How to Make a Disciple Among the Unchurched

In this episode, we talk about how to make a disciple among the unchurched by using the final words of Jesus before his ascension at the end of Matthew. 

Transcript

In today's episode, we are going to talk about, how to make a disciple. 

When I first became Christian, I had no idea what a disciple was and I definitely didn’t know how to make one. I got a lot of mixed  thoughts and ideas about how to make a disciple, but the dominant idea was how to better live the Christian life.  

There was a lot of emphasis on accountability or meeting with a mentor. Taking classes on how to read your bible, or other topical Christian issues. All of these kind of things can definitely be part of it…

But it took me around 10 years into my Christian life for someone to teach me how to make a disciple and this was after 10 years of running a ministry. The instructions from Jesus are clear and simple, but I had missed it. 

It comes out of the passage in Matthew. Matthew 28:16-20, most notably known as the great commission. The Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. It is the last message Jesus gave to his disciples right before he ascended to heaven, so you would think this has to be a pretty important message. 

Starting with verse 16 “Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!”

I want to stop here before I get into how to make a disciple because it’s very important. Before you make a disciple, you need to be convinced that you are qualified to make a disciple. I never noticed it in this verse before until someone pointed out to me. It is a small note in the passage but a powerful one. 

It is the line “but some of them doubted”..

I’m sure many of us feel ill-equipped to even participate in the great commission. We tell ourselves, Jesus is not calling me to this or just thinking that is for someone else. But look at this verse. “Some of them doubted”..and what did Jesus do next? He gave them the great commission despite their doubt.  He is giving out the biggest mission of the world with the most important message the world has ever known to a bunch of doubters. That should greatly encourage us. We are all qualified!

Ok lets pick up at verse 18; Then Jesus came to them and said,  “I’ve been given authority in heaven and on earth, 19 therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

I want to emphasize that Jesus is giving us the command to make disciples. He’s not saying go and make Christians or go and make believers. He is not asking to have them go get people to ask Jesus into their hearts. He is commanding them to make disciples. There is a big difference. To Jesus, there is no difference between disciple and believer. A believer is supposed to be a disciple. 

He continues in verse 20 and here is the part I want all of us to get about making disciples. 

“Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So according to these passages, we are supposed to baptize people in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit and teach these new disciples how to obey all of the commands Jesus has given us. What Jesus is saying is clear.  We need to teach new disciples to obey His commands. What are the commands of Jesus? There are dozens of commands and teachings of Jesus and He wants us to obey them and apply them to our lives. In verse 20, He also promises us that He will be with us, so we need to be confident that we can do this!

Jesus didn’t say “teach these new disciples to learn all the commands I’ve given you.” In American culture, it  can seem like Christianity is all about learning. We go to church to learn learn learn but we don’t obey and apply and there is a huge difference.

I know our culture doesn’t like the word obey, but when you read scripture, God wants us to obey him and he wants us to apply his teachings to our lives. Obedience is pushed all throughout the Old Testament and Jesus emphasizes this in the new testament. 

Many people are going to ask, why is God so big on obedience? Maybe it’s like teaching our children obedience. It is for our own benefit. He knows what is best for us. 

Ok, so how do you practically make a disciple? You find someone who is interested in Jesus and you teach them to obey by reading a scripture and simply teaching them to apply it to their life. That’s it. Teach them to obey. 

I mentioned this in a previous episode, HOW TO START A BIBLE STUDY WITH THE UNCHURCHED, but I want to encourage you, when you are having them apply scripture, have them apply it to the life that day or that week. Again not just apply it to their life in general because often times people will forget about it. 

The simple power of applying scripture always amazes me.  People who are not even believers yet, apply scripture, and watch their life change and they see the ripple effect it has on families or friends. 

In every Bible study you are doing with someone, always ask the question, how can I apply this to my life.  How can I apply this passage?

You are teaching the person and giving them a skill set on how to read the Bible and apply scripture on their own. You are teaching them to apply scripture every day, and when they do, they’re going to see significant changes in their life. 

My suggestion would be to start out with your own life.  Maybe you are a follower of Jesus and you love to learn but you’ve never thought of the obedience or application part.  So start with yourself . Just practice.  Take a scripture today and ask yourself how can you apply it today or this week and share it with someone and then talk to that person about how you applied it.

Once you get the hang of it and start making it a routine, then you will start to be confident that you can start a bible study and make a disciple. You will know exactly what to do because you are doing it yourself. 

Obviously more goes into discipleship than just teaching someone how to obey. It is also being there for that person. It is about relationship. It is out of love and relationship that you teach someone how to obey, for the purpose of learning how to live a life of following Jesus and participating in the Great Commission. 

That is all for today.  If you have any questions , you can contact us through our website at lovingallpeoples.com. Thanks for the listen everyone. This is the loving all peoples podcast.