The Biblical Purpose Of Discipleship – last time we referenced the Great Commission.

^{Mt 28:18}Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

There is nothing quite like a command from our Savior that should put us into motion to follow and obey.  There was nothing confusing about Christ's instruction to his disciples just prior to Him ascending into Heaven. 

Jesus had prepared his team for exactly this mission – to go and make disciples.  We can search for a concise definition of "discipleship," and we did earlier in this series.  However, another great source of insight into discipleship is to observe and study deeply the approach that Christ took with his chosen men. 

A disciple in general terms is somebody who believes in and follows the teachings of a leader, a philosophy, or a religion.  In our context then, a disciple is someone who believes in and follows Jesus Christ.

Christian discipleship then is the process by which followers of Christ grow in the Lord Jesus, overcoming the pressures and challenges of this current life, becoming more like Christ.  Dallas Willard in The Great Omission defined it in terms of what it meant in Jesus' day –  "When Jesus walked among humankind there was a certain simplicity to being his disciple.  Primarily it meant to go with him, in an attitude of observation, study, obedience, and imitation."

As we mentioned last time, we sometimes think of Jesus' disciples as the first.  They were the first disciples of Christ, but this type of preparation of men was quite common in that day and before.  It was logical for Jesus to take this approach with his closest followers -his chosen twelve.  "This was the ancient method whereby rabbis trained their talmidim, or disciples.  Talmidim (tahl-mee-DEEM) were disciples or students who dedicated themselves to learning both from the rabbi's understanding of Scripture and his way of living it out."

Blessings and many thanks,

Larry