The Discipleship Decline

   Christ could not have made His final command any clearer.  As He stood atop that mountain, awaiting the reunion with His Father, Jesus said to His assembled disciples: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations….”  (Matthew 28:19a).

 

   Somehow, over the course of passing generations, we have lost the essence of this command.  Indeed it is rare to find a church that makes “disciple-making” a key element in their Mission Statement…and in their resulting ministry.

 

   To reinforce this stark reality, we need to consider what Jesus did not say that day on the mountain top.  Jesus did not say: “Go and build churches.”  “Go and form committees and boards.”  “Go and make people comfortable.”

 

   Yet these later alternatives are often the very things that we have become good at.  What is missing is a clear vision and passion for the very work Jesus modeled and then mandated.

   For the sake of clarification of what is meant when the word “disciple” is used, I enjoy the “biblical, contextual” definition given by Christopher B. Adsit in his book Personal Disciple-Making.  “A disciple is a person-in-process who is eager to learn and apply the truths that Jesus Christ teaches him, which will result in ever-deepening commit ...