I have been in ministry for over forty years and I have been the pastor of one local church for almost thirty-four years. Being in ministry that long means some things get really old, besides the pastor! Certain tasks get old. Some meetings get old. Complaints and criticisms get old. Certainly, you can understand why these types of things get old. They get old in any and every occupation.
One thing, however, that does not get old is watching multiplication happen. I will never get tired of seeing someone who has been discipled turn around and make more disciples. Watching a person become a believer and watching a disciple make a disciple are two of the most thrilling, exciting, and rewarding things in ministry.
One of the reasons I share this idea of multiplication never getting old is because I recently received a text message and picture from a pastor friend that used to be on our church staff. Several years ago, Rick, served as a member of our staff until he went to a foreign mission field for years and eventually returned to pastor a local church in a nearby state. Rick sent me a picture of his current Impact group that he meets with every week. Seeing Rick take what he learned at our church and now reproduce it at the church he now serves is so exciting. In fact, it never gets old!
Seeing my friend Rick and his Impact group brings lots of thoughts to my mind. Let me share a few with you.
First, every pastor needs to make time to make disciples! If I have heard it once, I’ve heard it a hundred times. “I just don’t have time to disciple anyone”! Wow, how on earth can we be too busy in ministry to do the very thing Jesus did in his ministry? I have discovered that you will never have time to make disciples, you must make time to make disciples.
Investing your life in a handful of disciples will not happen automatically. In fact, Satan will work overtime to keep you from making this investment a priority in your life. Don’t let that happen. Put the priority of making disciples in your life first and fill in the rest around that priority.
Second, don’t wait till everything is perfect to start making disciples! Sometimes I hear people make the excuse of needing everything to be perfect before they commit to starting a discipleship group. Like having children, if you wait till everything is perfect, you will probably never have them. At some point, you simply need to set a time, find some people, and start meeting. God will bless your effort and you will be surprised how he uses your effort even when it wasn’t exactly what you had in mind.
Third, if you win at all the wrong things, you still lose! If I preach amazing sermons, lead a well-run ministry, and care for people, but fail to accomplish the mission Jesus gave the church, I have not succeeded. The mission matters most. If we do not fulfill the mission of making disciples that make more disciples then we eventually lose the battle. Nothing is worse than winning at all the wrong things. I’m sure Jesus is saddened when we stay busy with the wrong things and I’m sure He is excited when we do what He did.
I’m betting the farm on the fact that seeing disciples make more disciples never gets old to Jesus! I’m very confident that Jesus would never “care less” about disciples making disciples. In fact, Jesus is so excited about disciples making disciples that he promised to be with those who do it until the end of the age.
At Impact DiscipleshipMinistries, we exist to inspire people and churches to be and build disciples of Jesus Christ. If we can help you with resources or training please contact us at impactdisciples.com.
This post originally appeared at: It Never Gets Old – Impact Discipleship Ministries