Converts or Disciples?

The Christian life is designed by God to reproduce other Christians who live whole heartedly for Christ. Granted, you don’t save anyone – Christ alone, by grace through faith, does this by His work on the Cross. It takes anywhere from five minutes to an hour for a Christian to tell someone about the Gospel and for them to begin a relationship with Christ. But that short time span will never make a disciple out of them. It takes on average anywhere from twenty weeks to a couple of years for that new Christian to get on a road to maturity in Christ. Finding victory over habitual sin and problems of years past cannot be solved in a one minute prayer to receive Christ. That’s where discipleship comes in. A new Christian must be shown how to live a life for Christ and not just pray a prayer to receive salvation, a prayer ironically that isn’t listed in Scripture.

Here’s something you may not have thought about when it comes to discipleship. The moment you begin discipling someone you just doubled your ministry. Now, you have someone else you are growing in Christ other than yourself. A new believer in Christ needs someone to guide, warn, and instruct them in reading the Bible and living it out. I would say that when you are actively discipling someone in Christ you more than double your ministry. You teach them how to do just what you are doing. The result is they also disciple someone and the cycle continues. How much more effective is a disciple than a convert? How much more effective is a child who has been raised by loving and caring parents than a baby who is left alone after birth?

It is not enough to just lead someone to the Lord – we must train them to walk with Him by our example and edification. An effective Christian is one so is fruitful and multiplies. Making disciples is the true litmus test of personal discipleship. If you don’t have any then you probably aren’t growing yourself. Before his name change and New Testament writings, Paul spent a year with Barnabas at the Church of Antioch (Acts 11:25). This year long discipleship was the catalyst that launched Paul’s ministry, causing him to do greater works than Barnabas.

All believers must see the Biblical mandate of making disciples. Matthew 28:18-20 tell us to make disciples and baptize people. The latter is easier (or rather takes less work) than the former. I believe the discipleship process happens as we take someone on one-on-one and do the next statement of the Great Commission – teach them to obey all I (Jesus) have commanded you. That takes a while. It can’t be summed up in the sinner’s prayer and “hope you can join us for church”. We must follow hard after Christ and chase harder after new believers if we desire to see them go beyond conversion to discipleship. The only reason they aren’t discipled to the level you expect them to be at is because you haven’t taken them there.

Question: who are you discipling? Who are you intentionally and consistently meeting with for the sheer purpose of growing in Christ? Who are you pouring over Scriptures with? Who are you warring in prayer with? This isn’t a meet-and-eat or an occasional “catch up session”. It is a strategic union of two believers who desperately desire a relationship with Jesus as His disciples and know it only comes through discipling one another. I praise God if you’ve gotten someone to say a prayer or walk an aisle to initiate a relationship with Christ. Keep that up! Just don’t leave it there. Where is that man or woman now and are you leading them closer to the Lord or have you abandoned them at rebirth? We are commanded to be fruitful and multiply. We should be reproducing. If you aren’t, then ask God why you are spiritually sterile.

We must ask God to empower us to win people to the Lord and disciple them. This is the essence of the true Gospel message. While our salvation doesn’t come by works nor is it kept by works, we should work hard to fully devote our lives to Christ and disciple others to do the same. One discipled believer has a greater impact on the world around them than twenty who simply make a superficial commitment to Jesus.

The Best 15 Minutes Of Your Day

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. – Psalm 5:3

Once, a woman complained to her friend about her son’s failure to write home from college. He was either too busy or unconcerned to write. The friend said, “I’ll show you how boys operate. I’ll get him to write home without even having to ask.” He wrote the boy a short letter stating how proud he was of him. He included $20 to spend anyway he liked but purposely forgot to include the money. In a matter of days, the friend received a letter thanking him for his concern. It also mentioned the money was missing.

All too often we communicate with those we say we love only for selfish reasons. The boy only wrote back to get the money, not to communicate out of love. He just wanted something out of the person, not the person. Talking to God only when you want something from Him is not a relationship. A lot of the times we seek God’s hand (what He can do for us) instead of his face (who He is). Psalm 27:8 says, “When you said, ‘Seek my face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’” Spending time with the Lord through studying His Scriptures and prayer is how we get to know Him.

Everyone’s day runs at a certain pace. At what pace is a typical day in your life like? Hectic? Out of control? Stable? Slow? The pace for your entire day is set during the first 15-20 minutes. Spending the first part of your day with the Lord is essential to setting the rest of your day up for success. We must invest the first moments of our day if we want a good return from it. Martin Luther was a man who valued quality time spent with the Lord. He said, “I am so busy now that if I did not spend two or three hours each day in prayer, I could not get through the day.” Many of us are overwhelmed by that amount of time spent on anything. Most are looking for 10-15 minutes extra, not 2-3 hours. Martin Luther knew the more pressure he was under, the more he needed to have time alone with God. Amount of time will come overtime. Ten minutes will grow into thirty before you know it but you have to start before it will grow. Nothing planted, nothing harvested.

Preparation is the key to success in anything. How you prepare for a test determines its result. How you prepare for a trip ensures its enjoyment. How you prepare for the day in front of you determines its outcome as well. When David prayed in Psalm 5:1-3, he fully expected God to act. We must spend time with God expecting Him to act. Giving Him the first part of your day expresses your faith in Him. We should not run to God like a kid with a Christmas list only. He is not a means to an end – He is the All-in-All! God does desire to know our dreams and passions, even our needs and wants, but He really just wants you. Jesus is waiting to talk to you and listen to you. He desires to spend time with you daily. What an amazing thought – we can have a daily appointment with the God of the universe.