“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-19
When Jesus gave the Great Commission, it’s so interesting to me that He said, “Go and make DISCIPLES.” Salvation is a prerequisite to being a true disciple-maker. One huge proof of our salvation is how we love God by following, learning, obeying, and multiplying. Discipleship isn’t about gathering crowds or building programs. It’s about building people—strong, transformed, Christ-centered people who can teach others to do the same. But our own personal efforts at discipleship will never go anywhere if there hasn’t first been an inner transformation—a new birth through the Spirit of God.
Before anyone can be trained to live FOR Christ, they must first be made alive IN Christ.
Jesus told Nicodemus plainly, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) You can’t train a dead soldier. Spiritual discipleship works only when the folks being discipled are alive. Teaching the lost (dead in Christ) to act like Christians is moral reform; training the born again to live like Christ is discipleship.
Jesus’ final words on earth were a military order—a command to multiply soldiers of the cross. The Great Commission is the Church’s standing assignment: not simply to introduce people to Jesus, but to train them in obedience. In the same way, true discipleship in Christ isn’t about transferring Bible facts—it’s about transferring a way of life. It’s walking beside someone until the ways of Jesus become their ways. When Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19), He didn’t hand the disciples a manual and send them home. He invited them into His daily life. They walked with Him. They ate with Him. They watched Him pray, serve, love, and confront evil. They watched Him endure rejection and suffering. His classroom was daily life, and His curriculum was His life and His Word.
I like to think of discipleship as a combination of military training and parenting. Think of how a military training instructor leads recruits. They don’t hand them a manual and disappear—they live with them. They wake them up at dawn, run with them, eat with them, correct them, and push them to grow stronger every day. Ironically, many of my friends who have been Drill Sergeants have often referred to the recruits as “kids.” They make life-on-life investment in the new recruits. Recruits don’t just hear about discipline, courage, and endurance; they live it. They run side by side with their instructors, eat in the same mess halls and repeat the same drills until obedience and teamwork become instinctive.
That’s discipleship.
Jesus modeled this for us. He trained His disciples through experience. He didn’t shield them from hardship—He prepared them for it. He sent them out two by two (Mark 6:7), told them to depend on God’s provision, and even let them fail so He could teach them resilience and complete dependence upon God. A true disciple is not a spectator; they are in training for spiritual warfare.
Discipleship is also somewhat like parenting. Paul wrote, “We were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children… exhorting, and comforting, and charging every one of you, as a father does his own children.” (1 Thessalonians 2:7, 11) We do discipleship like we raise our children. Discipleship is not done effectively as mass-production. We make them disciples one life at a time, through relationship, consistency, blood, sweat, tears, and laughter.
Discipleship is coming alongside someone. It means teaching them how to pray, how to study God’s Word, how to share their testimony of salvation, how to tell their story, and how to become a disciple-maker. It’s walking together through the daily grind of temptation, failure, forgiveness, and victory. It’s meeting in living rooms, on porches, in coffee shops, or even during car rides—anywhere life happens. That’s how Jesus did it. He discipled in boats, on mountains, in homes, and along dusty roads.
But again—you can’t make a disciple of Christ out of someone who is not born again. Discipleship that isn’t built on salvation will crumble. Jesus warned of this in Matthew 7:22–23 when He said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name?…’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me.’” Discipleship is NOT an act of reformation; it IS inward transformation.
My friend, discipleship is not optional for us if we’re born again. It’s the natural result of spiritual growth after we are born again. But many folks are not making disciples because they, themselves, have not been discipled. A baby cannot teach another baby much about how to fight a battle. That’s why God’s Word instructs us:
“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2
We have God’s Word. We have the example of Jesus and the disciples. As one disciple trains another to become a disciple-maker, they turn around and do the same. The church that is built only on addition instead of multiplication will become a house for babies instead of a unit of warriors. We NEED to be on fire—to put Christ’s remarkable discipleship to work today! The eternity of those around us depends upon it.
Discipleship is not casual; it is full-immersion training. We teach others to pray through exhaustion, serve through opposition, and trust through uncertainty. Discipleship takes time, consistency, and sacrifice. It’s not a six-week program—it’s a lifelong investment. But if we want to see spiritual maturity in the Church, we must return to Jesus’ model: life-on-life training, walking daily beside those we lead, until they, too, can lead others.
If you’ve been walking with Christ for a while, ask Him this week: “Lord, who should I come alongside?” Maybe it’s a younger believer, a coworker, or even your own child. Teach them how to pray. Show them how to witness. Walk them through how to share their story of salvation.
The heart of a disciple-maker is not to just give people lessons; it’s to give themselves.
Reflection Challenge
Who are you intentionally discipling right now?
Prayer
Father, thank You for saving me. Let my life be a pattern others can imitate, and give me the courage to disciple not just with words, but with love, example, and time. May every moment of my life point others to Jesus, in whose name I serve. Amen.
