A Vision to Make Disciples

Jesus told us in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) to make disciples. In some blogs last year, I tried to illustrate a discipleship model of completing the Great Commission (How to Win the World In One Generation, Win the World in 1 Generation, and Project 2030). In this post, let's look at a simple proposal that connects the 3 Column Bible study to the larger picture.

Imagine with me what would happen if someone became totally committed to the process of: Hearing the Word of God
Understanding the Word of God
Obeying the Word of God

In other words, he would apply the parable of the sower (Mark 4: 1-20), in a literal way in his life. This personal commitment would be the heart of his own relationship with God. He would say, "Lord, I choose to follow you. I don't want to be a disobedient child of God. I am a follower of Jesus, I choose to be your disciple. I know there is a cost to this....you told me to count it. But I am tired of mere religious Christianity. Jesus Christ is my Lord and that means that the Bible, Your Word, is now the authority in my life. Beginning now, and with the help of the Holy Spirit in my life, I will begin to Hear, Understand, and Obey Your Word."

Now this person begins to make a 3 Column Bible Study a regular part of his life. The 3 Column study (described in earlier posts) is a tool. Like all tools, it is not a legalistic requirement. But it is an effective tool, and one that is useful to a disciple of Christ in causing him to Hear (really hear and focus on) God's Word, Understand (at a deeper level of application), and Obey (by making those application statements). But beyond just writing out the 3 Column study, this becomes a focus of his prayer and his actions (he does not just write "I will....) but endeavors to really walk out this obedience.

He is not perfect. He finds himself failing sometimes. But when he does, he goes to God in repentance and continues the process.

Over time this process begins to really be a part of his life. It started as a discipline, moved on to become a habit, and ends up being a delight. He begins to see that the Word and the Spirit of God are transforming him into the likeness of Christ in his character.

All of this description is just to say that it is REAL in his life, not just a religious ritual. He is becoming an obedient Christ follower. In another metaphor, he has not been inoculated....he's caught the disease! And now he's contagious.

Now if his goal is to be obedient to God's Word, he'll find out that one critical obedience is not to just be an obedient disciple of Christ, but to make other disciples. Through his life, his words, his relationships, and his intentional obedience in this area, he begins to make disciples. As he does this, it is not just a matter of presenting the gospel and leading a "sinner's prayer". He does not use the traditional model's of "soul winning" that he has always been accustomed to. Instead, through relationship, word, and lifestyle he leads his friends to follow Jesus like he is. Through a discovery bible study or some method he helps his friend to learn the Hear, Understand, and Obey process. He is not the authority for his friend, the Word is. Through this process he helps another to become a follower of Jesus Christ. His friend does not have an encounter with a religion or a set of doctrines, but a real encounter with Jesus and His Word. He now begins to be an obedient disciple. He is a new 3 Columner! And this new disciple begins to do the same with his friends!

Someone might say, that sounds like a slow process. Yes it is. But it is also a fast process. Consider these 2 scenarios.

1 believer is a skilled personal evangelist. He walks and talks the 4 spiritual laws (or some other effective evangelistic model). Praise God for everyone who has been genuinely brought to Christ through these methods. Let's assume that this believer is prolifically bold! He literally leads a soul to salvation every day, 365 days a year! (For the sake of this example let's assume that he actually wins a soul everyday, and that every one is genuinely born again!)

Then there is our 3 Columner discipler. He is growing as an obedient follower of Jesus and in that obedience he makes relationships and begins to help others become followers of Christ. If he does that 3 times a year....and makes 3 disciples who become obedient 3 Columner followers of Christ, who also do the same....

If that process happens every year for 10 years it might look like this:

That is based on 1 soul per day won for 10 years, vs. 3 disciples per year made and the process replicated with each disciple. I realize that such models are inherently flawed (in both models), but this does illustrate the power of multiplication in a discipling strategy vs. addition in a personal evangelism strategy. Obedience based discipleship may start smaller and slower, but in reality through multiplication has a vastly greater impact on completing the task of world evangelization.

So how about it. What is your goal for 2010? What about making a fresh commitment to Christ to be an obedient disciple? How about making the 3 Column study process a part of your regular spiritual life? What about making 3 reproducing disciples?

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