The mission and vision of local churches today can be as varied as a marketplace. There's a church that is called to healing, counselling, worship, evangelism, spiritual gifts training, systematic theology and many other ministries. There's definitely nothing wrong with that as God does call us to be many parts of one body, but if there is one ministry that must be central to all churches and ministries it's the ministry of discipleship.
Discipleship is the one thing that remains non-negotiable in God's kingdom. It's simple, doable by all and impactful in many ways. Every church and every Christian is called to make disciples. A failure to do so could mean more bad than good for us whether we admit it or not.
Let me make that as clear as I can by simply saying this: We need to make disciples. There is an urgency to create and implement a disciple-making structure in churches today and we shouldn't be sidetracking it. Here are three reasons why discipleship should be what your church is doing today.
It was Jesus' final command
The last words of Jesus to the disciples were "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) When someone is about to leave, he or she will want to say what's most important before departing.
It's no different with Jesus. He communicated discipleship as if it was a "dying wish" or a "departing request." Making disciples matters to Jesus and it should matter to us just as much.
It assures that we will have a next generation to pass the baton to
Discipleship does not just make a church community fancy. It also makes the work of ministry sustainable. Just as Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:2, "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."
You can be called to other things as a movement, as a christian or as a family. Healing, worship, counselling - they're all great things, but when discipleship is absent, we fail to raise up the next healing ministers, worship leaders and counsellors. Discipleship makes sure that our ministries outlive us and will continue even long after we're gone.
Relationships are what matter most to God and us
Discipleship is not just about teaching, structure, lessons and classrooms. It is primarily about relationship. One of the things the first disciples did was devote themselves to the breaking of bread and corporate prayer (Acts 2:42). Discipleship is primarily about building relationship with God, with fellow believers and with the unchurched.
Relationships are what matter most to God. Everything He created and does is for relationships. As people created in His image, we are to value relationships too.
