Making Disciples
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 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.” (Matthew 28:16–20)
A buzzword in Christian circles during the 1970s was discipleship. Everybody, it seemed, got on the bandwagon. I didn’t keep a written record, but during that decade I doubt that I read a dozen books or magazine articles on the church or some specific area of ministry that did not mention discipleship. Yet for all that talking and writing, so little discipleship actually took place. Lots of programs were started by well-meaning churches and pastors, but you can’t program discipleship. Disciples aren’t mass-produced; they’re reproduced one or two at a time as older disciples invest in the lives of younger disciples.
While this emphasis on “making disciples” had become a fad, it was nonetheless a refreshing change from years past when much of the emphasis was on big, impersonal, mass gatherings. The shift from simply attending church meetings and evangelistic crusades to “body life” (another buzzword) and discipleship involvements was long overdue.
But like all trends, the discipleship craze gave way again to mass gatherings—enormous collections of Christians packed into what we now call “mega-churches.” These movements were exciting to watch; they made church relevant again to a generation feeling disconnected from church life. But, as churches grew wide, they also grew shallower. Believers began to crave something more, something deeper, something even more relevant to them as individuals. So, we see again a resurgence of discipleship.
The new term is mentoring, but the meaning is the same. I prefer the older term because it retains the spirit of the Great Commission, which is to “make disciples.” Furthermore, mentoring can apply to any human endeavor. Business professionals can mentor younger business people. Older artists can mentor new generations of artists. But “discipleship” remains uniquely Christian.
Regardless of which term we use, Christians need other mature Christians to help them personalize their faith, to move them out of the spectator realm and onto the playing field. Discipleship is, after all, the mandate handed to us by Jesus Himself.
