What a Disciplemaker Needs to Do

[featured_image]In the simplest sense, a disciplemaker needs to make disciples who make disciples. That’s the nature of a disciplemaker. They are intentionally making disciples. And those whom they disciple are intentionally making disciples. Disciplemakers are committed to multiplying generations of disciplemakers.

Jesus was a disciplemaker. If you want to make disciples, follow Jesus and do what Jesus did. He spent time with His disciples. He trained them. He showed them how to pray, to trust God, to serve, to meet needs, to cast out demons, to teach the Scriptures, and so much more.

The list of what a disciplemaker does could be very long. However, I think it’s important to focus on the main things that a disciplemaker needs to do.

3 Things Every Disciplemaker Must Do
1. You Need to Follow Jesus (and Train Others to Follow Jesus). This almost goes without saying but it’s so important that I am going to state it first. You can’t teach others to follow Jesus if you aren’t following Jesus. This means you learn from Jesus. You spend time with Jesus. You love Jesus. You obey Jesus. Whatever He says to do – you do it! And not only do you follow Jesus, but you train others to follow Jesus. You train them to do what you do. And beyond that, you train them to train others to follow Jesus. This is what Paul did as he invited others to follow Jesus just like he followed Jesus. The bummer is that few Christians actually take responsibility to train others to follow Jesus. Will you?
2. You Need to Be Jesus to Others. As a Christ follower, people are going to watch how you follow Jesus, how you imitate Jesus, and how you represent Jesus. You need to love like Jesus, forgive like Jesus, serve like Jesus, make disciples like Jesus, and so much more. “Being Jesus” requires that you embody the mission and message of Jesus. Essentially, you are the hands and feet and voice of Jesus to those around you. No one today can see Jesus, but they can see you being Jesus. You have the opportunity to incarnate the gospel to everyone around you.

3. You Need to Teach Others to Obey Jesus. This is essential to disciplemaking. Not only do you need to obey Jesus yourself, but you need to teach others to obey Jesus. Too many Bible studies and sermons focus on knowing what Jesus commands. But they fail to emphasize obeying what Jesus commands. Jesus didn’t say teach all that I commanded. He told His followers to teach to obey all that I commanded. What would happen if every time you studied what Jesus commands, you actually committed to do what He says? And what if when you came back to your Bible Study, everybody reported on what happened when they obeyed? This emphasis on teaching to obey would actually increase the likelihood of obedience.

And a Bonus:
4. You Need to Daily Feed Yourself Spiritually. You cannot depend on podcasts and sermons for your spiritual food. You need to go to the source – the Word of God. You can’t grow spiritually simply eating “pre-digested meals” that are delivered on Sundays. You must get into the Word every day. SOAP Journaling is a great method to use to get started.

As I mentioned above, the list of what a disciplemaker does could be very long. This is a great place to get started.

What else would you add? Take a moment to comment below…