Disciple Making

Part One: The Disciple

As we saw in our last study, disciple making does not demand a certain set of disciple- making materials. No books or curriculum are required. The disciples were not given any help with materials ... just a raw command. Make them! It is the punch line in Matthew's Gospel; it is the exclamation point in Jesus' ministry. Everyone who is not making disciples is failing to keep this command of our Lord.

The modern church has created pastors and missionaries and ever so subtly made them the "hired hands" of the great commission. This is a clear violation of the biblical design. It is not wrong to separate men for ministry. In our complex world, full-time servants are extremely important resources. The problem is not in separating men for ministry, but rather allowing such a practice to not diminish in any way the responsibility of each and every believer to make disciples. It is a requirement that is given to all who believe.

One of the most important facts to remember about the great commission is that the goal is the world. The goal is neither the person next door nor the natives in a distant land. The goal is the world ... the whole world. We cannot afford to stop until we get there. The tools that we need in order to get there are given to us by God, not by men. The method is given by Him as well.

The task that we have is huge. It is beyond human ability. To rely on human methodology and ingenuity is to assure ultimate failure. It is imperative that we learn what the Bible says about disciple making, and do it the proper way. It is our only hope. As we shall be reminded today, discipleship begins with the disciple, not the person being discipled. There is a universal principle that you cannot take anyone further than you have been, so it is absolutely mandatory that you go as far as you can as quickly as you can so that you can take others with you.

One of the great dangers of the pulpit ministry is that you are in constant danger of becoming a mere theological waiter. You spend the week in the kitchen of God's truth, and you use the finest recipes known to men. You prepare the finest gourmet meals of biblical insights that men can imagine. You polish your organization’s shoes and deliver manna from heaven with homiletically proper skill. Back and forth from the kitchen to the table you go with impressive consistency until you drop and die of malnutrition. You have to eat to stay alive. You cannot live on making disciples. You must keep taking nutrition, developing and protecting your own health, or you soon will be gone.

Every one of us has a mission field. We all have an area of influence. All of us are experts on our own conversion. Beyond that, God has gifted each one of us with particular gifts that can best make us what we ought to be at the place where we are.

Disciple Making

Part One: The Disciple

Matthew 28:16-20

“Having gone”

1. We all have

2. We all have

3. We all have

“I Am With You”

1. The power

2. The success

3. The responsibility