Discipleship is most often seen as a job for vocational ministers and people with the freedom of time to do it. In its full essence though, discipleship is something that everyone is called into.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave the final mandate to make disciples of all nations. This wasn't a call given just to a chosen few, but to everyone who would follow Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:2 tells us, "And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."
This commission given by Paul shows the continuity of the passing on of Jesus' teachings and building of fellowship with other believers. As we are all recipients of some level of discipleship, we are called to entrust it to others.
No, discipleship is not just about getting into a trendy way of church growth or a system of teaching and mentoring. While it's partly those things, it's primarily a call to build relationships with God and with others, and that's something we can all do.
Here are three reasons why discipleship is something we can all do.
1. The Holy Spirit Equips Us for It
Acts 1:8 tells us, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
The power to be a witness to others has never been innately ours. It comes only through the Holy Spirit.
But the Holy Spirit has been made available to all who ask for it since Christ's death and resurrection. Luke 11:13 says, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
2. It Aligns With Our Values
Within every single person is a desire for deeper connections. We are all wired for relationship with God and with other people. Discipleship does not force or oblige us into something that is actually second nature, but simply draws out what is already there—a wiring to love God and others.
When we view discipleship as something that is not yet there and has to be injected into our systems, we miss the point. It's already there. God simply draws out and amplifies a godliness in us that causes us to direct others to Christ.
3. It Comes Out of an Overflow
Psalm 23:5 says, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."
God has caused so much love, grace and blessing to fall upon us that it overflows. The question is what do you do with that overflow? Do you hoard it or cause it to overflow to others?
That's what discipleship is: an overflow of God's love for us upon others. We impart the finished work of Christ and the principles of God not as a foreign theory but as something we've experienced ourselves. That's why discipleship is something we can all do. It's not an unfamiliar equation, but an overwhelming personal encounter that is simply professed to others with the desire for them to experience the same things.
