Why “Being and Building Disciples”?

by Ken Adams

I talk a whole lot about being a disciple and building disciples. It’s my life’s mission! And it’s the main mission of Impact Discipleship Ministries (to inspire people and churches to be and build disciples of Jesus Christ.) In fact, I talk so much about “being and building” that I thought it might be worth a few minutes of your time to explain why I believe it is such an important thing and something to be pursued. 

I believe Jesus wants every one of His disciples to be something before they ever do something. Jesus wants a disciple to be rightly related to God, to themselves, and to others. We know this to be true because Matthew 22:37-39 says, “And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”  

Jesus’ words illustrate why it’s so important for everyone to live in a right relationship with God, self, and others. When we are living in right relationships, we are being who God wants us to be. Living in right relationships leads to true fulfillment in life. Being a disciple, first and foremost, means living in right relationships.

As a person grows in being a disciple, a desire to build more disciples is a natural overflow. You will naturally desire others to experience the fulfillment of right relationships when you are living in right relationships yourself. Being a disciples leads to building more disciples. Jesus desires for us to build more disciples when we are being disciples. 

“Being a disciple leads to building more disciples.”

Jesus instructed His original disciples to build more disciples in Matthew 28:19-20:“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  

The steps for building more disciples are very clear. We need to go, baptize, and teach. We need to live in such a way that we are connecting with people who are not believers, helping them come to faith in Christ, go public with their faith through baptism, and then help connect them to a discipleship environment. That process works if we work it. 

Imagine what could happen if every believer focused on being a disciple and building more disciples? The world would be such a different place if it was filled with people that were seeking to live in right relationships and in turn helping others to do the same thing. 

This simple concept of being a disciple and building more disciples is exactly what Jesus came to do and what He desires for us to do. I truly believe that once believers understand why being a disciple and building more disciples is so important, they will be motivated to live out that lifestyle.

This post by Ken Adams first appeared here. Used with permission.

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