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 central to personal growth and maturity. It involves not only following the example of others but also guiding others along the same path — even if it’s not done perfectly.
It’s much like learning a sport: you don’t have to be a professional coach to train others; you just need a bit more knowledge and experience than those who are newer to the practice. In the same way, becoming a pastor or having formal theological education is not a prerequisite for making disciples. If there is something in your life that helps you follow The Way (John 14:6), then you already have something valuable to share with others.
Disciples who have grown in maturity can sometimes fall out of form. It’s like a person who stops playing their sport — they may still have knowledge to teach, but over time they lose integrity and therefore influence because they no longer practise what they teach. Just like physical fitness, the only way to maintain spiritual vitality is by continuing to grow and develop. Discipleship is a lifelong journey.
Because discipleship is lifelong, it must be worth it. Our motivation to grow as disciples will fade if we never see fruit from our efforts. Discipleship cannot simply be a legalistic checklist of “to-dos,” otherwise we will quickly lose heart and abandon what God has called good for us. Thankfully, Jesus promises that as we live the life of discipleship, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit — fruit that cannot be produced by rule-following but only by living out our faith in pursuit of 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. Exercise itself is rarely described as joyful, but it produces joy. It can hurt, be discouraging, cause injury, and even feel like a chore; yet the results are undeniable. When we become stronger, fitter, more flexible, less prone to injury or disease, and our quality of life improves, joy follows. Similarly, discipleship, though hard, is designed to bring us joy — not hardship.
Hardship is not the goal. Suffering for Jesus is not the goal. Suffering is part of discipleship, but the goal is joy — joy in discovering the life Jesus died for us to have; a life marked by the active work of the Holy Spirit and the discovery of signs, miracles, and wonders. When discipleship is done rightly, it produces the fruit of the Spirit — including joy. This makes discipleship worth our life’s pursuit, focus, and energy.
Making disciples is one of the greatest privileges we have. Who are we, that we should disciple someone else? Yet there is no greater joy than seeing another person experience the fruit of what you’ve helped them discover. When you teach someone how to kick a ball, hit a serve, or swing a club — and they do it — it’s hard to tell who is more joyful: the teacher or the learner. Likewise, discipleship is how God multiplies joy. Joy begins with one, becomes two, then four, and so on — there is an unlimited supply of joy; it simply requires intentional discipleship to share it.
How
What is modelled is multiplied.
We live our lives as examples for others. Our aspiration as disciples is to say to new believers, “Imitate me.” (1 Corinthians 11:1). We aim to model the life of a disciple — imperfectly, yet sincerely — so that others can follow. What we model, we hope will be multiplied.
At HOME Church, we call this Model X. The world is full of people looking for examples to imitate — the rise of influencers is proof of that. Likewise, new Christians need older Christians worth following. Though we are not perfect, we strive to live lives worth copying so that what we do and how we live might be multiplied for the sake of Jesus.
At some point, the line must be drawn — someone has to say, “_____ ends with me.” Someone also has to say, “_____ starts with me.” Someone has to declare,
“Lifeless religion, reckless finances, debilitating addictions, consumeristic hedonism — these end in my generation.”
“Adventure with God, joy in stewardship, freedom from addiction, a life of service — these start with me.”
We can’t just wish for the world to be a better place. As cliché as it sounds, we must be the change we want to see — so that others have someone worth following.
The Five Areas of Discipleship
We need men and women who will model discipleship in these five key areas:
Faith
Family
Finances
Fitness
Friendships