Dear Discipleship-first Friends,
After spending several years focusing on teaching people who are already Christians to be disciples of Jesus, I am changing my approach to focus on reaching unbelievers. That is not to say that I will refuse to disciple believers, but that I will put the majority of my effort into teaching unbelievers to be disciples of Jesus. Another way of saying this is, discipling lost people to salvation, and then discipling those saved people to maturity.
There are several reasons for this change and why I believe you might want to consider making the same shift:
- The Great Commission was originally to “make disciples” out of unbelievers. When Jesus gave the Great Commission, the only people to make disciples out of were unbelievers. No where in Scripture are we instructed to make people into Christians first and then make disciples out of them. It is an unusual situation that we find ourselves in here in North America; we have made Christians without making disciples. We need to make it the norm that we are making disciples of Jesus from the start; that we are inviting unbelievers to follow Jesus as His disciple first and foremost. The article in the link below will help to explain why it is imperative that we make disciples instead of just making Christians: Preach and Normalize Being a Disciple of Jesus – Discipleship.org.
- Too many existing Christians are resistant to becoming disciples of Jesus. This hurts my heart, but it is too often true. Unfortunately, the message that has been spread in North America is that one can just be a Christian without being a disciple of Jesus. As a result, some believers can be argumentative and defensive when confronted with the reality that they should be disciples of Jesus. After years of trying, I believe I will have more success by making disciples out of unbelievers than I will have by making disciples out of existing Christians. When speaking with an unbeliever recently and explaining what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus, he stated that if he was going to be a believer, it made more sense to be a disciple than it did to just be a Christian. And that’s my point… being a disciple of Jesus often makes more sense to unbelievers than it does to believers.
- We are at a tipping point, and we need to seize the moment. “Starting a church” no longer means what it once meant. You don’t need a brick building, pews, an organ, or many of the things that were once associated with having “church.” You no longer need to wear a suit and tie or have a pulpit. We are at a tipping point of how society understands “church” and we should take advantage of this moment. Rather than beginning with believers who have expectations of what “church” will be like, I’m suggesting it might be more efficient to begin with unbelievers who don’t have expectations of what a church service or discipleship will look like. We have the opportunity for a fresh start, and it might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
- Discipling lost people to salvation and then to maturity might get the attention of some of the people who are already saved. Paul wrote in Romans chapter 11:13-14, “I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.” Seeing lost people becoming disciples and then growing into maturity in the image of Jesus might wake a few Christians up to the necessity of being a disciple of Jesus. Perhaps they just need a demonstration more than an explanation.
I want to be clear–by no means is it “wrong” to invest your time and energy into convincing those who are already Christians that they should be disciples of Jesus. Moreover, if you feel called by God to focus on existing Christians, then by all means do so. My point is that we are at a unique point in the culture. Unbelievers are open to hearing about Jesus and what it means to be His disciple, and they realize that it doesn’t have to be in a traditional church setting. If you are looking for a different approach, consider focusing on having discussions with unbelievers about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and how you will disciple them to keep all that He commanded once they make a decision to follow Him.
Disciple lost people to salvation and then disciple those saved people to maturity.
For King Jesus,
Curt Erskine for Discipleship.org