Matthew ends his gospel with these words of Jesus Christ: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you...."(Matthew 28:19-20).
If the whole world were convinced and converted to the claims of Jesus Christ, baptized and added to the numbers of local churches and stopped at this point, the commission of Christ would go unfulfilled. How could this be?
The command is to teach those disciples everything that Christ commanded. This is done through a ministry of discipleship.
The proclamation of the gospel of Christ is only the beginning of a church's ministry. Our goal is to produce fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ who are like their Master bringing glory to Him and His cause. Failing to complete the task before us leaves believers in a state of infancy and retarded development. Undoubtedly, the reason why so many churches are weak, apathetic and complacent is the failure to establish an effective discipleship ministry (i.e., to teach, to train, and to develop leadership within the church).
It is God's will for the church to devote a significant part of its energy to the making of genuine disciples of Jesus Christ-truly devoted followers of our Savior.
What is a disciple? A disciple is a learner. It speaks of a teacher-student relationship. The student listens, imitates, and obeys his teacher. In fact, he actually helps spread the leader's teachings.
No person can be considered a true disciple who only intellectually agrees with some of the teacher's ideas but fails to practice them!
True discipleship is outlined in Luke 9:23, "...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." This biblical commitment to discipleship involves at least the following five actions:
1.
Desire
[If any man]
2.
Decision
[will come after me]
3.
Denial
[let him deny himself]
4.
Dedication
[take up his cross daily]
5.
Determination
[and follow me]
When people express saving faith in Christ they should be invited and directed to the path of discipleship.
I
deally the church should be made up of a body of disciples, learners, devoted to spread the teachings of their Master-Teacher, not a warehouse of listeners, spectators or attenders. Our purpose is to encourage believers to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, worshiping, walking, working, and witnessing on His behalf.
Discipleship