Introduction to Making Disciples

"Follow me."

With those two simple words, Jesus invited a number of people to have their worlds turned inside out, upside down, and forever changed. He is still making that invitation to us today.

In fact, Jesus' final words to his followers before ascending to heaven was to "Go into all the world, and make disciples..." (Matthew 28). The word disciple means a follower, a learner, a student, an apprentice.

In instructing them to make disciples, Jesus was inviting them to bring more followers to Himself. It is through his followers that Jesus continues to say, "follow me" to others. But why was it important to Him that others follow?

Following Jesus implies that there is a relationship with Him. As we learned in the Becoming Disciples course, God is a relational being, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore, it shouldn't be surprising that He invites us into a relationship with Himself. After all, God created us for relationship with Himself. Restoring our broken relationship was the chief reason that Jesus came. So it's not shocking that the chief way that we come to know Him is through something that is relational.

Following Jesus means to be close to Him.

To listen.

To talk.

To look at Him.

This is why in 1 John 1:1-3, one of Jesus's followers named John wrote, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."

That entire passage is about being in Jesus' inner circle; being a part of his posse. Gazing across the campfire, John must have thought at times, that man is God...and I'm sitting here with him. And...God has food caught in His beard! John didn't have a bucket to put that in.

But John wanted us to join him in that mystery: "we invite you to have fellowship with us...and truly our fellowship is with Him."

John is inviting us into the inner circle with Him, which is a way of telling us that we can know Jesus as well as he did. That's because there's nothing separating us from God anymore. The biggest thing that separates us from that kind of intimacy is our own doubts. That's why it matters that we ourselves draw near to Jesus as we seek to draw others to Him. You can only draw people into the inner circle that you inhabit with Jesus.

Being in the inner-circle relationship with Jesus means that we start to love what he loves...and he loves others outside of the circle. In fact, John says that it's impossible to love God in a vacuum without loving others. You can't do one without the other.

Here are some places John says this:

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. (1 John 2:9-11)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18)

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-12)

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:19-21)

Think of being in Jesus' inner-circle relationship again. Now draw another circle to represent relationships with others. Discipleship is where these two circles cross over. This is why John says you can't do one without the other.

We love Jesus which gives us a love for others.

We love others with the love that Jesus loved us with.

Discipleship is that middle ground where the two circles cross over; the perfect middle ground where we love Jesus, and others at the same time.