Go and make disciples

“Go and make disciples” was the charge Jesus gave His disciples just before he ascended into Heaven. That is the charge for us as well. We as Christians are called to go and make disciples.

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says “go” make disciples, not come and learn discipleship.

In Mark chapter one we see a day in the life of Jesus. Here we see Jesus preached in the synagogue, he goes and heals Peter’s mother-in-law, that evening he serves the community by healing the people that came to him. The next morning he got up early to pray and then the next day Jesus left to go make more disciples. Jesus lived his life all around the idea of making disciples. Notice he always had someone with him.  

Making disciples does not happen in the church building, it happens as you go living your life. We gather as a church to get equipped to go make disciples. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

Jesus said go and “make disciples”. Jesus lived in a “community” with his disciples. This is how he taught them. Jesus didn’t just hang out with his disciples on Sundays and Wednesdays. He spent time with them every day. They went to parties together (John 2:1-5). They prayed together (Luke 11:1-4, Mark 14:32-42). They served together (Matthew 14:13-21). The discussed their ministry experiences and failures together (Mark 9:28-29). They challenged one another (Matthew 16:21-23). They became frustrated with one another (Mark 9:33-34). They loved one another (John 13:34-35). They served one another (Acts 2:42-47). This was their life and should be our lives as Christians.

We get a good picture of this in Titus 2:1-15. More mature Christians should live out their faith around younger Christians, teaching them the gospel and what it looks like in life. Mature women should live and their faith and teach the younger women. Mature men should do the same thing with younger men. Paul even gives Titus some examples of what this looks like. He said that the mature women should teach the younger women how to love their husbands and children, how to be pure and self-controlled, working from home. These things cannot be taught from the church building. They are taught in life as you go.  

Next Jesus says “Observe” all that I have commanded you. Believe it or not Jesus requires obedience. Observe means – keeping, doing, living out His commands. Jesus sums up His commands in Matthew 22:36-40. He said to love God, and love your neighbor. But what does that really look like? We can talk about love all day and never get past some feeling we have inside. But Jesus gives us the perfect example of love.

Romans 5:8; -“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God “shows, demonstrates, proves” his love for us. He doesn’t just tell us, he shows us he loves us by sending His Son Jesus to die for us. This is the “action” to love.

So how do we show our love to God and our neighbor? We can demonstrate the gospel by making right what is wrong and bring God glory in it. We can live out the gospel by redeeming our community, demonstrating our love for God and our neighbor.

We can show that we don’t worship money but instead use money to help others. We can show that we are not here in our community to be served by the community but instead to serve them all the while pointing them to the one that can redeem their souls, Jesus Christ!

We need to see life through the lens of the gospel. In 1 Thess. 2:1-8 we see Paul living this out. He was gentle with them, ready to share everything with them, because they were dear to him. Paul had a deep love for the church of the Thessalonians and it showed in his actions toward them.

Listen to what Jesus says here in Luke 10:25-37; “And behold, lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two adenarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

This is not just a good story! We must heed to the command of Jesus and “go and do likewise”. In order to do this we must die to ourselves daily. We must die to our conveniences and safety. We must die to our laziness and self-importance. We must die to our pride and arrogance. We must be intentional of working hard to make disciples.