Making Disciples or Developing Leaders?
We have been bombarded with a lot of discipleship materials, Indian and Western, in forms of courses, bible studies and curriculums, meant to help us grow in the Lord, form daily disciplines of Bible reading, meditating, praying etc. These materials, to an extent, do help individuals to become followers of Christ and grow in their faith.
Misunderstanding the Scriptures
These materials are based on the philosophy of making individual disciples of Christ. And the philosophy is often based on The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18 – 20) and what Paul wrote in his second letter to Timothy ( 2 Timothy 2:2).
But we need to reconsider if these scriptures truly promote individual disciple-making or they point to a bigger and better tasks in larger contexts.
Understanding the Scriptures
Firstly, Matthew 28:18-20. It is often interpreted as evangelism and making individual disciples. But the Great Commission declared in Matthew unfolds itself throughout the Book of Acts, where we see that it’s not about increasing individual disciples but reaching to the ends of the world by planting and establishing churches.
Secondly, 2 Timothy 2:2 was largely written in a larger context of church leadership development than in the context of discipleship. Paul was not just looking at the trees, but at the larger forest so as not to lose sight of the bigger vision and mission given to the church. As Paul wrote to Timothy, he was predominantly thinking of developing church leaders, and not of increasing individual disciples.
As a matter of fact, Paul doesn’t ask Timothy to make individual disciples, but to equip and train the leaders who will train others to do the same. This is the strategy to fulfil the mission. It sounds as if Paul was saying, “take care of the leadership, and the discipleship will take care of itself.”
Paul knew that the only context in which effective disciples can be made is in the context of a local church – a community of Christ. Eventually, Paul wanted Timothy to create the context in which mature disciples will be made, and that would happen only by training leaders.
The Scriptures and Us
If we consider the Scriptures and Indian church history over the last few decades, we should realise that the real need is not just to make disciples but fundamentally to equip the leaders for the sake of the mission.
If we don’t take this need seriously, our churches will continue to be and promote individual Christianity, rather than promoting the church-planting movement – multiplying the churches.
The Next Step
Therefore, we need to change our understanding of the Great Commission and 2 Timothy 2:2 from making disciples to developing leaders.
We church leaders and ministers, need to turn our focus on developing leaders in our churches who will train others to do the same. Enlarge our vision from making disciples in a church for lifetime, to train leaders. We can find the strategy to do so in the Paul – Timothy model.
