What do you consider the greatest challenge in your ministry? Whether you serve as a pastor, as part of a church staff or a lay leader, you probably have at least a mental list of the things you find most challenging.
 
At the top of the list for many is the challenge of making disciples. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...” (Matthew 28:19a, NKJ). Jesus said, “Go and make disciples” – not converts, not church members, not Sunday School attenders – but disciples. We can get people to attend a Bible study or to join a church, but are they on course to become a disciple of Jesus Christ?
 
Discipleship is more than attending events and acquiring head knowledge. It is learning to give Jesus Christ total control of every part of life. It is learning to listen to everything He is saying – first through the scriptures, and then through the circumstances of daily living. Discipleship demonstrates itself most clearly when every activity of life grows from a serious relationship with Christ – when truth is not just believed, but lived.
 
Jesus carefully selected 12 men to be His disciples. When He finished preparing them to face the world three years later, the disciples went out in such power that their world was never the same again. They were not perfect men. But they had been in boot camp with Jesus, and others could see the mark of Christ on their attitudes and their actions.
 
What kind of disciples are produced in your church? As others watch us navigate through a crisis, do they see the living Lord? Do our children see the difference Christ makes when we face a need? What difference does the presence of Jesus Christ make in our life?
 
Have you found an effective strategy to make disciples? I would like to hear from you. The Biblical Recorder wants to be your partner in the challenge of disciple making. Please email me: [email protected].

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