What is Biblical Discipleship?

By Coty Pinckney
April 10, 2011

Consider the last few verses of Matthew’s Gospel – what we frequently label “the Great Commission”:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The primary command in these verses is to “make disciples of all nations” or (perhaps better) to “disciple all nations.” Whatever Jesus means by this command, it includes preaching the Gospel so that unbelievers of all nations come to faith and are baptized, and it includes instruction in biblical life and doctrine.

Question: Where do we see such discipling taking place in the New Testament? In several places:

• There is a good reason why Jesus’ followers are called disciples! He teaches them how to understand their Scriptures; He brings them to the end of their own resources so they must acknowledge their need for a Savior; He shows them by example how to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and how to love their neighbor.

• Paul’s relationship with Timothy is similar. Consider these verses from 2 Timothy 3, written near the end of Paul’s life:

You, however, know all about my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--
which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a  godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Paul (as well as Timothy’s mother and grandmother) have taught him the Scriptures, and he has thus been reproved, corrected, and trained by them.  Furthermore, he has seen the Scriptures lived out in Paul’s life through patient endurance, through persistent faith in the face of suffering – even being left for dead after being stoned in Timothy’s hometown. So Timothy now is thoroughly equipped – that is, he is discipled, equipped for every good work. So Paul continues in the epistle, solemnly charging his son in the faith to preach that same Word, “with great patience teaching all doctrine” (paraphrase of 2 Timothy 4:2b).

And the New Testament examples do not end with these two! Indeed, every epistle is an example of this discipling process, as Peter, Paul, James, John, Jude, and the author of Hebrews flesh out what the Old Testament Scriptures and Jesus Himself imply about God and man, about sin and forgiveness, about marriage and family, about work and possessions. Every New Testament author is engaged in the discipling process as he writes.

But look back again at Matthew 28:18-20. Does Jesus tell His followers to “teach them all that I have commanded you”? No. He tells His followers to “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Jesus is concerned not only with passing on a body of teaching, but also with joyous, heartfelt obedience to that teaching. And He means hear not only, “Tell them that they must obey” but “Show them how to obey; display for them what obedience looks like.” This is what Jesus had done for them; this is what Paul does
for Timothy.

So: We have seen that fulfilling Matthew 28:18-20 requires at least three foci:
1) A strategy for reaching all nations, all people groups;
2) A strategy for teaching the “what”: Biblical doctrine;
3) A strategy for showing the “how”: Examples of biblical life well-lived.
4) A strategy for sharing ministry and life, so the person being discipled receives feedback and is thoroughly equipped for his or her role in reaching all nations.

This broad, biblical view helps to clarify several common misconceptions about discipleship, such as:
1) “Discipleship takes place when two people read a book together and discuss it.”
2) “Discipleship means meeting regularly with someone who will help me with my problems.”
3) “Discipleship means committing to meet together indefinitely with a group of people who will help each other battle sin.”

Biblical discipleship may – but need not – include meeting together one on one or in small groups. It will necessarily include instruction in doctrine and Christian living, but that can take multiple forms. It will certainly include dealing with sin in our lives.

But there is a key, underlying error that is common to all three of these misconceptions: Discipleship is not about YOU! Jesus commands us to disciple all nations not in order for each us to get our act together. Jesus commands us to disciple all nations so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. He commands us to make disciples so that those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation will sing, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
(Revelation 7:10).

What then does it mean to be discipled? Consider this definition:
Learning what the Scriptures command,
how to live them out,
and getting feedback as you live out these commands in community,
so that together we might build up the Church among all peoples to His glory.

With this understanding we are faced with key questions:
• How do we structure our local church so that biblical discipleship occurs?
• How do we ensure that each member of our local church is growing as disciple?
• How do we ensure that every member except the newest believer is helping others to grow as disciples?
• How do we ensure that the teaching ministries of the church accomplish the goals of biblical discipleship?

Different churches will answer these questions differently – there are several possible structures within which biblical discipleship can take place. But we must begin by aiming at right goal if we are to have any chance of achieving it.

Will you pray that your church might fulfill this biblical calling? Will you commit yourself to living out these mandates? Will you step out in faith – so that we might make disciples of all nations?

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Coty Pinckney is Pastor of Desiring God Community Church, www.desiringGodchurch.org, part of Metrolina Baptist Association.

Solo Discipleship

People who claim to be followers of Jesus pack our churches. But they're not connected in community; they try to fly solo.  The great John Donne's famous utterance "No man is an island" has been secularized as a noble sentiment for membership in the world community. But as dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Donne was speaking of the disciple's need for community.


Solo discipleship occurs in a program. If I try to fly solo, I'll engage only in activities or spiritual exercises that I have time for, or that seem attractive to me. In other words, I'll maintain control of Jesus' agenda for me and I'll keep my distance from anyone who might threaten my autonomy.


-Bill Hull in The Complete Book of Discipleship

A Radical Yet Realistic Summons

What will our churches and ministries be like if we live out the message that the expectations of discipleship found in the Gospels are expectations for all Christians, not just for a few committed ones?


Jesus wants a church full of disciples who dare to go out into the world to make a difference and to live life the way it was intended to be lived. Yet, as the old hymn goes, "God never gives a call without the enabling."  As He calls us to discipleship He is right there to lead the way.


- Michael Wilkins, in Following the Master: A Biblical Call to Discipleship, pp. 46-47.

True Discipleship

Sometimes our discipleship programs thwart true discipleship...We can become so involved with our programs that we isolate ourselves from real life. Jesus called His disciples to Him so that He could teach them how to walk with Him in the real world. That is true discipleship. - Bill Hull

Discipleship Best Practices

by Tom Cocklereece

Even with all of the recent focus on discipleship, many churches remain paralyzed in their 20^th century silo-style of discipleship delivery which has proven ineffective at transforming lives and making disciples. In fact, silo-delivery of discipleship reinforces behavioral compartmentalization defined as “a state in which some integrated part of a person’s life becomes separated from the rest of the personality and functions independently.” You know this concept: people hear teachings of Christianity in a Bible study or sermon and then fail to integrate the principles into their lives since, as they see it, they have their church life and their other life. A ubiquitous (all inclusive-everywhere present) discipleship delivery system provided in a process manner is much more effective.

13 WAYS TO MAKE DISCIPLES

There are eleven delivery methods of a ubiquitous discipleship process which include but are not limited to:

1. Passive Discipleship: the least effective method but essential to support other methods
2. Private Discipleship: the Christian and the Holy Spirit (most effective but under used)
3. Presence Discipleship: In times of crisis the disciple invests time, assistance, and prayer.
4. Participation or Proximity Discipleship: applies to all areas but most of all to giving
5. Projected Discipleship: Actively but humbly projecting a Christian example of living Christ’s teachings.
6. Platform or Presentation Discipleship: preaching in church and lecture-style Bible study
7. Program Discipleship: Pre-packaged materials delivered in large or small groups.
8. Personal Discipleship: One-on-one discipleship (very effective but seldom used)
9. Peer Group Discipleship: Bible study and Sunday School
10. Practical Discipleship: Hands on service, evangelism, and missional projects
11. Proficiency Discipleship: Leadership Development
12. Proclamation Discipleship: Evangelism and preaching to unchurched
13. Process Discipleship: All of the above delivered in a systematic way

If your church is only using three or four of the delivery methods through the course of a year, your church is not effectively making disciples. At issue is whether the church leadership is intentionally employing each of these discipleship delivery methods in a process manner continuously. It is even better if the leadership is measuring the effectiveness of the process on a regular basis.

For more on this article, and for articles on each of these discipleship methods, visit http://drthomreece.wordpress.com

Note:

We are working at Metrolina Association to encourage and equip our churches to practice discipleship and disciple-making in ways that will help us fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).  Stay tuned for ways we can work together to see this happen here in our mission field.

What did Jesus tell us to do?

Discipleship isn’t a program or an event; it’s a way of life.

It’s not for a limited time, but for our whole life.

Discipleship isn’t for beginners alone;

it’s for all believers for every day of their life.

Discipleship isn’t just one of the things the church does;

it is what the church does.

-Bill Hull