Often times as I have encouraged others to take on
the mantle of discipleship I have heard the objection, "I am not
spiritually mature enough to disciple someone else." While it may be true,
you may have some work to do on spiritual maturity, does this give you a free
pass on discipling someone else? Another common objection goes something like
this, "I am not called to disciple other believers, that is for people who
are outgoing and are gifted in that area." While it may be true, you don't
have the interpersonal skills to start up a friendship from scratch and begin
discipling another person, but does God list "outgoing person" as one
of the qualities to look for in a person who disciples others? A final
objection that I would like to address is the one that goes like this, "I
would love to disciple someone but I have no clue where to start." The
good news is that you don't have to develop some huge program, keep reading and
hopefully you will see what I mean.
It is my contention that, all believers are
called to disciple other believers; but not all are ready. I know that this
is a bold statement, but my hope is to challenge you to evaluate who you can
share your life with with the purpose of growing in Christlikeness.
All Believers are Called
In the past we have looked at Matthew 28 and asked
who is to be a disciple? Now, I would like to take a second look at that
passage of scripture and ask the question “Who is to disciple others?”
Matt. 28:18–20 says, 'And
Jesus came and said to them, “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."' (ESV used for all quotes)
At this point in His ministry Christ is giving
his final charge to his disciples saying this is how you are to spread the good
news of the gospel. It is interesting that what we would usually see as
commands in this saying of Christ are really verbal nouns. The only imperative
in this passage is Make Disciples.
Does that strike you as odd? The call is not necessarily to Go, or to Baptize,
or even to Teach/Equip but to make disciples. In his book The complete book of discipleship Bill Hull said this, “A
commitment to be and make disciples must be the central act of ever disciple
and every church.”[1]
As
followers of Christ we now are called to this very same work, make disciples.
There are many different ways to do so including, encouraging others to sit
under the preached word and partake of the sacraments or reading the Bible or a
good book with someone else. There are many contexts: at home with your spouse
or children, with a good friend or with someone you want to know better. But,
the call is clear to the church Make Disciples
by being people who go and evangelize, baptize, and teach people all that
Christ has commanded.
With
this in mind, we need to now turn to the question of readiness. All are called,
but not all are ready.
Not all are ready
If all people are called to make
disciples does this mean that all people, from the newest of Christians to the
oldest saints in the faith are prepared and posses the characteristics of a
person to follow? Well, no. So what are the qualities of someone who ought to
disciple others?
I hesitate in writing about
qualifications or qualities that a person needs to posses to do something in
the church that the Bible does not explicitly lay out. The reason for this is that there is no special class of Christian
(i.e. those who are holy) versus the rest of us (i.e. those who struggle with sin).
The gospel levels the play ground, it says that we are all in need of salvation
from someone outside of us. There is no distinction, no super class of
Christian all are in need of Christ. So, the first quality of a person who can disciple
others is a strong understanding of the gospel.
A person who is to teach and lead
another in what Christ taught and how Christ lived must have a firm grasp of
the gospel, the good news that Christ brought us. The gospels importance in
discipleship provides the grounds of grace by which one can speak truth into
someone else’s life. This is the center of our religion, the person and work of
Christ. We preach (and disciple) Christ and Him crucified. We don’t give people
our own wisdom, but God’s, we don’t give them a list of things to do, but a
relationship to be lived out.
Secondarily, a person who disciples
others must be humble. Understanding that we have nothing to give others but
Christ, gives the one doing discipleship a humble perspective on life. I heard
Kevin DeYoung say something profound along these lines. He said that the most
important thing for the counselor or discipelor to confess is what John the
Baptist confessed in John 1:20 ‘He confessed, and
did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”’ When we take ourselves out
of the position of the Savior we put ourselves in our place and put Christ in
the place of supremecy that he belongs in.
Thirdly, the
one who leads others must be faithful, trustworthy, respectable, self-controlled
and not a new believer. Does this sound familiar? The one who disciples ought to
display some of the same traits of a church officer as they are laid out in I
Timothy 3. But as I say that, not all who disciple need to be church officers. This common mistake, that only church officers or leaders can disciple, is flatly false and must be avoided. All Christians can, should and do disciple it is just a matter of whether they are intentional and biblical or confused and worldly.
These are
but a few of the things that ought to mark our lives as believers in Christ. But not all of us have lives that are marked by these characteristics, so what are we to do? First, rest in the gospel truth of what is true about you. Where you failed Christ suceeded. Where you disobeyed Christ obeyed. Where your character falls short, Christ's abounds. Now that you are united to Christ, His righteousness is now yours and your failures and shortcomings were taken by Him and nailed to the cross. Second, through prayer cling to cross and find forgiveness for sin and ask for the discipline to live in the power of the Spirit. Third, find someone to help you grasp these realities and grow into the image of the firstborn. Fourth, start to practice on your family and in your discipleship of your family see that you are fulfilling Christ's call to make disciples.
Praise God that he uses clay pots to pour out his grace on others!
[1]
Bill Hull, The complete book of
discipleship (Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2006) 26
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