Make Disciples

I've said this before. We've really missed the mark in our evangelism ideas as a whole. We think the Great Commission is to go spread the Gospel. It's not. Here is the Great Commission from the lips of Jesus:

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. (Matt 28:18-20)

Note that there are no words in there about "Preach the gospel." Now, in Mark's version, we get, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15) That's certainly explicit. But not in the Matthew version.

Why is that? Well, it is unavoidable that "Go tell the gospel" is certainly implied, even required by the Matthew version. You can't go and make disciples without first having made converts. Making disciples from unsaved people is pointless. They must first become followers of Christ. So what's the difference? The difference is scope. "Preach the gospel" ends at the delivery of the gospel. "Make disciples" begins at the delivery of the gospel and becomes an ongoing, continuous, labor-intensive, personal effort. Am I overstating that? No, I don't think so. It includes "baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you." How long does it take to baptize them and teach them to observe "all that I commanded you"? To know it? Years, perhaps. To observe it? A lifetime.

But we've missed it for the most part. We've segmented it down to "evangelize" or, perhaps, "evangelize and get them into a church." Some use terms like "discipleship" or "mentoring," but usually that's a Bible study together or a program you enter, often on your own. Nothing at all like Jesus did when He made disciples.

Years ago when I was the father of a couple of young boys, I asked my employer if I could bring them in to work with me during the summer break. What I was thinking was apprenticeship. If I could let them work with me (or others in the company) right alongside, watching, observing, learning, doing, and so on, then these kids would have a step up on others who simply had book learning. Of course, our world doesn't much allow for such a thing; liability and such. You know. But this is precisely the image that Christ painted when He made disciples. Walk alongside. Watch Him work. Listen to Him teach -- personalized teaching where they could ask questions and get answers. Participatory processes, like when He sent them out on their own and brought them back for "debriefing." I am not aware of any group -- any church -- that is practicing that.

Which means that I am not aware of any church that is obeying the Great Commission. There are individuals that do it. That's good. But not bodies of believers as a group. And it seems painfully obvious to me why Christianity today is so shallow, so disjointed, and so diverse. We're not making disciples. We're making converts. "Swim, little fishies! Good luck!" Yes, we'd recommend church. Sure, we offer good programs. Obviously we have brilliant tools. But it's no substitute for making disciples. For the large part we're missing the mark.