Why Do We Disciple?

The first and possibly greatest blessing God ever gave to mankind was to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). Have you ever noticed that joyful people seem to create an atmosphere of joy that’s contagious to the people around them? It happens because God gave us the gift of multiplication. Whatever is inside you will multiply to the people around you.

There was a time when I believed that discipleship only took place in bible studies or church services and that it required some kind of workbook or curriculum. What I found out was that discipleship is really about legacy. A disciple is someone who follows you around and learns from your example. In Christianity, we often talk about being disciples of Christ, but rarely about making our own disciples. However, the Great Commission that Jesus gave in Matthew 28 was to go into the world and make disciples. In this passage, Jesus isn’t saying to make disciples of him. He’s saying to make our own. He tells us to baptize people, us to teach people, and us to make disciples.

Paul said to follow him as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). We are supposed to have the same attitude. At the heart of our organization, we believe that connecting with a ministry in another country is about connecting with an individual or group of individuals that God has called to be leaders. For this reason, we consider relationship the most important thing about ministry. The people we work with in other countries are not just contacts. They are some of our closest friends. We have shared in successes and failures, ups and downs, and we continually encourage each other in our walks with God.

We believe that we are better together. We are people from different countries, different cultural backgrounds, different denominations, but we are one body in Jesus Christ. Discipleship is about living life together and learning from one another.

When we first began training teams in Peru, we had no formal structure of how things were supposed to happen when we went out into the streets. We did, however, have a clear vision of what we wanted to see happen in the streets of Lima and the heart to do whatever it took to make that vision become reality. Vision and heart are what we imparted to the team. We didn’t give them steps to complete to share the love of Jesus with people. Instead, our training looked a lot like individual conversations that lasted long into the night about what it means to share the gospel and God’s heart for the people. In those moments, sharing a cup of watered down oatmeal with a friend, God’s heart was shared through us to others. Slowly, our organization’s heart for discipleship birthed out of simple conversations while walking the streets of downtown Lima.

We disciple because heart and vision can’t be taught. They must be shared.