By: Pastor Zane Sporleder
"Go therefore and make disciples"
We read this final directive from Jesus at the end of Matthew. This command was given to a group of his closest disciples and I believe extends to each disciple that has come since, making this the overarching goal and mission of the church until Jesus returns.
"Making disciples" unfortunately has at times, become more of a tag line or a phrase indicating a specific ministry model than a well understood directive for the church. A misunderstanding of what Jesus was calling them and us to, can cause some of us to shy away from the term or the command all together, while causing others of us end up championing a model of ministry that could be missing the true intention and goal that we are called to.
What comes to your mind when you think about Jesus' command to make disciples? Is this something you think most Christians are doing? Are there people, groups or churches that you think do this well? Have you made a disciple? Are you a disciple? What even is a disciple anyways? Think through these questions for a minute. My hope is to help us think through these things in a way that stops to ask what Jesus means for us in this, while attempting to hold off on jumping directly to our personal experiences of the use of this phrase.
To start, we need to think through what a disciple is. The word disciple means a learner, a student, or a follower. In Jesus' day there were Rabbi's (meaning teachers), but they were more than teachers, they were the ultimate religious gurus. They would have groups of students or "disciples" who would follow them, watch and learn from them. Jesus as God himself was and is the greatest teacher of all time. Though He was untrained in the ways of a traditional Rabbi, He took up the cultural practice and set himself up as a Rabbi much like the others in His day. As Jesus' public ministry began He gathered 12 disciples to himself who left behind their former lives to be utterly devoted to him and his teachings. To be Jesus' disciple meant forsaking all to follow Him.
So what does this mean for the imperative given, to "make disciples"? It means Jesus wants his devoted followers to go out and make more devoted followers...but of who? Often times we can mistakenly take this as a call to mirror his ministry model and gather a group of disciples to ourself. It's not uncommon for a Christian to say they are a disciple of this or that teacher, or to tell about how we are discipling some younger person in the faith. I've used this language, probably even recently, but I wonder if a misunderstanding of what specifically we're being called to in the Great Commission can have the unfortunate side effect of us seeking to make devoted followers.....of ourselves, and spending too much time looking for a spiritual guru to look up to rather than giving our whole selves to becoming devoted followers of Jesus. The apostle Paul had to correct the church in Corinth when they fell into this very problem, highlighting specific teachers in whom they follow.
It has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? - 1 Corinthians 1: 11-13
We see here that Paul is greatly concerned that the church does not continue the tradition of picking a rabbi to be devoted to. We will all have teachers in whom we trust and greatly help us grow in our faith, but there is only one in whom we are to be fully devoted. We are to be disciples of Jesus and to make disciples.....OF JESUS.
I'm coming to believe that Jesus starting his public ministry as a Rabbi was more about stepping into a cultural norm and fulfilling it as the one true Rabbi who is worthy of that kind of devotion, and not setting up a specific model for us to imitate. In Matthew 23 He even went as far as specifically telling his disciples to not be called Rabbi, Father, and Instructor, because we have but one Teacher, Father, and Instructor. That being the Christ.
When the early disciples were sent out, they did not copy Jesus' model of ministry by becoming Rabbis. It's also worth noting that Jesus' call to make disciples was given to 11 of them together, it was not a solo task. Jesus sent out his followers to make more devoted followers, by starting churches. The command was given to a community of Jesus followers and was obeyed by building communities devoted to Jesus and not the leaders of that community. This is the goal of discipleship.
This might be a good time to say that this does not excuse each disciple of Jesus from cultivating relationships and opening their heart and lives to those whom would benefit from imitating them as they imitate Christ. On the contrary, I believe we are obligated to do so. I'm simply trying to point out that trying to model Jesus' ministry by looking for another person to be your Rabbi and trying to be a Rabbi type figure to someone else, is misunderstanding Jesus' command and might even be idolatry. Jesus is our only Rabbi and the one to whom we point all people. The Church will always have leaders, teachers, mentors, and spiritual parents in the faith, in which we are to learn from and thank God for. However, when Jesus' disciples went out to make disciples they were careful to not set themselves up as The Teacher to be devoted to. It's interesting to note that the word "disciple" was not carried over in the Scriptures beyond the book of Acts. The Apostles were disciples given the charge to make disciples, and yet they seemingly dropped the term. I can only speculate as to why that might be, but I think we would do well to pay attention to the focus of the Apostles' ministry and teachings as we seek to carry on the mantle first given to them, to make disciples of Jesus.
Finally, when examining the call to make disciples and what is meant by Jesus' command. It's important to look at the term in context of the whole Great Commission as given by Jesus. In which we will see clearly what Jesus intended for us in walking out this task.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.” - Matthew 28:18-20
As you can see, making disciples is all about Jesus. His disciples are called to make other followers of Jesus, baptizing and teaching those followers in the authority, name, and ways of Jesus. A disciple that is truly making disciples is one who is spending their lives pointing others to Jesus, our great Rabbi.