Experiencing public servants swear an oath is a moving moment. Hands raised, or over a Bible, they swear to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign, or domestic.” But what if their service extended no further than swearing the oath? What if they lived their lives serving themselves instead of others? What if their promise fell like a thud from their lips and lives are left unchanged? Are they still considered public servants?
This question extends to Christianity. Is the Great Commission simply an admonition to go unto all the earth getting people to make an oath? Or is it a call to make disciples?
Making decisions count
Shortly after emerging from his wilderness temptations, Jesus started his public ministry. He proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom and soon began to invite people to get right with God. The focus of his invitation was, “Come and follow me.” Those who agreed became his disciples. Some, like the rich young ruler, expressed their respect for Jesus, yet still refused to follow him.
When Jesus had nearly completed his earthly mission, he told his disciples to follow his example, and to make disciples of people everywhere. “Make disciples of all nations” became the watchword of the post-Pentecost Christian movement. A disciple is someone who follows his Master. A disciple emulates his Master’s lifestyle, submits to his Master’s training regimen, proclaims his Master’s Good News, and promotes his Master’s vision.
Before becoming a disciple, a person needs to meet Jesus and trust him for the free gift of eternal life won by Jesus’s death and resurrection. Usually this involves a personal decision to turn away from the old way of life and turn toward Jesus as Savior and Master. It never happens in a vacuum. There are no lone ranger disciples. Those who already follow Jesus mentor those who want to follow him. Learning to trust Jesus and adopt his lifestyle is a growth process empowered by engagement with scriptures, prayer, fellowship with other believers, and submission to God’s leading. Jesus spent three years of his earthly life making disciples of his followers. It’s often a long road between making the initial decision to receive the gift of eternal life and actually becoming a follower of Jesus.
The difference between decisions and disciples
There are many ways of evangelizing, of sharing the Good News of God’s redeeming grace. A mass gathering (sometimes called a crusade) can introduce the basics of the Good News and invite agreement by the raising of hands or coming forward for prayer. But a mass gathering can never make disciples. Much more is needed. Evangelism of this sort is only a prelude to the real work that Jesus commanded.
Bacolod City is a community of 300,000 souls located in the Central Philippines. Six churches joined together to sponsor a crusade held in a local movie theater. Dozens of church leaders spent many hours planning the campaign, publishing promotional flyers, encouraging church members to invite their neighbors, and getting the message out for the event. The publicity worked. Several hundred people attended. The evening crusade program featured the Jesus Film, followed up by an evangelistic message and invitation. Scores of people who heard the message stood up, left their seats, and walked down the aisle to signify their decision to trust Jesus for salvation. Volunteer church members were ready for them and repeated the gospel message, praying for each one and giving encouragement and information about local churches.
Three weeks later, leaders of the six churches met to debrief the results of their campaign. They were encouraged and excited by the prospect of so many people who made decisions for Jesus. Then the question was asked, “How many new disciples are being made? How many of the decisions showed up in your church meetings?” A bit embarrassed, one pastor admitted, “No one came to our church. We have not seen any new faces.” One after another, the leaders confessed, “Not a single person from that crusade has shown up in our church.” Many decisions were made. But no disciples.
Likewise, a well known organization is famous for organizing mass crusades where world-renowned evangelists present the gospel to thousands of people. They do their best to calculate their spiritual returns on investment by measuring the number of decisions made for Christ. They tell stories of some people who made those decisions. They also report that their decisions are not necessarily new disciples because as many as 60% of decisions were recommitments of existing Christians. The organization has never reported whether the people making decisions actually end up as new disciples in the New Testament sense.
Jesus called us to be disciplemakers
Jesus did not say, “Make decisions in all nations.” He said, “Make disciples.” He showed his own disciples that the process of making disciples means living together, praying together, worshipping together, witnessing, healing, serving one another, submitting to the Word of God, baptizing; doing all of the things that people do in the various activities of a local fellowship of believers. That’s why establishing new churches in local communities is the only way to make disciples and why every mission strategy needs to hold up disciple making as the ultimate fulfillment of Jesus’s mandate.