Everyone who has chosen to follow Jesus, has as their primary life calling, to disciple others. Anyone that we have any relationship with can be discipled, either formally through an intentional focused time together to discuss life, temporal and eternal, or informally through living life and being an example to those God brings into our circles of family, friends and acquaintances.
Discipleship can be performed in a mentoring type of relationship, with one person sharing their knowledge of good methods for Bible Study, for knowing and growing closer to God.
1. Consider what your next step goals are for your life in Christ. A great step is to learn Inductive Bible Study Methods (see page) so that you can learn, understand and retain knowledge about who God is and be able to relate to Him in much deeper ways in your prayer and meditation.
2. Pray that God will bring people into your life that you can be discipled/mentored by or can disciple/mentor.
3. Be open to share your burden/interest as a prayer request with other believers who you are close to.
4. Wait on God to bring people into your life with a shared passion to know God.
5. If someone shows interest, talk about completing a small joint study for 4-6 weeks. Choose a short Bible Passage like a minor prophet, small epistle, or single chapter. For a lighter start, you can also choose a good Christian fundamentals Book to read together like Knowing God, The Case for Christ, More Than a Carpenter, or a selection from many other classics.
6. Agree on a day of the week and time that you can both commit to. It may require you to get up earlier or re-arrange your schedule to accommodate. On your first meeting write out your ways of working together including items;
Here are some scripture passages and comments I copied, to consider on this topic;
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Arguably the most famous Scripture on making disciples, the Great Commission is where Jesus sends his 11 apostles around the known world to spread the gospel. In this passage, Jesus also shares what he means by making disciples: baptizing people and teaching them to obey his commands.
“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’”
Mark’s parallel account of the Great Commission adds that “the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it” (Mark 16:20 NIV).
“‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”
Here Jesus calls the disciples his witnesses, exhorting them to share the things they’ve seen and heard in his presence.
As we make disciples, we can share not only the accounts of what the disciples saw, but our own accounts of what we’ve personally experienced as we’ve followed Jesus.
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
The good news of Jesus Christ and the redemption he offers is for everyone. Paul highlights the importance of making disciples by pointing out the obvious: you only believe in Jesus because someone shared the gospel with you. Making disciples stems from our own faith—which we only have because someone shared the gospel with us.
Making disciples is about continuing the cycle of redemption, passing on the faith that was passed to you.
“Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’”
When Philip encountered Jesus and discovered who he was, he immediately wanted to share it with his friend. Our desire to make disciples should stem from obedience, but also love for others—if we believe Jesus is who he says he is, why should we keep it to ourselves?
“‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.’”
As disciples, we are growing in maturity. This can only happen if we are spiritually empowered. Jesus says he is the vine, and his disciples are the branches (John 15:5). He chose his disciples for a purpose, and in order to fulfill that purpose they had to remain connected to him, the vine (John 15:6).
“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
When you become a follower of Jesus, you become part of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27). The body of Christ depends on each member doing its work. We were each made for a particular purpose, and as disciples, we all play a role in advancing the kingdom.
“‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.”
Many of the original disciples were fishermen. Jesus took something they were intimately familiar with—their profession—and made it new. He used a word picture they could identify with to call them away from their old lives.
When we invite others into discipleship, Jesus can use what they know to accomplish things they never imagined.
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.”
Making disciples is about more than instructing others. In this verse Paul is telling Titus to teach the older women in the church—those who would be discipling younger women—and that their example matters. It’s important for us all to understand that people are following the precedent we’re setting.
“‘And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.’”
Paul reminds Timothy that he cannot do all the work of ministry on his own. He needs to build up disciples that he can delegate the work of disciple-making to. Appointing others to appropriate roles and delegating work is an important part of making disciples who, in turn, will make disciples.
Jesus gave Peter a three-fold command to “feed my sheep” in John 21:15-17. Each time Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” it was in response to Peter’s three-fold declaration of love for Jesus. The setting was one of the last of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to His disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus prepared a breakfast of fish and bread for them, and then commissioned Peter with the task of feeding His sheep and tending His lambs.
The three commands, although often translated the same way, are subtly different. The first time Jesus says it, the Greek means literally “pasture (tend) the lambs” (v. 15). The Greek word for “pasture” is in the present tense, denoting a continual action of tending, feeding and caring for animals. Believers are referred to as sheep throughout Scripture. “For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (Psalm 95:7). Jesus is both our Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and the Door of the sheepfold (John 10:9). By describing His people as lambs, He is emphasizing their nature as immature and vulnerable and in need of tending and care.
The second time, the literal meaning is “tend My sheep” (v. 16). In this exchange, Jesus was emphasizing tending the sheep in a supervisory capacity, not only feeding but ruling over them. This expresses the full scope of pastoral oversight, both in Peter’s future and in all those who would follow him in pastoral ministry. Peter follows Jesus’ example and repeats this same Greek word poimaino in his first pastoral letter to the elders of the churches of Asia Minor: “Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers” (1 Peter 5:2).
The third time, the literal translation is “pasture (tend) the sheep” (v. 17). Here Jesus combines the different Greek words to make clear the job of the shepherd of the flock of God. They are to tend, care for, and provide spiritual food for God’s people, from the youngest lambs to the full-grown sheep, in continual action to nourish and care for their souls, bringing them into the fullness of spiritual maturity. The totality of the task set before Peter, and all shepherds, is made clear by Jesus’ three-fold command and the words He chooses.
What is this food with which shepherds are to feed the flock of God? It can be no other than the Word of God. Peter declares that Christians are to desire the pure spiritual milk of the Word so that by it, we can mature in our salvation (1 Peter 2:2). As early as the book of Deuteronomy, we see the Lord describing His Word as food for His people who live not by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from His mouth (Deuteronomy 8:3). Jesus reiterates this thought in His temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4). The importance of the Word of God as food for our souls cannot be over-emphasized.