And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:18-20
The word disciple means follower or learner. So to make disciples is to make followers of Jesus.
Two responsibilities for us as disciple makers are given to us by Jesus.
1) Engage the lost with the gospel so that they might be saved.
We see this directly in the verse when Jesus says, “baptizing them.” This is not because baptism saves us. We do not believe the Bible teaches that Baptism saves. Rather, it shows evidence that we have been saved, because baptism is the public display of our salvation. To be baptized is to publically show you have committed to Christ. Therefore, Jesus commands us that we know we need to share the gospel with unbelievers. This is a nonnegotiable.
No matter where we go, we are to be mindful of the unbelievers around us, constantly thinking of ways we can love them and share Christ with them. This should be an on-going burden in our minds as we build relationships with lost people. As people transformed by the gospel, we should not be able to spend any significant amount of time with an unbeliever without feeling the burden to point that person to the gospel.
2) Teach believers how to follow and obey Jesus.
We see this in the verse when Jesus says, “teaching them to observe all that I have I command you.”
We need to train, help, mentor other believers how to follow Jesus. If a new believer comes to Christ, they will have no clue how to follow Jesus unless we show them.
No matter where we go our job is to help other believers, friends, siblings, and our church family grow to become more like Christ. This is what it means to disciple one another.
Let’s help each other grow in the Christian habits of grace. Things like:
-
Bible Reading
-
Prayer
-
Memorizing Scripture
-
How to submit to authority
-
The friendships we pursue
-
The music we listen to
-
The stuff we post on social media
Show them and teach them what it looks like to obey everything that Jesus commands us. Therefore, teach them all of the Bible.
Discipleship ideas:
-
Find a friend and walk through Scripture together on a regular basis. Just read and walk through a book of the Bible together. One chapter at a time or one paragraph at a time. Talk about what it looks like to obey those verses in your life.
-
Find another brother or sister in Christ that you respect who can help you grow to become more like Christ, and ask them to mentor or disciple you this summer.
Lets obey our King’s command to make disciples, remember that he leaves us with his promise: “Behold, I am with you always even to the end of the age.”