Category: Articles

Worshipping Christ Through Discipleship

0
December 3, 2019

As one pastor so aptly stated, “The Christian life is the discipled life and the discipling life”.[1]

When the resurrected Christ met his eleven disciples on the mountain he had designated, He said to them, “Go 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 he has commanded…” (Matt. 28:18-20a).

The verb translated go is the present participle going. What Jesus is saying is while His disciples are going, they are to be ‘making disciples’ of all the nations. They do this by actively witnessing and seeking to win others to Christ, and then teaching new disciples of Christ how to follow Him.

In Scripture we find, that to be a disciple of Christ is to make disciples of Christ. Scripture knows nothing of disciples who are not making disciples. We can glean 3 goals from the Great Commission to help us as we go.

Share the Truth About Christ (Matt. 28:18)

To “make disciples” is to share the Truth About Jesus. The disciples spoke the gospel, as they lived according to the gospel. It’s no different today, as we are going, we too ought to be sharing the gospel as God gives us opportunity.

Symbolize Our Identification with Christ (Matt. 28:19)

To “make disciples” is to symbolize identification with Jesus. When people respond to the Gospel, they are to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is not saying people become baptized to become a Christian, but once a person becomes a Christian, they are called to make a declaration of our faith in Christ and believers baptism becomes that opportunity. The New Testament knows nothing of unbaptized Christians.

Show the Word of Christ (Matt. 28:20)

To “make disciples” is to show the word of Christ to others by teaching others. True disciples of Christ have a biblical responsibility to show the Word of God through evangelism, teaching others the very things they have been taught, and living life on life in community. When one is involved in an on-going discipleship relationship, they have opportunity to model and show others how to pray, study God’s Word, grow in Christ, and even lead others to Christ.

At the end of Matthew 28:20, Jesus comforts His disciples by giving a promise, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” He is promising to be spiritually present with His disciples. What a comfort to know that Jesus is near while we go and engage in disciple-making.

Discipleship is not a special man-made program. It is not even about the discipler or the one being discipled as much as it is about Christ, our Lord and Savior. We love our King with our whole heart, mind, and soul. Thus, we seek to worship Him through our discipleship efforts.


[1]Mark Dever, Discipling, page 13.

Author

  • IBCD
    The Institute for Biblical Counseling & Discipleship exists to strengthen churches in one another care by offering training, counseling resources, events, and free resources that are helpful to anyone interested in learning how to better help others.
    View all posts
Tags:

Related posts

Three Ways to Help Someone Hurt by Their Previous Church

Three Ways to Help Someone Hurt by Their Previous Church

For the past several years, a counseling burden we’ve seen increase is “church hurt.” By church hurt, I’m referring to any unrepentant sin that is minimized, normalized, or possibly promoted by a church community and/or a church’s leadership. At first, I didn’t like...

What is Biblical Counseling?

What is Biblical Counseling?

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “biblical counseling”? It’s a phrase that’s been used for over half-a-century now. And in that time, it’s come to mean different things to different people. Some people consider biblical counseling to be a codeword that...

Three Reminders for Parents of Wayward Children

Three Reminders for Parents of Wayward Children

In an era when many are choosing not to have children, believers stand out as those who choose to fulfill the creation mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). When many see children as expensive inconveniences, we regard our children to be a blessing from...