Discipleship is a central theme of the Christian faith. It's where we start our journey and how we continue the story. It starts when we come to Christ and surrender our lives by becoming His follower and disciple.
That leads to us being added into a church community where we meet people who help us become established in the right doctrine and beliefs. Then we are called to respond in discipling other men and women who also want to grow in their walk with God.
Matthew 28:19-20 commands us, "Go therefore 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 I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
And because discipleship is such an essential part of our faith, we need to make sure we don't get this wrong.
Here are three things that people get wrong about discipleship, and how we can correct them.
1. Discipleship Is Simple, Not Complicated
Discipleship was never meant to be something that required 10 years of Bible school to master. It was so simple that ordinary men like fishermen and tax collectors who had no theology experience learned how to do it in less than three years time.
That doesn't mean that discipleship is easy. It can be extremely hard, but the call is simple: We are to point people to Christ by teaching others His commands and love them with the love of God.
2. Discipleship Is About Progress, Not Perfection
It's encouraging to see how many times Jesus had to rebuke His disciples because it shows us we're not very far from them in term of progress. Consider this: 11 (originally 12) men were considered to be of little faith, yet they would go on to change the world.
God doesn't expect anyone to be perfect before starting their discipleship track. The goal is to progress in our walk with God as we go through discipleship.
3. Discipleship Is Following Jesus, Not Doctrine
The goal of discipleship is always to follow Christ. As we are discipled, we are taught to follow Jesus. As we disciple others, we are taught to point them to Jesus. There's nothing wrong with doctrine, but when our journey becomes too much about learning information rather than drawing closer to a person we miss the point.
Doctrine leads us to Christ. It is not the end goal. As we work doctrine out together (no matter how seemingly confusing) we draw each other closer to Christ.
