New Year's Resolution to Make Disciples and Multiply

                  Are you a follower of Christ? Are you making disciples? Do not be deceived into thinking you can be the first and never do the second. I am convinced we all know people who have professed faith in Christ, yet have never really grown into disciple-makers. Who knows? Maybe I’m describing you. You can rest assured, this type of situation tells us one of two things: Either the person’s conversion experience was not genuine (Matt 7:21-23), or other believers in Christ failed to do their job as disciple-makers. If we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are also disciples of Christ. In his book Multiply, Francis Chan reminds readers that, “It’s impossible to be a disciple or follower of someone and not end up like that person. Jesus said, ‘A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher’ (Luke 6:40). That’s the whole point of being a disciple of Jesus: we imitate Him, carry on his ministry, and become like him in the process.” Furthermore, when we become united with Christ Jesus through faith, our entire reason for life should be focused on fulfilling His mission (Matt 28:18-20).

The Great Commission is not fulfilled simply by inviting your family, friends, or neighbors to come to church. It’s not even fulfilled when they repent of sin and profess faith in Christ. The Great Commission doesn’t stop there. In fact, it’s only just begun. As disciple-makers, the Great Commission of Jesus Christ calls us to continue on by teaching new converts to obey all that Jesus has commanded (Matt 28:20). Discipleship is a process that takes both time and intentionality. I’m convinced that many Christians just assume discipleship is happening in their lives by them coming to church. This way of thinking can be very deceiving and ultimately destructive to the body of Christ.  Dr. Robert Smith, Jr. rightly stated, “so many people spiritually die just outside of the baptismal waters because they are never discipled.”

In light of these things, here is my New Year’s challenge to you: This year, don’t assume what you’re doing by attending Sunday School and Sunday morning worship is making disciples. Make an intentional plan to disciple someone this year, or ask someone you believe to be more spiritually mature to disciple you. Discipleship is simply about living life with another person (or persons), pouring into him or her through the practical teaching of the Word of God in an effort to see that person grow in faith. You don’t have to have a lot of Bible knowledge to obey this command to disciple! You simply need to be willing and obedient to the call of Christ. We already have some pairs and small groups forming within our church, and I encourage each of you to get involved. Approach one or two people and make a plan to meet weekly. Francis Chan has provided us an excellent and extremely easy to use resource for this disciple-making task through his book Multiply. I can help you get this book and provide instruction on how to use it in one-on-one or very small group discipleship. If you’re saying to yourself right now, “I’m too busy for anything like that,” then drop something from your weekly schedule. That might even mean dropping a weekly activity at the church. Discipleship is that important. It's far too easy to become busy "doing church" that we forget to be the church. Make room in your life to be obedient to Christ and to do ministry the way He did it. He poured his entire life into 12 ordinary men. Pour your life into someone else this year, or have someone pour into yours! Then, start the process all over again with someone else. If you don't do it, then who will? It is a matter of eternal importance. Don’t just sit on the sidelines… Obey all that He has commanded! Make disciples and let’s see God’s Kingdom multiply! Contact me with any questions or for more details about Multiply and how to get started. Also, feel free to contact me if you need help finding someone to disciple or to disciple you.

To learn more about Multiply, watch the video below and visit their website.

Practically, What Is Disciple Making? from Multiply on Vimeo.

This blog post comes from the First Baptist Hartselle January Newsletter

Read More