Intentional Discipleship

A week or so ago I was talking with a group of young adults at Salem, the church that I am blessed to be a part of here in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Our discussion started on chapter 3 of the book of Ephesians, but ultimately led to the question of discipleship.

In Ephesians Paul is clearly aiming to disciple, albeit from afar, the young church at Ephesus, teaching and training them through the truths of the gospel and how we are called to respond. He writes, “I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.” (Ephesians 3:7) Paul’s aim in both his epistles and his life as recorded in Acts is first and foremost to share that grace which he has received, by any and all means possible.

Jesus aims at a similar end, made clear by John when he opens his gospel by declaring that, “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16) Christ’s aim was to impart to humanity the grace of God, so much so that in John 4 he tells his disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” (v. 34)

In everything he does, from the way he calls his disciples and takes every opportunity to teach those around him to his miracles and ultimate death, Jesus’ main goal is to, “purchase men for God” (Revelation 5) and make disciples of them, sending them into all the world to,

make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

–       Matthew 28:19-20

The scriptures make it abundantly clear that disciple making is meant to be a part of every Christian’s life. It’s not just something that pastors and teachers are meant to do. It’s not limited to Jesus or the apostles. In fact, Paul writes in Ephesians 4 that the whole purpose God gifts people like the apostles and other leaders with the ability to teach and train is, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (v. 4). The question which that leads me to, and the question that I was talking with those young adults was, how do we do that? How are we to go about making disciples?

That is a massive question which I can’t and won’t address in one post, but in our discussion that evening we landed upon one main point that I thought worth making note of; gospel discipleship must be intentional. Gospel discipleship doesn’t happen without a conscious choice. Jesus didn’t just sit around and wait for disciples to come to him. He went and called them. He chose men, called them, and intentionally walked with them for nearly three years, choosing to take every opportunity possible to teach and guide them.

Paul was no different. He didn’t just disappear after planting a church in a city. Instead, he spent time there training and developing men and women who would carry on the work of making disciples in the city. He kept tabs on the churches he had planted, writing to them in order to exhort them to stay faithful and grow in Christ, even visiting them when he was able. He was absolutely intentional about what he did in spreading the gospel.

That intentionality is quite the contrast to most of the people I see in our day. We seem to have the idea that as long as we are attending church, reading the Bible, and doing the standard evangelical “good things,” we are fulfilling our role in the Kingdom. Even those three or four young adults I talked with, all of whom have grown up in and attended churches nearly their whole lives and are absolutely solid Christians, could not point to a place in their lives where they were actively and intentionally working to disciple others in the gospel.

I want us to be people who are able to say with the apostle Paul at the end of our lives, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7) He wouldn’t have been able to make that bold statement if he hadn’t made the goal of his life to intentionally do the work that the Lord laid before him. Fights and races aren’t things that are won by simply sitting there, and neither is the fulfilling of the commission given to us by Christ.

I urge you, my friends, examine your life to see if there is somewhere that you can point to and confidently say, “This is where I am making disciples.” You won’t do it without planning to and executing that plan. If you’re not currently doing that crucial work, find a place where do so. Find a person that God has placed in your life whom you can regularly exhort and lead further up and further in to Christ. Find a ministry in your church where you can start pouring out the grace that the Lord has given you. Get yourself under someone who will disciple you. Not only will it help others grow, it will also do amazing things to your own spiritual growth. It’s what God made you for. You were, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) and as both Jesus and Paul demonstrate, at the heart of those works is disciple-making.  And oh how rewarding an experience it is!