DISCIPLESHIP EXPLAINED SIMPLY

Sunday Evening • Coleman's Master Plan • Discipleship Series

BIG IDEA

Jesus had a plan to reach the world. The plan was people. It still is.

THE PATTERN AT A GLANCE

Selection — Jesus chose people on purpose.

Association — Jesus stayed close to the people He chose.

Consecration — Jesus required real commitment.

Impartation — Jesus gave them more than information.

Demonstration — Jesus showed them before He sent them.

Delegation — Jesus put them in the work early.

Supervision — Jesus stayed with them through the work.

Reproduction — Jesus designed the whole thing to multiply.

BEFORE BIBLE READING

Most people are waiting for a better discipleship program. Jesus never offered one.

What He offered was Himself. Three years. Twelve men. Total access to His life, His prayer, His method, His mission. And when those three years were over, those twelve men turned the Roman world upside down.

"His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow. Men were to be His method of winning the world to God."— Robert Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

Think about what we are doing with Emilee. We are not sending an admin assistant. We are sending someone we believe will multiply into many admin assistants — someone who will pour into others what has been poured into her. That is the only way this works. That is the only way it has ever worked.

READ: Matthew 28:19–20

I. Selection — Jesus chose people on purpose.

A. Jesus did not wait for volunteers. He called the ones He wanted.

Mark 3:13 — "And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him."

This was deliberate. He chose specific people for reasons known only to Him.

Luke 6:12–13 — He spent the night before in prayer. He selected prayerfully, not as a reaction.

B. The selection was His initiative, not theirs.

John 15:16 — "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you."

The disciples did not apply. They were called.

Coleman notes He chose men others would have passed over. The qualification was availability, not credential.

C. Discipleship does not happen accidentally. Someone has to choose someone on purpose.

Who have you chosen?

Who are you pursuing intentionally?

If nobody comes to mind, that is where you start.

"Choose someone on purpose."

II. Association — Jesus stayed close to the people He chose.

A. The primary purpose of the twelve was to be with Him.

Mark 3:14 — "And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him."

Before they preached, before they healed, before they did anything — they were with Him. Being with Him was not the warmup. Being with Him was the work.

B. He invited people into His daily life from the beginning.

John 1:39 — "Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day."

John 15:27 — "Because ye have been with me from the beginning."

Sustained proximity formed what a single meeting never could.

C. You cannot disciple someone from a distance.

"Knowledge was gained by association before it was understood by explanation."— Robert Coleman

They learned by watching before they learned by listening. You do not need a classroom. You need a table.

"Stay close to the people you are building."

III. Consecration — Jesus required real commitment.

A. Following Jesus meant leaving something behind.

Mark 1:17–18 — "Follow me… and straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him."

Straightway. No negotiation. No gradual transition. They left.

Discipleship was never an addition to an existing life. It was a reordering of the whole life.

B. The call was costly and Jesus never softened it.

Luke 9:23 — "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

Deny himself. Daily. Ongoing consecration, not a one-time decision.

C. Obedience was the condition of staying close.

John 14:15 — "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Love and obedience were inseparable in Jesus's teaching. Discipleship that never calls people to obedience is encouragement. Not the same thing.

"Discipleship requires real commitment, not just good intentions."

IV. Impartation — Jesus gave them more than information.

A. Jesus did not just transfer knowledge. He transferred life.

John 17:18 — "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world."

He gave them His mission. His burden. His reason for being.

They were not just learning facts about God. They were catching the heart of God.

B. What He ultimately gave them was Himself.

John 20:22 — "He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost."

The final impartation was the Spirit — the very presence of God living inside them.

This is the thing no program can replicate.

C. The goal was that His love would live in them.

John 17:26 — "I have declared unto them thy name… that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them."

The goal is not a person who knows more Bible. It is a person who loves like Jesus. That only comes by impartation, not instruction alone.

"Give them more than information. Give them yourself."

V. Demonstration — Jesus showed them before He sent them.

A. Jesus modeled everything He expected them to do.

Matthew 11:29 — "Learn of me." John 13:15 — "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you."

He washed their feet and then said now you do it.

He did not describe servant leadership. He demonstrated it.

B. They watched Him pray until they asked Him to teach them.

Luke 11:1 — "Lord, teach us to pray, as he also taught John his disciples."

They did not ask because He assigned prayer as homework.

They asked because they watched Him pray and wanted what He had.

C. Do not just tell people what to do. Sit down and do it with them.

John 13:34 — "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you."

The standard was what they had already seen Him do. Pray with them. Study with them. Serve alongside them.

"Show them how before you tell them to go."

VI. Delegation — Jesus put them in the work early.

A. Jesus gave real responsibility before they were finished products.

Luke 10:1 — "The Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face."

He sent them while He was still alive and available.

Apprentices, not graduates. He sent them in pairs — accountable and supported, not alone.

B. He gave them authority to do things they had never done before.

Matthew 10:5, 7–8 — "These twelve Jesus sent forth… preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils."

Mark 6:7 — "And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits."

He gave them power before they fully understood it.

C. People grow into responsibility by having it, not by waiting for it.

Involve people in the work as soon as possible.

Let them share a testimony, lead a prayer, make a visit, sit in on a meeting.

They will grow into what you give them. They cannot grow into what you withhold.

"Involve them in the work early."

VII. Supervision — Jesus stayed with them through the work.

A. He debriefed them when they came back.

Mark 6:30 — "And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught."

He did not send them out and wait for a report.

He walked through it with them. The debrief was part of the training.

B. He celebrated their victories and corrected their confusion.

Luke 10:17–20 — "And the seventy returned again with joy… rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

Matthew 17:19–20 — "Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief."

He told them the truth. Gently. Directly. Without leaving them without a way forward.

C. Supervision is not micromanagement. It is sustained investment.

Coleman calls this the most overlooked of the eight principles.

Most discipleship ends at delegation. Jesus never did.

The people you are discipling need someone to check in, debrief, correct, and celebrate.

"Stay with people through the work, not just at the beginning."

VIII. Reproduction — Jesus designed the whole thing to multiply.

A. The commission was never just to the twelve.

Matthew 28:19–20 — "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations… Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."

John 17:20 — "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word."

Jesus prayed for us in that garden. He was already thinking about the chain.

B. Paul understood the design and put it in one verse.

2 Timothy 2:2 — "The same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

Four generations in one sentence. Paul. Timothy. Faithful men. Others also. The chain only breaks when someone decides not to pass it on.

C. The goal is never just a disciple who knows more.

Acts 1:8 — "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

"We must decide where we want our ministry to count — in the momentary applause of popular recognition or in the reproduction of our lives in a few chosen people who will carry on our work after we have gone."— Robert Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism

Acts 1:8 is not a destination. It is a progression through people who reproduce. Ask the people you are investing in: who are you discipling? Build that expectation early. Make it normal. Make it assumed.

"Help them do it again."

CONCLUSION

Jesus had a plan to reach the world. It was not complicated. It was not cheap.

He chose people. He stayed close to them. He required real commitment. He gave them Himself. He showed them how to live. He put them in the work. He stayed with them through it. And He designed the whole thing to multiply through every generation until He comes back.

That plan has not been improved upon. It does not need to be.

Choose someone on purpose.

Stay close to the people you are building.

Require real commitment.

Give them more than information.

Show them how before you send them.

Involve them early.

Stay with them through the work.

Help them do it again.

Disciples are not made in rows. They are made in relationships.

Who are you discipling right now? If the answer is no one — start with one.