October 11
Jeremiah 13-14
Psalm 113:1-3
Proverbs 24:26-27
2 Timothy 2
Disciple Making
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 HCSB
As a college student, I was involved in the Baptist Student Union. (It is now called Baptist Campus Ministries.) This organization had a profound impact on my life. I made a lot of great friends and grew in my faith. I served in local missions, went on several mission trips, and had a lot of fun. But looking back, there was one thing that had the most lasting impact on me. My campus minister, Clete Sipes, was passionately committed to discipleship and he instilled that passion and commitment in me. He drilled in our heads the principle that Jesus taught His followers. When Jesus died, He only had 3,000 followers. The Son of God came to Earth and reached only 3,000 people. He spent some of His time preaching to huge crowds, but He spent most of His time with a group of twelve guys. He invested in them. He taught the multitudes, but He discipled the twelve. He committed to faithful men who would be able to teach others what they had heard. He prepared them to be disciple makers. He discipled twelve who would then go on to disciple others who would go on to each disciple others. These disciples are responsible for spreading the gospel to the whole world. The message didn’t stop when all of those who had heard Jesus’ preaching died; it continued to spread because those who heard were equipped to pass it on to others.
Sharing the gospel with others so that they can commit their lives to Christ is essential, but we can’t stop there. It is vitally important that we come alongside new Christians and grow them up in their faith. Salvation is only the beginning, not the ultimate goal. The goal is to disciple them so that they are mature believers who can then disciple others. Jesus knew that the way to reach a lost and dying world across generations was discipleship. Jesus trained twelve men. If those 12 men each trained 12, that is 144. If those 144 each trained 12, that is 1,728. If those 1,728 trained 12, that is 20,736. If those 20,736 trained 12, that is 248,832. If those 248,832 trained 12, that is 2,985,984. Almost 3 million people discipled in just six steps. Instead of trying to reach multitudes, our time is better spent doing as Jesus did investing in a few faithful people who will be able to teach others. This principle is not just for church leaders. It applies to all of us. We are not all called to be preachers and teachers. But we are all called to be disciple-makers. Our children, grandchildren, a Bible study group, a Sunday School class, friends, family members, whoever God has placed in our lives, we can build them up and encourage them in their faith. We can invest in their lives and help prepare them to pass on their faith to others. It isn’t necessary to be a biblical scholar to be a disciple-maker. Wherever you are in your faith, you can encourage others. Clete went to be with the Lord several years ago, but his legacy of discipleship lives on in me and in many others that He discipled. Are you passing on your faith? Are you making disciples?
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