Keep It Simple!

             Recently I've been involved in several conversations about Disciple Making.  Most of the people in the discussions, including myself, have been Christians for a long time.  We can readily tell you what it means to be a disciple.  It means to follow Jesus and His teachings, to be a student of His Word, to do our best to be obedient to his teachings, and to develop a personal relationship with Him as our Savior.  It also means that we are to tell others about Him and share the good news of the Gospel with people everywhere.

The problem is that most of us don’t think we know how to make disciples.  We know how to be a disciple, but we don't know how to make disciples.  Why?  We thought it was because we'd never been taught.

It may be true that we’ve never had a specific class on “Disciple Making”, but I think, like so many things in Christianity, we try to make it a lot more complicated than it really is. Jesus’ ministry was simple.  He knew how to get down to the basics to develop relationships with people.  His lesson to us was so simple: “Love God, love people.” That's what he did!  He saw their needs and met them with healing and by casting out demons.  While we may not be able to handle those kinds of miracles, we can follow His example in other areas.  He saw the need of the 5000 who were tired and far from home and He fed them.  He saw the outcasts like Matthew and Zacchaeus, the tax collectors, and welcomed them into His ministry and dined with them.  He saw the fear in the eyes of the Disciples and calmed the storm.  He welcomed the little children to come to Him and He wept over the city of Jerusalem, knowing that their needs were great.

 All His actions accomplished two things:  He showed them love and He pointed them toward the one true God.  That's what it all comes down to.  To make disciples we must love people and point them towards Jesus.  Now, sometimes that's not so easy because there are a lot of people out there that are not easy to love. Trust me! I've met a few of them, and I’ve probably even been one of them on occasion, but God still loves every one of us, including them.  They are still His creation, and He still desires them to be saved.  That makes it our job to love them too!

So, the question is: Where do we begin?” I think we begin just as Jesus did by making it simple. We begin by developing relationships.  That may mean saying hello to our neighbors and asking how they are doing.  It may mean taking them cookies or a gift basket when we know they are sick, or they have problems or difficulties in their lives.  It may be as simple as asking how someone is doing and then stopping to truly listen to their answer.  Maybe it will mean observing their body language when they give that answer because very often it will be more telling than the words that come out of their mouths.

Recently I was told a story about a refugee who is now a Christian. You might think that she became a Christian because someone preached the Gospel to her. Ultimately that's probably what happened, but initially, the moment that got her attention and introduced her to Jesus was when someone saw the difficulty of her life and said the simple words “Jesus loves you”.  You can’t get simpler than that!

When we say, “Have a blessed day”, with sincerity, or tell them “Jesus loves you and so do I” and truly mean it, or take the time to hear what's going on in their life and then speak love and truth to them, that's making a disciple.  You must start with relationships! if you think that missionaries go to foreign countries and immediately start preaching the gospel you are sadly mistaken.  Missionaries go and develop relationships.  They have tea according to the customs of the culture.  They go into the marketplace and interact with the merchants.  They talk to the rickshaw drivers and cab drivers.  They develop relationships and then as the Holy Spirit leads and the conversation gives openings they begin to talk about Jesus.  They may even start the conversation with “Jesus loves you and so do I”.

So, if you are a disciple of Christ, you already know how to make disciples.  It’s not so difficult.  Just do what Jesus did.  Keep it simple.  Love God and love people.  So, what’s stopping us?

John 13: 34, 35

Matthew 28: 19, 20