Gospel-Centered Discipleship

Good News Publishers

Contents

MAKING DISCIPLES: EVANGELISM OR DISCIPLESHIP?

I'll never forget my introduction to discipleship. I had been a Christian for fourteen years, and was returning from a semester of Bible school at Capernwray Hall in Carnforth, England. My return was not voluntary. I was kicked out. The reason I left was the reason I went — an inordinate desire for female affection.

Months prior to my departure from Capernwray, I had been through the most devastating experience of my life to date. A lust-ridden relationship with a girl I met at college came crashing down all around me. I was nineteen. Big deal, right? It gets bigger. I was a whirlwind of emotions, unable to separate love from lust. One night my girlfriend broke the news that her father had abused her growing up, and that she was going to have to return home due to her poor grades.

What should I do? I couldn't let her return to an abusive home. I took some time to pray and consider the best way to respond. In my mind, there was really only one appropriate conclusion — to marry my girlfriend, rescuing her from abuse. We eloped. Confident of my noble action, I couldn't wait to break the news to my parents. I just knew they would be proud of me. I will never forget my mother's shrill cry on the other end of the payphone when I called to tell her the good news. In between sobs, she told me that my girlfriend wasn't telling me everything. Within days the truth came out. My girlfriend had intentionally deceived me about the abuse in order to "keep me." Aware her failing grades would require a move home, separating her from me and therefore threatening the loss of our relationship, she decided to lie to me. She fabricated the story about her father's abusive behavior to get me to intervene. There was no abuse, but there was a marriage. What was I to do? Who was this person? How could true love deceive me and go along with our marriage under false pretense?

Confused, angry, and heartbroken, I returned home where I sought my parents' counsel and healing love. Within two weeks, we had agreed to terminate the "marriage." The court passed a rare annulment, but nothing could annul the pain. I felt as though someone had taken a shotgun to my heart, shattering my emotions into a thousand pieces. The road to recovery would take many twists.

As a Christian, I knew that God hated my sin, but I had no idea how much he loved me. I shipped off to Bible school in England to try to figure things out, where I struggled with questions like: Who is God in the mess of my life? What can I do with this gnawing pain of betrayal? What does God think of my shameful Christian failure? I prayed and cried a lot but eventually sought comfort in a lesser savior. Although my escape to England numbed the pain, I quickly ran into the arms of another lover. I started dating a girl, sneaking out with her at night to go to the local pub. Eventually, I was caught making out with her on the premises and was kicked out of Bible school the day before the semester was over. Did I mention that this was the place where my parents had met, twenty years earlier? I made another phone call to them, this time fully aware of my failure. I limped home in shame. To my parents' credit, they had taught and loved me well. This failure was all my own doing. I reentered college with a gaping emotional wound and a sincere desire to improve, to restore the reputation of Christ in my life, to get it right.

When I returned home from England, I found a best friend and got a discipler. My friend would hold me accountable and my discipler would help me mature. The three of us met regularly for Bible study. As a disciple, I was taught how to study the Bible, share my faith, and cultivate character. As I understood it, discipleship was about maturing as a Christian, which is why the notion that I, too, could or should make disciples was pretty foreign. But somewhere along the way, I was told that evangelism is also discipleship, and that all Christians are supposed to evangelize in order to "make disciples." Brushing aside the confusion between evangelism and discipleship, I went for it. I began to evangelize non-Christians and disciple Christians. My spirits lifted. I was on a better track, making things right. Along the way, I pondered how I could have sinned so much as a Christian. I tacitly concluded it was a lack of discipleship. Some might say the reason I struggled with sin so much as a Christian was because I only became a convert when I was six but finally became a disciple when I was twenty.

I've shared part of my story to illustrate the confusion over the meaning of discipleship and clarify its meaning along the way. Discipleship has become a catchall term that means different things for different people. When some people use the word, they think of a process for maturing Christians, perhaps what I experienced after returning from England (which I will come back to later). This kind of maturity might happen through a discipleship program or by meeting someone for coffee to discuss spiritual matters or to study the Bible. Others consider discipleship an evangelistic method. In this view, discipleship isn't about maturing Christians; it's about making Christians. Discipleship is sharing the gospel to win people to Christ. Evangelists make disciples. Entire organizations and churches are subtly divided by these two approaches to discipleship. Some organizations focus on maturing Christians, while others focus on making Christians. The former is about discipleship and the latter about evangelism. The evangelist proclaims the gospel to make converts, and the discipler teaches converts how to grow into disciples, hence the clarifying phrase, "evangelism and discipleship."

The problem, however, is that this phrase is not clarifying at all. The attempt to clarify discipleship by separating it from evangelism actually muddies the waters. The problem is twofold. First, both evangelists and the disciplers refer to their ministries as "disciple making." Should discipleship be understood as evangelizing non-Christians or the maturing of Christians? Second, and more importantly, the separation of evangelism from discipleship implies that "sharing the gospel" with non-Christians is an activity that is unnecessary with Christians. It intimates that the gospel doesn't need to be shared with disciples. This dichotomy surfaces a false view of the gospel, namely that the gospel has the power to save but not to sanctify. It assumes that the gospel functions like a space shuttle's external fuel tank, falling away after the shuttle has launched us into God's orbit. The gospel, however, is more like an internal engine, always propelling us into God's presence. The gospel is necessary for getting right and doing right with God, for salvation and sanctification.

What, then, is the truth about discipleship? In this chapter, I will try to clarify these two issues surrounding discipleship by establishing a definition for the word disciple. With a clear definition in place, we will proceed to show how the gospel integrates, not dichotomizes, evangelism and discipleship. As I will show throughout this book, understanding the role of the gospel in discipleship can make a huge difference in our lives. It certainly has in mine! Once a gospel-centered definition of discipleship is established, we will turn our attention to how the gospel actually makes disciples.

Defining Discipleship

The word disciple is used more frequently than Christian to refer to believers in the Bible. This repeated usage tells us that disciple is a fundamental category for Christians. We are disciples first and parents, employees, pastors, deacons, and spouses second. Disciple is an identity; everything else is a role. Our roles are temporary but our identity will last forever. Marvelous. If this is true, it is incredibly important to have a sound definition for the word disciple.

There are three aspects that comprise a disciple's identity. The first is rational. Popular descriptions of the word disciple are often taken from the definition of the Greek word, mathetes, which is rendered "student or pupil." Interestingly, the Greek philosopher Socrates eschewed mathetes as a term for designating his relationship with his followers. This was primarily due to its rational connotation among the Sophists. The Sophists reduced the meaning of disciple to an exchange of information between master and student. While mathetes certainly includes the rational meaning implied in the student-teacher relationship, the biblical definition of disciple cannot be determined by classical Greek usage alone. Rather, the whole of biblical theology, and Jesus's way of making disciples in particular, should shape our definition. Michael Wilkins offers this perspective in his foundational biblical theology of discipleship, Following the Master: A Biblical Theology of Discipleship. He notes that the meaning of "disciple" should not be restricted to a dictionary definition alone: "The type of relationship is not to be found within the inherent meaning in mathetes but within the dynamic created by the master and the kind of commitment to him" (emphasis added). What kind of dynamic existed between Jesus and his disciples? It certainly included a rational dynamic. Jesus appealed to the reason of his followers by instructing them through sermons, stories, and object lessons. He labored to teach them the gospel of the kingdom of God (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Mark 1:14–15).

However, like Socrates, Jesus did not view his disciples as mere students. He viewed them as family: "'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers!'" (Matt. 12:48–49). For Jesus, discipleship was rational and relational, the second aspect of being a disciple. His relationship with the disciples was based on truth and grace (John 1:14–17). He taught them the gospel and embodied its grace for them in everyday life. God humbled himself in Jesus to share everyday life with everyday people. He chose twelve disciples from various vocations ranging from fisherman to tax man and shared everything with them! Jesus shared his meals, his heart, his teachings, his sufferings, and his hopes for the future with these men, all while taking road trips, mountain hikes, and moving toward his urban martyrdom. Imagine how strong and intimate these relationships were after three years! The disciples had become family. Yet, Jesus's truth and grace was not restricted to his immediate family of disciples. It was meant to overflow. The family was intended to grow. We might say Jesus's discipleship relationships had a grace agenda.

The (Gospel) Commission

Jesus's grace agenda reveals a third aspect in the identity of a disciple — missional. A disciple is rational (learner), relational (family), and missional (missionary). All three aspects of discipleship are expressed in Jesus's so-called Great Commission in Matthew 28:18–20: "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.'"

Gospel Going

In this commission, Jesus reveals his agenda to make disciples, not just of the twelve but also of every ethnic group in the world. How would his audacious agenda be accomplished?

Jesus tells us that by going, baptizing, and teaching we can fulfill his commission. These three participles modify the main verb "make disciples." Going reflects the sent nature of a disciple. Disciples are sent to make more disciples: "Go therefore and make disciples...." (Matt. 28:19). The main point isn't to go (in your effort), but that we are sent (under Jesus's authority and in Jesus's power). Jesus is the ground of our going. When Jesus sends, he sends not merely to evangelize but in his power to make disciples. Under his authority, the so-called Great commission begins with Jesus, not our great effort, and ends with Jesus — "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20). The mission of making disciples starts and finishes with Jesus. As we will see, this is what truly makes the Great commission great — Jesus! Hence, it would be more accurate to refer to it as the Gospel commission.

Assuming a disciple is on mission, how are we supposed to make disciples? Should we start a discipleship program? What did Jesus expect his disciples to do? In his classic book, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman answers precisely this question: "His [Jesus's] concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow. ... Men were to be his method of winning the world to God." Men were his method. Men and women sharing the gospel with other men and women is how Jesus would spread his grace agenda. They did this, like their Master, by communicating a rationally coherent gospel. Jesus sent the twelve and the seventy on missions to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. We might say that they "evangelized" by announcing the arrival of God's rule and reign in Christ. They joined Jesus in calling people to repentance, and the number of disciples increased (Luke 6:17). The disciples made disciples by going with the gospel.

Gospel Baptizing

As the disciples went, they also baptized. Baptism reflects all three aspects of a disciple's identity, with particular emphasis on missional. First, baptism is a sign that we have learned the gospel. It signifies our identification with Christ in his death as we are lowered into his "watery grave," and identification with his life, where we are raised up into his resurrection life (Rom. 6:4). In baptism, we are meant to see that Jesus's death and resurrection becomes our death and resurrection. The life that emerges from the baptismal waters is a life that is dead to sin and alive to God. In this sense, baptism is not merely a ceremony but a symbol of the gospel. Second, we are baptized into two overlapping communities. The first is the divine community of the Trinity: "Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt: 28:19). The second community is the church: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body" (1 Cor. 12:13). Baptism results in our participation in a new, spiritual family — the family of the Trinity. Jesus is the entry point into the divine community and the head of our new community. When we learn Jesus, we are baptized into his family, both human and divine. Third, baptism is missional because it is the outcome of obedience to the Great Commission. If sent disciples don't share the gospel in the power and authority of Jesus, then people don't get to respond by repentance, faith, and baptism. If sent disciples do live out their identity, sharing Jesus, then people are baptized in vivid commemoration of their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. In a sense, baptism is the end of the Great Commission and, at the same time, it is its beginning. Baptism begins our participation in the wonderful gospel mission. Whenever someone is baptized, another disciple is sent in the power and authority of Jesus to join the mission of making disciples of all nations.

Once we become his disciples, our challenges don't disappear. Although Jesus's death and resurrection becomes our death and resurrection by faith, we often exchange our new life for the old life. We temporarily place our faith in something or someone other than Jesus. One of the great challenges of disciples is to walk out our new life of Christ, enjoying his victory over sin. God gives us the gift of repentance so that we can continually return to our new life in Christ and enjoy communion with him. The disciple who fights to believe the gospel and live out his or her baptism becomes a witness to the power of the gospel. The fight to be who we are in Christ is what this book is all about. I want to encourage you to be disciples who believe what God has said about you and what he has done for you in the gospel. To summarize, the first two directives of the Great Commission, going and baptizing, primarily reflect the relational and missional aspects of a disciple. They also reveal that when a rational gospel is truly believed, a relational and missional disciple is made. We make disciples by gospel going and gospel baptizing.