Making Disciples – Part 1

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.  And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)

The command of God on His church is to make disciples who are observing all that Jesus commanded.  What is it about discipleship that keeps us from reaching the “observe” point, and are there steps we can take to intentionally and proactively move toward a model of genuine discipleship?  I believe there is … and it comes as we acknowledge that:

1. Genuine Discipleship is non-linear and is “tailor made” to the disciple.
2. Genuine Discipleship takes time and happens while we live our “normal lives”
3. Classroom discipleship has it’s place, but can be very limited in effectiveness if not partnered with “real life” experience.

Recently I shared a message dealing with “SMART DISCIPLESHIP GOALS”.  I shared the message because a week before I had taken the church through an exercise to hear individually what God was saying and to make an “action step” from what He seemed to be calling each of them to.  While many of the steps were very practical, the truth is that many of them were general and very difficult to measure.  In other words, it would have been difficult to tell whether we had actually “succeeded” in implementing the God-change in our lives based on the statement.

While setting “SMART” goals can make discipleship practical, I also referenced material from Lawrence Richards’ book “Creative Bible Teaching” in which he lays out 5 steps to what he calls “Realization”, or the practical implementation of truth being learned.  His steps are listed as:

1. Rote
2. Recognition
3. Restatement
4. Relation
5. Realization

Over the next days and weeks, I’d like to take these 5 steps, and boil them down to 4 steps which each of us can use as tools for evaluating our own “observance” of Jesus’ commands, as well as tools for helping those we are discipling to see the truth of God’s Word become action and faith in our own lives.

I’ll also share some of the dangers for Christians who get bogged down in one of the steps before Realization.  What does it look like if we are “Rote” believers only?  How can we guard against being hearers of the Word only?

I hope you’ll join in the conversation (leave comments) and that God will use this exercise to help us all become better disciples and disciple makers.