Movement of Discipleship Key 1: Make Disciple-making Your Church Mission
By Rev Dr Chia Beng Hock, Bethel Assembly of God
What are the considerations when you see the importance of disciple-making and want to incorporate it into your church mission? Rev Dr Chia Beng Hock turns our focus to these teachings.
When we think or talk about discipleship, very often we gravitated to methods and material. When we focus on methods and material, there is a likelihood that the disciple-making becomes a process of transferring knowledge and misses out on transforming lives.
Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
When Jesus commanded His disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” He entrusted them with authority and power and promised to be with them always “to the end of the age.”
His Command Our Mission
Matthew 28:18-20 is often referred to as the Great Commission. Commission is the Old French word derived from the Latin commissionem, which means “authority entrusted to someone to carry out a mission.”
Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…” it means Jesus has absolute authority to rule and command (Ephesians 1:20-21), authority to give eternal life (John 17:2) and authority to heal and to cast out demons (Mark 16:15-18). When Jesus commanded His disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” He entrusted them with authority and power and promised to be with them always “to the end of the age.”
In Book of Acts, the disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8, 2:1-5) to carry out God’s eschatological purpose—proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom “to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). As long as the end has not come, Jesus’ command remains our mission. With His power and authority, enabled by the Holy Spirit and His ever presence with us—we are able to accomplish our mission!
I define disciple making as a journey we walk with someone, helping him (her) to know, trust and follow Jesus, and in the process he (she) becomes more like Jesus.
Our Mission Is Disciple-Making
We have no doubt that the mission of the Church is to make disciples. How do we make disciple-making the mission our church?
Firstly, what is a disciple? A disciple is a learner who follows a master teacher. “Discipleship meant much more than just the transfer of information… it referred to imitating the teacher’s life, inculcating his values, and reproducing his teachings.”1 A.W. Tozer stressed that “only a disciple can make a disciple.” This is Jesus’ game plan: disciples make disciples who, in turn make more disciples.2
Secondly, what does the mission of disciple-making entail? I define disciple making as a journey we walk with someone, helping him (her) to know, trust and follow Jesus, and in the process he (she) becomes more like Jesus.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Go, means as you continue in your journey, make disciples of all nations (ethnos) or people groups. When the disciples in Jerusalem were under strong persecution and scattered, they did not run in fear but went around preaching the Good News about Jesus (Acts 8:4). In the New Testament, discipleship and evangelism were hand in glove. The disciples were in a journey of helping people know, trust and follow Jesus.
In this relationship, Jesus commanded that we love one another as He loved us. By so doing people will know that we are His disciples (John 13:34-35).
Water Baptism
“Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” When we help someone to know Jesus, we lead him (her) into a relationship with Him. In baptism, the person is immersed into a relationship with the Father, with the Son and the Holy Spirit. He (she) expresses his (her) obedience and renounces his (her) past as he (she) is being buried with Christ, declaring his (her) trust and commitment when being raised through the glory of the Father to live a new life as sons and daughters of God (Romans 6:4; 8:14-17), and following the footsteps of Jesus!
Paul added in 1 Corinthians 12:13 that we were all baptized into one body regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free, we all share the same Spirit—a new relationship with other disciples was initiated by the Spirit. In this relationship, Jesus commanded that we love one another as He loved us. By so doing people will know that we are His disciples (John 13:34-35).
Only A Disciple Can Make A Disciple
“Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” Since “only a disciple can make a disciple,” we must be taught to obey what Jesus has commanded us before we can do the same to others. I was in the Puzzling World at Wanaka, New Zealand recently and I saw a poster with the word “Teach” and its reflection is “Learn”. The poster aptly reminded me that what I teach reflects how much I have learned. Paul exhorted us to follow him as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1), to be imitator of God as dearly loved children (Ephesians 5:1) and be an example to all believers (1 Timothy 4:12). To make disciple-making our church mission, we must make it our personal mission!
Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus showed us how the church as an extended family (2:18-22) made disciple-making its mission. Believers were equipped by gifted ministers to serve each other effectively (4:11 16) and consciously living their new life in Christ (4:16-32), imitating God as dearly loved children (5:1) they journeyed together helping each other to know, trust and follow Jesus. They also made it their personal mission where husband and wife helped each other to grow in their relationship with Christ and with each another (5:22-33). Parents discipled their children and modeled for them how they would honor their parents (Ephesians 6:1-4). At workplaces, employers and employees (6:5-9) practiced mutual respect as they followed Jesus!
42 years ago, I started a Bible study group at my workplace using the material my church provided. We met every day. I had the opportunity to journey with a young man, helping him to know, trust and follow Jesus. One month later, I answered God’s call, left the job and served full-time. A couple of months later, I saw this young man walking into our church sanctuary. He decided to worship with us and continued his journey of knowing, trusting and following Jesus. Today, one of his sons is a full-time pastor—what a joy!
To make disciple-making our church mission, we must make it our personal mission!
What Would Jesus Do
To make disciple-making our church mission, we must avail and pace ourselves to be discipled and disciple others. Let me end with a story taken from one of the bestselling books In His Steps written by Charles M. Sheldon. In the story, Rev Henry Maxwell challenged his congregation to not do anything for a whole year without first asking, “What Would Jesus Do?” It became a way of life to a group of members who committed to do so and in spite of many challenges they faced, they persisted. A year later, their lives were transformed, and their community was impacted!
His command is our mission. So, “What should we do?”
1 https://seminary.grace.edu/what-is-the-true-meaning-of-christian-discipleship/
2 https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/help-others-grow/discipleship/what-is-discipleship.html
Rev Dr Chia Beng Hock is Pastor Emeritus of Bethel Assembly of God and Chairman of Bethel Community Services. He also serves as the Treasurer of The Alliance of The Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of Singapore (APCCS), Executive Committee Member of the Assemblies of God (AG) of Singapore, President of Teen Challenge Singapore, Board Member of Tung Ling Bible School and Bible Society of Singapore, Treasurer of Global Leadership Summit Singapore, and Vice Chairman of Harmony Circle (MacPherson) and Acting Executive Director of AG Singapore. He holds a Doctor of Ministry and Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Asia Pacific Theological Seminary and a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Theology (Ministry) from the University of Wales. He is happily married to his wife, May, since 1977. They have two adult sons.
