WIN: Discipleship: Why and How?

Win 2

Discipleship: Why and How?

by Jeremy Sanchez

written by Aggy Apolinario

How do you think Peter Parker would have reacted if he knew he was going to be Spider-man? He could’ve run away, and trapped himself in a room where he won’t be bitten by a spider. After all, who would want to put themselves to danger?

How about you? How will you react if you were given a big responsibility—a mission?

And what more if it’s God who’s asking?

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

Matthew 28:18-20

In this verse, Jesus wants to tell us that He has done His work on earth—his mission. Now, it is time for us to do ours. He wants us to let people know about the victory that we can have through Him. He wants us to share the truth and hope that we can have in Him. We already know about it. We have experienced it. And now, He wants us to share it.

God is commanding us, and as His followers we must follow Him. Like what is stated in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands”. AND making disciples by sharing the gospel is obeying God.

You see, God wants to work with us in making His disciples. Isn’t it such a great privilege? To be the one to share His truth to those who still don’t Him, to help and guide them live their lives according to the gospel, and to let them experience what we are experiencing.

Let us let them know of the amazing experience that we had when we met Jesus, when we let Him enter our lives, because we all know that our old life can suck it up for our new life with Him is better in every way we can imagine.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation”

2 Corinthians 5:18

Sin set us apart from God. But because of His death on the cross and resurrection, we were reconciled with Him. Everything that was torn and broken was mended.

He said in Matthew 28, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.

Baptizing isn’t a means for us to be saved. It is not the key to our salvation nor is it the way. It is simply a declaration that we believe, that we know what God has done for us, and that we are saved because of Him.

Knowing this truth, He wants us to go out there and share His truth to others because DISCIPLES SHOULD MAKE DISCIPLES.

It’s a beauty and a privilege to take part in making disciples of Jesus Christ. But oftentimes, we are discouraged to do so.

Why?

Maybe it’s because there’s a sin that we don’t want to let go. It’s hard for us to stop doing it. Like what most people say, “old habits die hard”. But that doesn’t mean they can’t.

Or maybe it’s because we’re overconfident. We think so highly of ourselves. But remember, God opposes the proud.

But most of the time, there’s this voice in our heads saying, “I can’t do it. I want to, but I can’t.” Sometimes, we even make excuses like, “I don’t know how. Wala akong alam”, “I’m not ready”, “I’m shy”, “Di ko kaya”.

There’s fear in us. That is why we must ask God to remove it. We should put our trust in Him and what He can do through us and not what we can do on our own.

What are we afraid of?

Is it our struggles?

We have struggles and issues in life, but we shouldn’t let them get the best of us. It’s not a question of whether we have them or not, but of whether we follow Jesus despite them or we love our struggles so much that we lose ourselves to it.

So let’s ask ourselves, are we letting it control us? Yes? Then, let’s get back up through God.

Or maybe it’s our thinking that we must be perfect before we lead?

You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to know everything immediately. You don’t have to be an Einstein. We’re humans. It’s inevitable for us not to fall. But what’s important is that we continue to seek God and follow Him.

We must not let fear be a hindrance. It’s always not big enough, because God is and will always be bigger. God will take care of us, and the journey that He has set before us. We just have to trust in Him.

When we lead, there’s good pressure.

Because as a leader, we have to step up our game. And that’s good for us because we know Him more and what He wants to do with our lives.

After all, our Christian life is like a marathon. We have to keep moving forward towards the goal—the goal of being more like Jesus Christ. We should progress. We should improve every step of the way.

As Jesus said it, “the student is not above the teacher, but when fully trained will be like their teacher”.

Let’s be a step ahead of our disciples, so that we’ll be able to help them in times of need. This is why there’s good pressure on us, because it makes us want to become more like Jesus.

Now that we know all this, we ask HOW?

How do we do it?

1. Spend time with them

“After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.”

John 3:22

Jesus could’ve been an introvert, and not mind His disciples at all. But He chose to spend time with them because He knew the power of having quality time with His disciples.

Like Jesus, we, too, should spend time with our disciples because discipleship is a relationship. It’s not always about bible studies or theological information, but it’s about bonding and having quality time. We should bond with them through different activities. And before we know it, our relationship with will grow deeper. In return, they will learn to trust us more when we show them what a life lived according to the gospel is.

It won’t happen in a snap of a finger. It will take time. But we’re sure that it’ll be worth it.

2. Share what was shared to you

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

2 Timothy 2:2

We must share what we learn in our dgroups. Like what was said earlier, their trust in us will grow when we spend time with them. From there, we can find trustworthy people who will also share the Gospel and God’s truths.

We don’t have to know everything to share. Knowledge is important, but sharing what we know, and are still knowing, is what’s more important. We don’t have to become an Aristotle. We just have to know the gospel, to live it out, and to share it.

Like what was stated in Matthew 28:20, “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

3. Challenge them

“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.”

Luke 10:1

Jesus exemplified his disciples, but He didn’t stop there. He challenged them.

Make this as an example. We should challenge our disciples. Let them do the devotional once in a while. Have them vision their future dgroups. Have them vision for their campuses, families, and friends. Remind them of the mission God gave us: Go and make disciples.  We are bombarded by a lot of things. It distracts us, and oftentimes, we tend to forget, which is why it’s important that we remind our disciples of this mission.

So let’s challenge them by reminding them of these things, and engage them on how they could partake in this. We should encourage them to get out of their comfort zones because no man will grow if they don’t get out.

Maybe God is telling you to step up and share, but your fear of getting teased by your friends scares you. So ask God, “Lord, what comfort zone am I in that you want me to get out of?”

4. Accept them

Ever heard of the saying “No man is an island”?

We are relational beings. We need other people. Even the most introverted person in the world needs acceptance.

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

Romans 15:7

This doesn’t mean that we have to agree with them. They may be saying one thing, and we may be saying another. But this doesn’t mean that we don’t and won’t accept them.

In Romans, it is said that we should accept those who are weak in faith. Even if you think they’re not mature like you or even if when you think they’re not all that. We should accept them because Jesus does.

When we accept, it means that we’re letting them enter our hearts, and that we’re welcoming them no matter what they’ve done or who they are.

The problem with us is that we tend to be judgmental. We shouldn’t be like that. We must accept them as someone who Christ died for. Accept them even when you think they’re hard to accept, even when you think they’re too much to handle, because you never know what God can do in them through your leading and guidance.

5. Love them

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

John 13:1

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

John 13:34

Love them the way Jesus loves you. Show them the love Jesus also has for them.

Knowing these truths, go and make disciples.

There can be a lot of motivations. It can be pride. Maybe, we’d want to prove that we’re good, and that we can do anything. These things can be motivations, and may succeed. But in the end, they will all burn out.

That is why we should make love our motivation. God loves each and every one of us. In turn, we should love them as well. Because when love is the motivation, it will NEVER burn out. Yes, NEVER.

A lot of people are hurting. Maybe through you they’ll know the hope there is in Jesus. So, as we go and make disciples, let us look at people in view of their need and their eternity.

ETERNITY

It’s such a big word, isn’t it?

That’s because we have a big God.

An amazing God who loves you and me.