Make Disciples Because it Makes You Happy Why did Paul make disciples? Hope, joy, and pride. Notice that his motivation comes from looking to the future. He has a hope for when he stands before the Lord Jesus at his coming. What is his hope? His hope is his joy and crown. He’s looking forward to the day he stands before Christ, and hoping to say to Jesus: “Here’s what I have for you—my joy and my crown—my disciples, Lord. They are my ‘pride and joy.’” Here is best of the best I can give. They are my glory, the greatest gift I could give to my King. What’s your pride and joy? A book, record, or movie collection? Your academic or sporting achievements? Your home, car, or clothes? Is that really what you want to parade before King Jesus when he comes back? “Look I was faithful, I have a great DVD collection.”
Does your pride and joy motivate you to make disciples? Paul had found a deeper motivation than duty in making disciples. The reason he made disciples is because they were his pride and joy. Watching my daughter take her first breath was amazing. I was filled with pride and joy as she entered the world—a Dodson. As she bore our resemblance, and entered our family, she beamed (and screamed) with life! Radiant with our image, she evoked tears of joy and swells of pride. Watching others take their first spiritual breath also brings pride and joy. Watching my children grow into walking, talking, drawing, reasoning, dancing, loving people brings me so much joy, and so does watching disciples grow into the image of Christ.
As disciples take in the gospel and exhale Christlikeness, pride swells, not in our own efforts, but in who they have become. A Christian, a little Christlike person! Joy bursts through the heart, when you witness their first steps of obedience. The pride and joy of watching men and women become disciples of Jesus is unmatched. Disciples remind us of the enduring value of the gospel, bringing us joy before the Lord. Make disciples because it makes you happy.
Make Disciples Because it Makes You Proud Pride and joy you say? Isn’t pride a sin? Not necessarily. Pride and joy can actually fit together in a holy way. Think about it. Have you ever witnessed disinterested, joyless boasting. Have you ever seen a basketball player boast their championship win with a frown on their face? Do people begrudgingly boast in their unique collection? No, they actually take so much joy in them that it overflows in happy boasting. They show off the rare records, parade the unique collection, brandish the championship ring because deep joy overflows in pride. Joy can overflow in holy pride.
Holy pride is a deep delight in what God has done, not in what you have done. This holy pride emerges when you witness the transformation of a disciple. You know you aren’t the ultimate cause, but you get a front row seat to their change as God works. You brandish grace in their life. You lift up Christ. Deep joy over flows in holy pride when we make disciples. Time, knowledge, and desire will bound forth when we see that making disciples is our pride and joy before King Jesus. This is precisely why Paul can say of his disciples: “you are my glory and my joy.” Make disciples because it brings deep joy that overflows in holy pride before King Jesus.