Jesus commissioned his church to make disciples. This means that discipleship is at the heart of the church’s mission and purpose.
But we won’t get far without understanding what, exactly, discipleship is. So let’s define it:
Discipleship is the Christian process of change within the church.
This rather compact definition boils down to four words: Christian, process, change, church.
1. Discipleship Is Christian
This comes from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Disciples are Christians. If you’re going to make disciples of all the nations, you’re going to bring them into the church. This involves the preaching of the Gospel, a call for repentance and faith, a call to follow Christ, and a public identification with God’s people through baptism. To be a disciple, you must become a Christian.
But not just “become.” You must also be a Christian. And this is all-encompassing: Jesus said, “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Do you hear how sweeping and comprehensive that is? Christian discipleship involves teaching God’s commandments in such a way that the disciple “observes” or “keeps” or “follows” or “obeys” every one of them.
The disciple’s entire life must be Christian. Their choices. Time. Vocation. Effort. Thoughts. Wants. Pleasures. Emotions. Relationships. As Christians, we follow our Master, who said in John 8:29, “I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” Always.
Discipleship—the Christian process of change within the church—is Christian, through and through.
2. Discipleship Is a Process
Discipleship is a daily, lifelong process. This comes from Luke 9:23, where Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
We hear this language throughout the Scriptures: Come after me. Follow me. The Lord is my shepherd. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Theologically, we’re talking about sanctification.
Sanctification happens over the course of our entire lives. You’re being sanctified as you are set apart for God’s special purpose and use. Which leads us to the third point:
3. Discipleship Involves Change
The Bible speaks of change in many ways. We are born again, a new creation, adopted, redeemed, transferred into God’s kingdom, justified. We experience transformation, regeneration, renewal, conformity to the image of the Son. Some of these terms emphasize a big-picture status change (adoption, justification) while others emphasize a change in the minutiae of our thinking and activity (renewal, sanctification).
Here’s the thing to understand about change: You can’t change the minutiae of your life (in a way that honors God) without changing your big-picture outlook. And your big-picture outlook becomes something real and solid and stable and effective in your life as you begin to live out that change in the minutiae.
In other words, you can’t just say “I’m a Christian” (big-picture status change) and automatically have your life reflect Christ (minutiae activity change). There’s work to be done. You can say you’re a Christian but if you’re not thoroughly, completely, and radically Christian in your life, has anything really changed? And you can’t begin working on all these specific areas of your life, like bitterness or lust or anger, without having a massive, big-picture worldview change: I am adopted. I am a new creation. I am united with Christ.
The one is related to the other (1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Peter 1:2; Galatians 2:20). So the process of discipleship can only happen when something breaks into that loop. That’s conversion: By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are born again, and our lives change.
When our big-picture worldview changes, the little things change too. We start going to church, reading the Scriptures, delighting in worship and prayer. We appreciate Christ and all he’s done for us, and we begin to hate sin. We begin to think about what we should do in light of God’s grace.
And that’s how it goes the rest of our Christian lives. The process involves change at every step, from beginning to end.
4. Discipleship Happens in the Church
But you can’t know what to change to unless you know the goal. Thankfully, God tells us: “We make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).
That’s a clear mission statement. As disciples of Christ, our aim, our goal, is to please our creator and sustainer, our Father and our King.
The method is informed by Scripture: Make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things that Jesus has commanded, we move from displeasing God to pleasing him.
The goal is informed by Scripture: As we make it our aim to please him, we move from not knowing or doing his commands to knowing and keeping his commands.
All this happens within the body of Christ. Did you catch it? Jesus implies this in the Great Commission: Disciples are to be made by other believers. Discipleship begins with the big-picture status change of baptism as an initiation into the body, and continues with the corporate activities of teaching and accountability to walk in obedience to Christ’s commands. This is what pleases God, and it all happens in the “one another” context of the local church (John 13:35).
Discipleship is the work of believers, over time, moving one another towards pleasing God by knowing and obeying his commands. That’s the Christian process of change, and it is a process that happens in the church.
Assignment
Write down your answers to the following reflection questions.
- Read Matthew 28:20.
- Am I willing to learn and do everything that Jesus commands?
- What 3 things will I do this week to learn what Jesus commands?
- Read Luke 9:23.
- Am I willing to regularly deny myself in order to follow Jesus?
- When will I set aside time each day to focus on the things of God?
- Read Galatians 2:20.
- What is the source of my ability to change as a Christian?
- What does it mean to be “crucified with Christ” and that “it is no longer I who live”?
- How will I live by faith this week?
- Read 2 Corinthians 5:9 and John 13:35.
- What is my aim as a Christian?
- How will I be identified as a disciple of Jesus?
See here for a printable version with space for counselees to answer the reflection questions as homework.
