The Goal of Disciple Making

The Goal of Disciple Making

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 NASB

Jesus desires that people of all nations will be made into his disciples. A disciple is not born as one but rather made into one and therefore Jesus commanded his servants to do the hard work necessary to make people into disciples of Jesus.

When referring to a disciple of Jesus this word disciple simple means a learner, student and follower of Jesus and we know there is a goal and destiny for such a student and follower of Jesus. A good disciple maker will keep that goal in mind until it is reached.

The goal is found in Ephesians 4:11-13:
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” NASB

We can consolidate this into three main areas which will be our goal in making a disciple:

1. Knowing God – “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God;”

2. Christian Character - “to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ;”

3. Ministry – “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service.”

A disciple of Jesus is one who is learning to: Know God, be like Jesus in Character and Minister to others. A disciple maker is teaching the disciple those three things and making sure the disciple grows and reaches the goal of maturity in those three things.

“As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself )in love. Ephesians 4:14-16

Why do we see so much corruption, lack of love and lack of maturity in the Christian Church of our day?

One reason is clear, we no longer make disciples as we ought even though we do make many believers, seminary students, pastors and even build many church buildings. We must keep in mind a believer in Jesus is not a disciple of Jesus by merely being a believer nor is a seminary graduate a disciple of Jesus by merely being a graduate of religion, nor is a pastor a disciple of Jesus by merely preaching every Sunday and finally the size and luxury of a church building has nothing whatsoever to do with being or making disciples of Jesus; all of which may shock those who are not disciples. A disciple is distinctly different for Jesus did not say “Go and make believers, seminary graduates, pastors and build wonderful church buildings” but rather he said “go and make disciples”.

May the Lord Jesus make you into His Disciple today,

Disciple Maker