Before being taken up into Heaven to be seated on the right hand of God, Jesus did not command us to go and make converts. He told us to make disciples. What is a disciple and how is a disciple any different from a convert?
Before anything, let's get one thing straight. I am in no way belittling the importance of evangelism. Evangelism is great and it's vital in the work of the kingdom of God. We all need to be evangelists and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. But I also believe that evangelism is just the beginning to a wonderful storyline that is waiting to be unfolded.
Imagine you're watching a premiere of a movie and you paid a lot of money to watch it in cinema. The movie starts and it's awesome! But then ten minutes into it, the unexpected happens: the movie fades to black and the cinema personnel tell you to leave the premises.
In some way or another, that's how it is when we introduce people into the faith and "convert" them without leading them into discipleship. While some of us may be called to be great evangelists, there must be an avenue to help people walk with Christ after they receive Him. We must have the answer to the question, "What's next?"
I've sat down with wonderful evangelists who do crusades where thousands accept Christ in one evening, and they too will share the same insight. The challenge is not to win people to Christ. Because of the glory and beauty that is in Christ, it's so easy to fall in love with Him. The challenge comes in now walking in Him for the rest of eternity and pursuing the God-given purpose you are now called into. That takes discipleship.
Colossians 2:6 says this: "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him" (ESV). When we receive Jesus into us, it's not game over. We have this wonderful opportunity to walk in Him on a daily basis and grow in our relationship with Him. That's what discipleship means: helping people follow Jesus and the commands and teachings that He gave to us as a guideline to proper Christian living.
Right after the great revival after Pentecost where Peter preached and thousands were saved, what happened? Acts 2:46 tells us, "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts" (NIV). That's what relationship is: continuing to walk with other believers as you follow Jesus together.
If your ministry has seen tremendous growth through conversions, praise God and I hope conversions keep happening, but the question all those converts will be having is, "What's next?" When people meet Jesus, they'll want more of Him just like any believer would, and we could be that avenue to point them in the right direction. That takes relationship-based discipleship that calls us to fellowship with one another as we follow Jesus together.
