3. Make disciples? Why? How?
Why
At HOME church, we strongly believe in the importance of every disciple actively making more disciples. The journey of disciple-making is the key to personal growth and maturity, as it entails not only following the example but also guiding others along the same path, even if it's not done flawlessly. It resembles the process of learning a sport – you don't have to be a professional coach to train others; you simply need to have a bit more knowledge and experience to pass on to those who are newer to the practice. In the same way, becoming a pastor or having formal theological education is not a prerequisite for the qualification to make disciples. If there is something in your own life that helps you follow The Way (John 14:6), then you already possess something valuable to share with others.
Often disciples who have grown in maturity can fall out of form. It is likened to a person who stops playing their sport. When someone stops playing, they have enough to teach but in time they will not have either integrity (and therefore influence) because they do not practice themselves. Just like fitness, the only way to maintain a certain level is by continuing to grow and develop; discipleship is a lifetime.
Because discipleship is a lifetime, it must be worth it. Our motivation to want to be a better disciple will diminish if we do not see results from time to time. Discipleship cannot be simply a legalistic ‘to do’ checklist, otherwise we will quickly lose motivation and stop pursuing what is God says is good for us. Thankfully, Jesus’ promises that we will find that as we live the life of discipleship, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit; fruit that cannot be attained by following rules, but by living out our faith to follow Jesus.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Joy in discipleship is indeed a mystery; much like the joy of exercising. Exercising can hardly be described a joyful but it does produce joy. Exercising can hurt, it can be discouraging, it can cause injury, it can be a real bother, but just because it can feel negative doesn’t mean it does not produce joy. In the end when we are stronger, fitter, faster, more flexible, more mobile, less prone to injury, less prone to disease, our overall quality of life is dramatically increased, and this is sure to bring us joy. Similarly, discipleship, though hard, is designed to bring us joy; not hardship.
Remember, hardship is not the goal; suffering for Jesus is not the goal; suffering is part of discipleship but is not the goal; the goal is joy; joy in discovering the life that Jesus died for us to have; a life that is marked by the active work of the Holy Spirit and marked by the discovery of signs, miracles and wonders. Discipleship when correctly done will produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit which includes, amongst many things, joy; this is what makes discipleship worth our life’s pursuit, focus and energy.
Making disciples is the one of the greatest privileges. Who are we to disciple someone else? There is no greater joy than seeing someone enjoy the fruit of what you have taught them to find. When you show someone how to kick a ball, hit a serve, swing a club; and then they do it; it’s difficult to know who is more joyful in that moment; the person teaching or the person doing it. Similarly, discipleship is how God multiplies joy, joy turns from the joy of one, to the joy of two, then the joy of four and so on; there is unlimited supply of joy; it just requires intentional discipleship to share it.
How
What is modeled is multiplied.
We live our lives to set an example for others. Our aspiration as a disciple is to say to new disciples, “imitate me.” (1 Corinthians 11:1). We want to model the life of disciples, though imperfect, for others to follow. As such what we model we do hoping it will be multiplied. At HOME Church we call this, “Model X.” The world is looking for models to copy, the rise of influencers is a rise of copycats. Likewise, new Christians need older Christians worth following. Though we are not perfect, we strive to live a life worth copying so that what we do and how we live might be multiplied for the sake of Jesus.
The line has to be drawn somewhere by someone. Someone has to say, “ ______ ends in my generation. Someone has to say, “____ starts with me.” Someone has to say, “Lifeless religion, wreckless finances, debilitating addictions, consumeristic hedonism, ends in my generation.” Someone has to say, “adventure with God, fun with God through finances, loving work, freedom from addiction, a life of service, starts with me.” We can’t wish for the world to be a better place, it’s super cliche but we need to be the change we want to see, so that others have someone worth following.
We need men and women to model these following 5 areas of discipleship
Faith
Family
Finances
Fitness
Friendships