Discipleship, what's that?

Have you ever been discipled?

I know I haven't...and it's rare that I find someone who has.

This should be alarming since the last thing Christ said to us before he ascended was "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..."

We need to know what discipleship is if we call ourselves disciples of Christ.

My small group has been evangelizing lately. Some of the brothers in my group, I believe, are anointed preachers and God is using them mightily. A few men have been saved through the preaching of one of these brothers. Because of this, and the fact that our group feels led to evangelize more often, we were forced to talk about what might happen if the Lord brings people into the Kingdom through our small group.

So, as we talked about what it means to make disciples we came to some conclusions:

-We are called to make disciples, not tell someone about Jesus and toss them into the pond to learn to swim on their own. Therefore, if YOU bring someone to Christ, then YOU are responsible for "teaching them to observe ALL that Christ commanded"--not the church you suggest to them.

-Discipleship means sacrifice. Sacrifice of time, comfort, and ultimately, your life. If we are called to disciple people, we must do life with them...not just Bible study once a week.

-It means being selfless always. It means counting others better than ourselves. We should be doing this daily anyway.

-It means living godly lives for others to see. "Teaching them to observe all that I commanded..." Observe. That means they are watching our every move. We are to do what Christ has commanded. James 1: 22 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

As another brother said last night, and I have often thought, although I do not know what it is like to be discipled, I will try my best to give them what I never had and follow the command of Christ in doing so.

I challenge you, learn to disciple...I plan to start learning right now.