THE RIGHT CONTEXT OF DISCIPLESHIP
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21.”
Jesus came with the mission to save the lost; he came to save sinners and he accomplished it. Then before leaving the earth, Jesus gave his disciples the mission of making disciples of all nations.
Resourceless Discipleship
This Great Commission unfolds throughout the book of Acts. The disciples proclaimed the gospel and established communities of disciples wherever they went successfully.
It’s unique how these disciples were made in the early church. There was no online content available, no conferences, no open air meetings, no literature, nothing of that sort – not even the full Bible that we have today. And yet disciples were made remarkably, and the mission was being fulfilled prodigiously.
Discipleship With No Context
Today we have many conferences, meetings, and discipleship material, not to mention Sunday preaching, Bible studies, and fasting-prayers. Besides, a lot of content like blogs, preaching and teaching videos, and podcasts, is just a click away. These resources may not be bad or unhelpful in themselves.
But the fact of the matter is that we miss the context for discipleship in which these resources can become a huge tower of strength.
Preaching and Bible studies are required in the life of the church, but they don’t necessarily create the environment or context for doing discipleship. This is true of other resources, both online and offline.
Biblical Context for Discipleship
So, what is the context in which disciples are supposed to be made?
A gospel-centered community of disciples must be the context for discipleship.
In the article “Local Church – The Spiritual Incubator for Our Families” I mentioned that the local community of disciples works like an incubator for our families to grow in the faith. Likewise, to make disciples too, the local church is the context in which disciples can truly be made. In other words, the local church community is the context for disciple-making (Eph 4:15-16).
We can wisely make use of the resources that are available out there, but we can neither become mature disciples nor make genuine disciples in isolation, or apart from the community life of a local church.
Resourceful Context for Discipleship Today
During these difficult times of the Covid-19 pandemic, community life may look quite different. We may not easily be able to meet physically. Thank God for the Internet – what a blessing it has been during the pandemic. We can use it and do our best to connect with our church family and create a context for discipleship.
Phone calls, video calls, and sharing helpful resources foster disciple making. Meaningful conversations can be held online (be it in a group or one-on-one) about parenting, education, personal struggles in the faith, relationships, or ministry.
We can share our struggles, solutions, and joys; more importantly, we can pray for one another. Using resources to promote biblical discipleship among local church body members can help one another thrive – which is God’s plan for His people.
