Why Discipleship?

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Imagine you do not believe in God and have never heard the Gospel in your life. After hearing one of your coworkers talk about God, you decide to check out the local church out of pure curiosity. After hearing the Gospel preached, your heart is overwhelmed by what you have heard and you go down to the altar to accept Christ. When you get down there, someone meets you and leads you through a prayer to accept Christ. You are overjoyed by this new faith and new life in Christ! Then, that person hands you a Bible and sends you on your way. You walk out the doors, get in your car, look down at the Bible and think: “…well, now what?”

Far too often, this is the reality of our churches. We get people “saved” and then send them on their way. They come back and sit in the pews every Sunday, but never move any further. Or they never come back at all. Why is that? 

The answer is a lack of discipleship. 

In the previous article we talked about Christ’s example of discipleship and his mandate for us to go and make disciples of all nations. Now let’s talk about why Jesus chose this method to share the Gospel and why it matters. 

  1. God is a God of Relationship. 

All throughout Scripture we see God pursuing the hearts of people. He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden until the day sin entered the world through their choice. Since that moment, God has been reaching out to humanity to draw them back to Himself. He set a “rescue plan” in motion to restore that relationship. It began in Genesis 3, was promised in Genesis 12, came to fruition in Jesus Christ and will later be fulfilled in the end of the age. The Old Testament is full of God’s heart longing for His people to return to Him; just read the book of Hosea and you cannot help but see God’s desire to be in relationship with His people again. 

In the New Testament, Jesus is the direct representation of God’s heart for relationship with humanity. He chose twelve unlikely men and invested three years into teaching them through the context of relationship. They did life together daily: eating together, serving together, and just being together. Because of their relationship with Jesus, the disciples began to trust what He taught them about God and the Scriptures. Ultimately, because of their relationship with Jesus, they became the ones to spread the Gospel to the entire ancient world! 

Jesus chose the method of discipleship to spread the Gospel because it falls in perfect harmony with God’s heart for relationship with us. By intentionally teaching and walking with His disciples, Jesus modeled the type of relationship that God desires to have with us. God longs to walk with us, to teach us, and for us to simply abide with Him. He opened up the way for us to enter into this relationship with Him by sending Jesus to die on the cross and rise again, bridging the gap between us and God that was caused by sin! All of this is motivated by God’s great and intentional love for each one of us.

  1. People are Designed for Relationships

We were designed for relationship with both God and each other. Even from the beginning of Creation God explained that it was not good for man to be alone (Gen 2:18). The New Testament emphasizes over and over the importance of encouraging one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and teaching one another (1 Thes 5:11, Gal 6:2, Col 3:16). Again, all of this points to our God being a God of relationship. 

If God is a God of relationship, then we as His people should be modeling relationships as part of who we are. When someone comes to know Christ, it is our responsibility as the family of God to come alongside them and walk with them as they pursue this newfound faith. This means showing them how to read their Bible, teaching them what it means to pray, to worship, and the importance of being a part of a community of believers. It means being invested in their lives, building friendships, laughing together, and just being with them. 

Discipleship in the context of relationship shows people that they are loved, that they matter to God and to us, and that their heart is worth pursuing. They begin to see that this faith isn’t just another religion but a relationship with the God of the universe who loves them. They watch the way other believers love God and trust Him wholeheartedly with their lives and it is contagious! This kind of discipleship helps believers to become stronger in their faith, to grow in maturity and wisdom because of the example of those around them, and to build their faith on a strong foundation. 

So why does discipleship matter? Because God is a God of relationship, because Jesus modeled discipleship for us, and because it is through discipleship that the Gospel will be spread throughout the world. 

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