Making Disciples
Notes
Transcript
To "make disciples" is the heart of the Great Commission. We rarely use real "disciple" language and often rely on our good "church" and "life" to make this happen by osmosis and by accident. Discipleship is a cul-de-sac trap, we must be discipling. To "disciple" is to intentionally lead someone to be as you are and do as you do. Who am I discipling now... and can I do it on purpose? How can we use the language of discipling, celebrate discipling, and put going, proclaiming, teaching and Making Disciples the center of our mission?
Logan @ CCU
Logan @ CCU
Logan shared a few weeks ago that he has been accepted into CCU and, plan A, will be heading there to study economics at CCU in 2027… Plans could change, but I like that plan so far.
It is crazy in our modern world how accessible “higher” education is. Also crazy how expensive it is, but that’s a separate issue.
I graphed this for us, cause that’s fun. Today, 39% of adults over 25 have a Bachelor’s degree or higher. But that was below 5% in 1940… and less than 1% in the 1800s.
Far more common (and still crazy awesome and valuable today) was the apprentice model. I was talking with James about his awesome plans, which also involves college, but one that leads into an apprenticeship as an electrician.
An electrician apprenticeship is a 4–5 year, "earn-while-you-learn" program combining full-time paid on-the-job training (OJT) with classroom instruction. Apprentices work under licensed electricians to install and repair electrical systems while attending evening classes to learn electrical theory, safety, and codes.
It’s something like $8000 hours of on the job training, and by the end, you know exactly how to do the thing because you HAVE been doing the thing all that time.
What is Discipleship, really?
What is Discipleship, really?
So I have been stuck on this idea of discipleship, kicking off this year of 2025 discipleship, but God has had this on my heart and mind for years now. Going back to 2020 Vision, and our covenant, “being and making disciples of Jesus.”
In order to do that really well, really purposefully, really faithfully… well we kind of have to know what it is. What it REALLY is. When are we successful in “being and making disciples?” How do we do it? Does it just happen?
And there is a ton of research out there, Barna does a lot of research in this area, that would argue that we, the church in America, aren’t doing a great job.
Among the criteria for this distinction are the
belief that the Bible is the true and reliable word of God,
daily pursuit of Godly activities,
and making a priority of a life lived in obedience to God.
So… what is discipleship? What is it? How do we do it? Are we doing it? On purpose?
And what did Jesus really mean when he commanded his disciples:
19 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,
What would his disciples understand him to mean when he said “make disciples.”
Create a University and Degree program?
Create an Apprenticeship program?
What is the curriculum? The process? The length? The tuition?
Education in 1st Century Galilee
Education in 1st Century Galilee
Early Education (Ages 5–12)
Early Education (Ages 5–12)
Bet Sefer (House of the Book)
A boy would begin his formal studies around age five in the Bet Sefer (House of the Book), where reading and writing were taught using the Torah. Fathers in Galilee educated their sons in basic literacy and a trade, with religious traditions forming a vital part of this instruction. The focus of literacy centered on reading and understanding the Torah, or Law of God. Teaching employed questions, answers, and discussions—resembling adult Bible classes—and took place in synagogue-based schools wherever they existed.
Think like a kids Bible study, but multiple times a week
Graduating from here, you should basically have the Torah memorized, the first 5 books of our Bible today.
Intermediate Studies (Ages 12–14)
Intermediate Studies (Ages 12–14)
Bet Talmud (House of Learning)
The most promising students, numbers are hard, but I’ve heard a few percent maybe, would go to the next level.
Students would graduate to the Bet Talmud (House of Learning), where they studied the rest of the Old Testament books and a fragmented form of oral law.
So, basically, the rest of our Old Testament. Studied and largely memorized.
The Path to Discipleship (Ages 14–15)
The Path to Discipleship (Ages 14–15)
Bet Midrash (House of Study)
The very best and brightest pupils advanced to the Bet Midrash (House of Study), though most who didn’t pass entrance exams returned to family businesses as carpenters, fishermen, or farmers.
Those pursuing advanced study faced rigorous testing by the head rabbi on Torah, tradition, oral law, and customs; if accepted, they would follow the rabbi until age thirty, when most began their own ministries. A rabbi selected only a very elect few highly promising young men, choosing those he believed could fully measure up to his standard and eventually become like him.
And then that Rabbi would send out his disciples to “begin their own ministries” which means THEY go and select disciples, promising young men from Bet Midrash to teach them what they learned from their rabbi, to LIVE like their rabbi lived.
Fun aside, if you go to followtherabbi.com, which is Ray VanderLaan’s (who I really like), his Israel trip site you’ll see this. Follow the Rabbi: Get Dusty
So, everyone knew what this system was like. And everyone of Jesus’ followers, good young Jewish men, had at some point fallen out of this system. At some point they had been told “you can’t go on.”
You aren’t smart enough, good enough, memorized enough… or maybe you have to work, you have to help with the boats, you can’t keep studying.
But no real shame there, because almost everyone around had been told “you can’t be the 0.1% that become disciples.”
There are only an estimated 120 rabbis in all Israel (though only formalized after the destruction of the temple). There are somewhere around a million people. 1 rabbi for every 8300+ people.
How privileged the twelve were when Jesus said “follow me.”
And that was quiet literal. They literally followed Jesus, in his footsteps. But it had a specific purpose.
To be as their rabbi is.
To do as their rabbi does.
To know what their knows.
As soon as a Rabbi asks someone to “follow them”, they knew that this was an invitation to “Be as I be, Do as I do.”
Be as I Be
Do as I Do
For as long as it took, the disciple would follow and learn from their rabbi. And then, when they had learned the rabbis ways, when they have learned the rabbis teaching, the rabbi would send them out: “go and make disciples.” Teach them what I taught you, to do YOU as now do, to be as YOU now be.
So hear Jesus, the Rabbi. Given ALL authority over Torah, over the Writings, over the Prophets, over the Word of God because he IS the Word of God. He has taught his disciples how to rightly interpret the Word… and how to rightly live the Word… supernaturally empowered them to Be as He is, to do as He did… and then sent them as graduated Rabbis, to go and make disciples.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 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,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So, graduation day, disciples. You have learned enough… as partial as you think that is, as short as our time together has been, less than 3 years, maybe much less for some, as young as you are (many or most still teenagers likely), you know enough to go and make disciples. Baptize them. Teach them.
To be as Jesus is. To do as Jesus does.
By… being as you are, and doing as you do.
And thank God for that last phrase. Not alone, he is with us.
Disciple vs. Christian
Disciple vs. Christian
This is why I like “disciple of Jesus” way better than “Christian.” “Christian” is used once in the Bible, and it’s an insult. It means “little Christs” so it fits too… but it has come to mean someone who just believes the right things, or maybe goes to church and has some cognitive understanding of certain beliefs.
But the picture does NOT immediately, generally, come to mind of a disciple, an apprentice, following in the footsteps of their master.
The early church also called themselves “Followers of the Way.” I love that. Built into that language is a path, footsteps, knowledge AND action.
Be as I Be
Do as I Do
Be as I be, do as I do. That is the Way.
Now, it may make us uncomfortable to invite folks to be as I am, do as I do. Aren’t we to invite folks to be as Jesus is? Do as Jesus does? WWJD!
Yes, absolutely, amen. Yes and forever. We point to Jesus, we look to Jesus, we follow Jesus, we make disciples of Jesus.
And we do that, as disciples of a rabbi did, by making disciples of us and teaching and leading them as he teaches and leads us.
Does that terrify anyone else?
Now, do you think that terrified the disciples? Absolutely, it did!
This is why the disciples “devoted themselves to the Scriptures.” I hear “frantic catch-up”. Those who don’t know teach… and then they learn it better than anyone! Those who don’t know preach… it drives me (and others) to learn deeply, to press in, in order to have something to pass on.
But we are likely uncomfortable with this. I am uncomfortable with this. I have taught previously about how it probably isn’t appropriate to go ask to “mentor” someone else and wait for them to come to you. Is this different from that? Isn’t this arrogance to assume, “well I am more mature than you, so come follow me as I follow Christ!”
We need to wrestle with that feeling. It is right and good to be humble.
So wrestle with these Scriptures:
Follow Me?
Follow Me?
The first meaning of “making disciples” is disciples of us. “Follow me as I follow Christ” Paul says.
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
μιμητής we get our word “mime” from here. Imitation is great.
Greco-Roman models of discipleship explicitly talk about “imitation” as an integral and necessary part of discipleship. Not all imitation is discipleship, certainly, but discipling under someone ALWAYS involved imitation.
And we see that in the disciples with Jesus. Again, be as Jesus is, do as Jesus does.
Now, lest you think this is a one-off, I want us to see how often this model comes up:
Not just once, again and again:
16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you,
To his mentee Timothy:
10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,
11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
And he gives Timothy instructions to in turn be such an example to others:
12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
And whoever the author of Hebrews is:
12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Now it is easy to JUST hear the counsel of Paul to look to our elders, our leaders, our pastors, our teachers… listen to them and learn from them and kind of be like them.
But there is a powerful irony here.
When Paul says “imitate me” while calling folks to “imitate him”… is it possible that we are to “imitate him” by calling others to “imitate us” as we “imitate him” as he “imitates Jesus.”
Is that confusing or what?
If I were to imitate Paul in his discipleship method… and I found myself therefore imitating his language, his words, would I find myself quoting words like this? Inviting others to imitate me? Follow me… as I follow Christ.
EXACTLY as his disciples would have heard their rabbis command. Exactly as the whole rabbinical apprenticeship - discipleship system worked.
In our consumer driven culture, we are MUCH more comfortable with a “pull” model of discipling. Someone will come to me and ask me to teach them if they want to know. Someone will say “pretty please, teach me to be as you be, do as you do.”
And INDEED, that does happen.
But I want to lean into the other a bit, here.
In the honor based culture of Jesus, ESPECIALLY with the crazy bar of status for the rabbi’s disciples, you wouldn’t DARE ask to be a disciple. The rabbi saw, watched, and chose, for who knows better who is worthy than the rabbi?
It is the rabbi who prayerfully watched, and then chose folks to follow them. Jesus stayed up all night praying about who specifically he was going to disciple with special attention, special focus. He would still minister to, teach, lead, disciple in a less focused way… but he chose 12 men to intentionally pour into.
He knew their names. He knew who he was discipling, what he was discipling them into.
If your heart is in the right place, this is not arrogance, or pride-giving at all, but IMPOSSIBLY humbling.
And I understand this as a Dad, and I take that into my leadership in the rest of life.
The primary definition of discipleship is intentionally training someone to be as I be and do as I do.
The definition of “discipleship” is NOT are you in a bible study? Do you do morning devotionals? Are those good and helpful and can be an important part of discipleship? Yes, absolutely.
I get this as a parent. When I think about it.
There are things that I am that I want my kids to be. Be as I be.
There are things that I know how to do that I want be kids to be able to do. Do as I do.
And as I ponder inviting folks to be in any way like me, do things that I do, I see all the more clearly areas of my life I want to turn over to Jesus, to follow him more closely, more faithfully.
Discipling on Purpose
Discipling on Purpose
What am I being? Doing?
There is a lot to consider here.
If you were to disciple “someone”… what would you disciple them in?
It may be something you know how to do. Something you do here at church, you know how to do it, teaching someone else how to do what you do… that is discipleship.
It may be the use of a spiritual gift God has given you. The best way for someone to learn how to use the spiritual gift of teaching, preaching, healing, prophecy… is for a Teacher, Preacher, Healer, Prophet to come along and show them, counsel them… disciple them to do as they do.
It may be something practical you know how to do. Teach someone to play guitar. I know Wayne has had opportunity to do this, I have had some opportunities. As I am teaching the guitar, can I also bring in a little Jesus? The Way of Jesus, the Word of Jesus?
And, this will be coming in the next weeks, it may be something you know. This is a particular focus of Jesus, right after “make disciples” he gives a specific application, “teaching them to observe all I have commanded you.” Teaching the commands of Jesus. We are to know them, live them, so that we can teach them… not just knowledge about them but living practice. Be as I be, do as I do.
And if that drives us to learn more, dive into Scriptures, more deeply understand what we do and how we do it… Beautiful! Wonderful! That’s exactly what happened to the disciples.
But fear not! Here is where we connect with the last few weeks, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus… the good news of Life in His Kingdom.
But even if we know nothing, have learned nothing, have nothing we do that is worth teaching (which is almost impossible), there is still who you are in Christ.
As we practiced last week, as we proclaim, you have the INCREDIBLE invitation to others to be as we be, to be as you are in Christ.
Before and more important than ANYTHING you do, or anything you know, is who you are in Christ, by the work of Christ, by the blood of Christ.
First and foremost: saved, free, forgiven, eternal, immortal, children of God, new creations, bought by the blood of Jesus. This is who I am, and I disciple others to be as I be…
More specifically, as that works out in my life, as I find peace and freedom in specific aspects and areas of my life, I can invite others into that too. Financial freedom, Sabbath rest and restfulness, wisdom in parenting, peace while watching the news… as we learn ways of Being like Jesus in our world, we can invite, teach, disciple others to be as we be.
Jesus commands us to go and make disciples - that is to lead, to apprentice, to intentionally and purposefully disciple others to do as we do, and to be as we be.
Above all things, that is to be disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus crucified and resurrected and glorified.
