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This week, we’re in Practice #8: Go Make Disciples. We will look at four ways the New Testament describes discipleship, or the process of making more followers of Jesus. These descriptors include the words mutual, didactic, edifying, and holistic.

Today, let’s consider that discipleship is holistic, meaning that its aim is both internal change (thinking rightly about God) and external change (behaving rightly according to God). Let’s read from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NET):

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.

In this passage, Moses tells the fledgling nation of Israel that they are to be different than the people around them. Unlike those who worship capricious and unreliable gods, they are worshippers of the One True God, Yahweh. And His demand is not empty ritual or partial acknowledgement; He wants single-hearted and single-minded devotion. He wants them to love Him with everything they have because that is how He loves them!

This commandment is repeated in Matthew 22:36-40, where Jesus tells His followers that their primary goal in life is in loving God with everything they have. Discipling others begins and ends with this question: How can I help you to be wholeheartedly devoted to God?

Let’s close with some reflection questions:

• What does it mean to love God with my whole mind, my whole being, and all my strength?
• This love for God works itself out both internally (thoughts) and externally (behavior). Do my internal and external selves align?
• As I help others follow Jesus, how can I remind them that it’s not about “doing the right things” but about loving God with all they have?
• What would it look like if I asked another person in my sphere of influence, “How can I help you to be wholeheartedly devoted to God?”

This week, we’re in Practice #8: Go Make Disciples. We will look at four ways the New Testament describes discipleship, or the process of making more followers of Jesus. These descriptors include the words mutual, didactic, edifying, and holistic.

Today, let’s consider that discipleship is edifying, meaning that it builds others up toward maturity and strength. Let’s read from Hebrews 10:19-25 and Ephesians 4:7, 11-16 (NET):

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift...And he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body builds itself up in love.

The New Testament includes several metaphors about the church but one of the most prominent is that of a body. This body is made up of many diverse parts and headed up by Jesus Himself. God’s goal for us is not simply that we would be one body. Rather, He desires a mature body - one that is strong, equipped, healthy, full of knowledge, and full of love. This is a body that shows the surrounding world that Jesus is alive and powerful. As we help others become followers of Jesus, we are helping to edify this body. What a calling! This means that our goal is not just individual growth but corporate growth. As each of us strengthens themselves and others in their sphere of influence, we all become strong. 

Let’s close with some reflection questions:

• Who are the people who have built me up in the faith? Say a prayer of thanksgiving for them and maybe reach out to say “thanks!”
• In my relationships with other Christians, am I helping them to become more complete and mature? How can I be intentional to do so?
• Hebrews exhorts us to meet together so that we can “spur one another on to love and good works.” Who has spurred me on recently? What did they say or do?
• What are some marks of maturity in my spiritual life? Where do I see God at work making me more like Jesus?

This week, we’re in Practice #8: Go Make Disciples. We will look at four ways the New Testament describes discipleship, or the process of making more followers of Jesus. These descriptors include the words mutual, didactic, edifying, and holistic.

Today, let’s consider that discipleship is didactic, meaning that it is primarily an exercise of teaching and learning. First, let’s read from Col 3:16-17 (NET):

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The Word of God includes 66 different books composed under the direction of the Holy Spirit and written by around 35 authors. It includes stories, wisdom, proverbs, songs, theology, prophecy, and more. It tells one grand Story about a God who is rescuing His creation through His Son Jesus. Jesus has already come but He is coming again to usher in a new creation.

This Word of God is alive and active - it changes us when we submit to learning it and internalizing it. Colossians 3 exhorts us to let Scripture “dwell in [us] richly.” This is not mere learning. Instead, when disciples of Jesus receive knowledge about God, they let it burrow down deep into their soul. They allow it to change them. Only then are they able to pass it on, to teach and exhort others “with all wisdom.” 

Let’s close with some reflection questions:

• Would I say that God’s Word “dwells in [me],” such that its teaching has become part of who I am?
• How has learning about God - who He is and what He has done - fueled my ability and desire to follow Jesus?
• Discipleship includes the receiving and the giving of teaching about Jesus. What teaching have I received from others? What teaching have I given?
• How can I be a catalyst for my community to be a place where people teach and exhort one another as they worship God (Col 3:16-17)?

This week, we’re in Practice #8: Go Make Disciples. We will look at four ways the New Testament describes discipleship, or the process of making more followers of Jesus. These descriptors include the words mutual, didactic, edifying, and holistic.

Today, let’s consider that discipleship is mutual, meaning that as I disciple you, you disciple me. In the Kingdom of God, there is no hierarchy. We are all children of God - equal daughters and sons who have been gifted the same Holy Spirit and called to the same calling of holiness. Though we may hold different roles in society and the institution of the church, we are equal in our relationship with Jesus, the One whom we follow.

In 1 Peter 2:9, we learn that the Jesus followers who make up the church are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” What Peter is doing is applying Old Testament covenantal language that was used to describe the nation of Israel to the newly formed entity known as “the church.” This is mind-boggling! Though the church is made up of Jews and Gentiles, men and women, people of different ethnicities and socio-economic levels and backgrounds, they are now a united group because of their faith in Jesus.

When Peter refers to them as a “royal priesthood,” he is referring to the role of mediation that was once held by the nation of Israel. As priests, Israel could mediate (or, stand in the middle) to help the people of the world come to know the one true God, Yahweh. In the New Covenant, every believer in Jesus now is a priest who has the honor of helping others connect with God. Simply put, we mediate for one another with God, helping to sharpen and grow each other in Christlikeness until we are with Jesus in eternity. 

The language of mutuality permeates the New Testament. Here are a few examples:

Rom. 14:19 (NET)

So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another.

1Cor. 12:25 (NET)

So that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.

Gal. 5:13 (NET)

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another.

Because the Kingdom of God is an upside-down Kingdom, discipling another person is not an act of taking authority over them but an act of humble service. And it’s a service that prompts them to do the same, so that discipleship becomes a mutually beneficial experience. We are fellow priests who help prepare one another as we look toward Glory.

Let’s close with some reflection questions:

• What does it mean that we, as a church, are a royal priesthood? How does this play out in mentoring and discipling relationships?
• When I reflect on people who have helped me follow Jesus more closely, did I see mutuality in our relationship?
• When I consider discipling another person, do I have an attitude of authority or of humility? How does knowing that discipleship is mutual help me to re-orient my expectations?