It just takes training
Every follower of Christ can make disciples. It’s simple, but not easy. It just takes training.
It’s not something a select few “highly trained Christian specialists” do. This is the task given to the Church, made up of ordinary followers of Jesus.
My sister had just begun to do more running when she mentioned that she wanted to do a marathon.
I ran cross-country one year in high school and considered that my least favorite sport from that time forward. Since then I had consistently gone for a run one or two times per year, usually in January.
So, I’m not sure what compelled me to do this, but for Christmas I paid for our marathon entry and committed to run one with her.
I was assured that I could do it, “it just takes training.”
I bought a book written for first-time marathon runners and was introduced to a whole new world.
Quickly, I realized that everything in training is important and everything has a purpose.
In order for your body to run long distances, you need to add calories in the middle of your run.
So they (I don’t know who “they” are) designed this stuff called “GU,” which tastes as good as it sounds. It’s like flavored snot with essential calories.
Then I got some special lightweight running clothes.
I’ve been rocking an extra 35 lbs ever since college (probably because of my unique take on the “Whole30” diet) so that looked unflattering to say the least.
After purchasing special running socks (no cotton allowed), I subscribed to a running magazine, so I could learn how to act like a runner.
I learned about long runs, intervals, recovery runs, and cross training. I learned that if you missed an important run, you would pay for it later. And I learned that the more I trained the further I could go.
The day of the race they fired the gun and 26.2 miles later I finished. No course records for me, but I finished. I ran farther than I’d ever run before (or after).
It took months of intentional training and investment to pull off what I used to think was a superhuman feat. And I did it with 20,000 of my closest friends.
The truth is, almost any person can run a marathon. It just takes training.
One characteristic of the disciples was that they were “ordinary.”
I remember hearing a mentor of mine, Max Barnett, say, “If you feel inadequate for the task of making disciples, it’s because you are – but Jesus makes you adequate.”
As ordinary as the disciples appeared, the trait that set them apart was that they had “been with Jesus.”
When Christ commissioned the disciples, he told them to go and make disciples. They would do this by baptizing and teaching them to obey everything He commanded.
So when Peter met Luke and began to train him as a disciple, one of the commands that Luke needed to learn to obey would be to make disciples.
Then when Luke started to help Theophilus grow in his faith, one of the commands that Theophilus needed to learn to obey was to make disciples.
See, this mandate becomes a cyclical command and we can safely assume this joyful responsibility is passed on to us now.
We are to obey his command to go and make disciples and teach others to obey that command as well.
If you’re a follower of Christ, that’s your job. And like any job, it just takes training.
Reflection Questions
Why are many believers afraid to engage in making disciples?
What kind of training is needed to make disciples?
How can you help others make disciples this semester?