Matthew 28:19 (AMP)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
I love the way Jesus taught His disciples. It was not in a classroom setting as most teaching is done today, but rather it was in real life and every day situation. I guess I love that because I am not a fan of classroom settings. Jesus always looked for teachable moments when He was with his disciples and He used these real life situations to teach them kingdom principles.
Many of us have probably gone through discipleship classes in our churches and because we did so we assume that we have now become disciples of Jesus but is that truly so?
How do we make disciples?
I love the patterns that Jesus used because it is so practical and easy to understand.
Jesus first taught and demonstrated the kind of lifestyle that his disciples ought to walk in. Not only did he talk about the power of God, he walked in the power for all to see. Not only did he talk about forgiveness, he demonstrated forgiveness. Jesus demonstrated power over the kingdom of darkness.
After teaching and demonstrating, he also allowed his disciples to be part of the doing. He started including them in his ministry like when He asked the disciples to feed the multitudes though He knew what He was going to do or when He called Peter to walk towards him on the water.
After teaching and demonstrating and allowing the disciples to participate, He then sends them out on their own to do the work of ministry and live the kind of lifestyle He is living after which they come back to report what they experienced. Through this whole process Jesus kept correcting them because they made many mistakes along the way.
Then we see Him ascending back to heaven after the resurrection and commissioning the disciples to go out and repeat the same process so as to make more disciples and there was an explosion in the book of Acts.
The process is simple
Listen as I teach and watch as I do
Do it alongside me
Then I watch as you do
Then go out and do likewise.
Reflections
Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? If yes, who discipled you?
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Who are you currently discipling?
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How are you discipling them?
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