I just read an article in ALife – one of the magazines I read on a regular basis. It was written anonymously since the author is working in a country which is closed to traditional missionaries. Be encouraged by these words:

“. . . no matter how much I strive to please my Heavenly Father, I don’t always get it right and often blow it. He loves me despite my failures, and has chosen to invite me into what He’s doing – despite my inadequacies. “

“The Father didn’t promise that following Him would be pain free; He simply asked for obedience. The ironic reward in setting aside my culture and language has been finding my place. Contrary to modern messages from my home culture, the journey of finding myself has absolutely nothing to do with looking inward, As I look upward, I realize that my identity has nothing to do with my location, my organization or my work – it has everything to do with my relationship with my Abba. “

How is your relationship with your Heavenly Father?

Romans 5:1-5:  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

“Is it a promise? Or a threat?”

That was the comment a fellow pastor shared after attending a seminar where Will Willimon asked the question following a reading of the Great Commission.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)

What exactly does Jesus intend for us to hear when he says, “I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age" (The Message)? When Jesus says he will be with us always, "day after day after day,” is that a promise or a threat?

Is it possible that we’ve mistakenly understood it only as a promise? Is that why materialism, sex, money, promotions, recreation, and personal fulfillment all rank higher in our priorities than disciple making?

Remember, to be a disciple is to be a learner; a life-long learner. The task is never finished in this life; the course cannot be completed; no certificate of achievement is awarded. Obviously, before we can make disciples we must be in the process of becoming disciples ourselves. Attending church doesn’t make a person a disciple any more than standing in a garage turns someone into a Volkswagen.

What does a disciple look like? Disciples are: Learners – both from teachers and from being self-feeders; Participants – fully engaged in the public worship of God; Givers – generously presenting resources to God in recognition that it already all belongs to Him; Outwardly focused – recognizing the people around us and around the world who have great physical and spiritual needs and putting on our boots, rolling up our sleeves and doing something about it.

How would our time and resource allocation change if we understand “lo, I am with you always” (NKJV), as Jesus holding us accountable, minute-by-minute, every hour, to making disciples by teaching them everything He taught?

Undoubtedly we would spend far less time in our efforts to maintain buildings, institutions, or traditions. If we could visualize Jesus demanding a daily account for how the breath he gave us was expended, we would most certainly give ourselves to prayer, studying God’s Word, and sharing the life-changing message with those who are far from God.

Jesus gave us a clear, uncomplicated, unmistakable command: “Go and make disciples.” He concluded the command with a statement, “I am with you always.”

Is that a promise? Or a threat?

The church should stop trying to make converts.

To convert something is to change US dollars to Canadian dollars – but its still money – or take liquid water and freeze it – but its still water. When we attempt to convert someone from Buddhism to Christianity all we’ve done is get them to change religion. 

Our preoccupation with making converts – getting people saved – has grown exponentially to become a serious blind spot. We have allowed the goal of conversion to distract us from real Kingdom work. We’ve become so concerned with getting people saved that we’ve actually forgotten the Great Commission. Jesus did not charge us with converting people; the Holy Spirit is responsible for conviction and regeneration.

Matthew 28:18-20 reads: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

We’ve been duped. We piously sit in our church buildings waiting for people who are far from God to come to a service to hear a “gospel” sermon complete with 11 verses of “Just as I Am” for an “invitation hymn” and maybe be converted. We think people are being discipled just because they show up on Sunday morning. We conduct 13 week courses on discipleship and give people certificates of completion: You have been discipled. We who have been duped go right on duping others.

Jesus told us to GO.  Maybe we need fewer church services so we can concentrate on spending time building relationships with people who are far from God. They have to know we are real right along with believing that the God who dwells in us is real.

Then, after we witness the miracle of people deciding to follow Jesus, it’s our responsibility to make disciples. Jesus commanded us to teach these disciples everything He has taught and is teaching us! In other words, discipling is a life-long task.

The basic definition of the word “disciple” is learner. It is our responsibility to learn, to be taught, and then, in turn, to teach others. No 13 week course can produce a disciple because a disciple is never done. To be a disciple is to be a life-long learner who is both being discipled and is discipling others.

We need to make sure our attention is focused on making disciples.

Preaching on Sunday morning does not produce disciples. It may be a piece in the process, but it’s just one of many pieces. Small groups by themselves are not enough. Working in the food pantry does not make someone a disciple. We need a holistic approach for disciple-making that embraces listening, teaching, self-feeding, serving, and group interaction. 

And we must not be afraid of measuring results. We have to learn to use surveys, profiles, group inter-action and personal, one-on-one interviews to determine if people really are moving forward and growing as disciples.

It’s a bit of exaggeration, but let’s adjust our focus: No more converts! Make disciples!