Walking Worthy of the Call

Introducing Discipleship

Ireceived the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1972 in what was known as the Jesus People movement. In 1978, after receiving ministry training, we began the church I now pastor. In our case, it was a part of the greater charismatic renewal that was finding expression in many avenues and denominations reaching tens of millions of people. I was raised in church and saw first hand how many of the new Christians, who were without a church background, were easily swayed to follow radical and often unbiblical movements. Within my family, we sensed a need to have a ministry where people could be taught the foundation stones of the Christian church; so they would not be swayed with the winds of doctrine that were blowing with the wind of the Holy Spirit. Our ministry grew into what is called a mega church as many people came to be taught of the Lord and experienced the life of the Holy Spirit.

I have sensed and witnessed the charismatic movement coming to a final surge. The hunger for God and His Word is not at all like it used to be. Now, most of the growing churches are built on worship styles in an effort to appeal to the waning interest of people in a dynamic experience with God. Although the seeker sensitive movement was billed as an attempt to reach the unchurched, there has been little impact on the lost. Instead, the movement has gathered a lot of believers together into comfortable ministries that place no demands or expectations on the people. Any effort to get people to conform to a Christian lifestyle is classified as legalism and has become an anathema to the people.

How far we have moved away from the roots of our Christianity and from the early church of the apostles and Jesus Christ! Christianity from its inception was a radical departure from everyday life. Beginning with John the Baptist, who was the forerunner to the ministry of Jesus Christ, the message has been to Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The word repent means to have a change of mind with a corresponding change of direction. Jesus Christ gave us a wonderful example of meeting people at their point of need. His goal, however, was not to comfort them in their need but to lead them out of their old life into a new and living way.

The story of the Old Testament, which the Bible declares to be our example, tells the story of the children of Israel. When the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt, God sent them Moses to deliver them from their bondage. Moses was also called to take them to the Promised Land. The children often longed for the comfort of their bondage over the challenge for the better life. They insisted on going back or staying put and were always resistant to moving forward. Even as God showed His mighty hand of miracles to them, the people would rejoice in the power of God only for a while and would eventually succumb to their human fears and needs.

This is also the pattern of the church throughout history. God will move in a miraculous way, people will get caught up in the move, and then eventually give way to the desire for human comfort rather than the rest God has appointed for them. Like it was with the children of Israel, so it is today. God will eventually raise up the voice of the prophets to declare to the people it is time to move again. God is looking for those who will follow Him. Jesus was not just looking for those who would believe in Him, but He was looking for those who would follow Him.

This is the message of my book. The Spirit is saying it is time to follow Him to a new level. The experience will be new, but the structure is not new. It is the plan used by Jesus Christ to train His followers and the plan used by His followers to continue His work. The plan is discipleship. The instruction is the teaching of Jesus Christ. The goal is to form devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

In the 1970s there was a call to discipleship as many people became aware of the immaturity of the converts to Christianity. Unfortunately, this evolved into a program to create disciples of men, and it deservingly failed and fell into disrepute. The leaders of this movement did not realize their own immaturity. The sign of their immaturity was the man centered aspect of the movement versus a Christ centered one. Their misguided intentions caused great distress to the body of Christ.

With God, for everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heavens. When we try something out of season, it will not be able to last because it will not be ready for the next season. The seed must be planted in a season that will allow it to grow in stages appropriate to the season. Often in church history, seeds have been planted out of season. It isn’t always the seed that is the problem but the season it was planted in.

Discipleship is a good plan because it was Christ’s plan. Now is the season to begin to follow Him in a more mature fashion. It is the time for the true disciples of Jesus Christ to come forth. We need disciples that will impact their world as the early disciples impacted theirs.

Jesus spoke of three stages of maturity. The seed is planted, which is Christ and His Word. After this will come the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. This is the day for the full grain in the ear. This is the day of fruitfulness and harvest.

The children of Israel celebrated three festivals each corresponding to one of the levels of the Christian experience. Passover came first, which represents our initial experience of salvation. Second came the festival of Pentecost, which signified the first rains to produce the harvest. Pentecost represents the last move of God, the Holiness-Pentecostal-Charismatic moves. Now comes the festival of tabernacles. Now is the time for the full harvest. This will be the harvest of the multitudes and the harvest of fruitfulness.

This lesson plan will provide you the opportunity to be prepared to follow Jesus Christ to the place of fullness. It is the opportunity to follow Jesus to the place where He will be the firstborn of many brethren!

At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus clearly stated what He was looking for from His followers—discipleship! This workbook is intended to be used in small groups with a facilitator in order to develop understanding of the material through interaction and accountability. The essence of discipleship is that you are not in this alone, but you are part of the body of Christ with the goal of reproducing other members.

Chapter One

THE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

The church is called to fulfill what has often been called the great commission. This is the charge Jesus Christ gave to His disciples at the time of His ascension. It was not only their charge, but it was the charge of the church founded on the foundation of the apostles. Due to thinking the commission was simply to go out and get people saved, the church has not fully followed this commission. The idea behind this thinking is that the world is lost and going to hell, so we the people of God must save people from an eternal destiny of punishment offering them an eternity of blessing instead. This concept, although noble and common, does not fulfill the commission Jesus Christ extended to the church. The commission of Jesus Christ to the church fulfills the mission He had when He was on the earth. He came as the Son of God to demonstrate the person of the Father to the people, and He came so this mission could be fulfilled and multiplied through His followers.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Jesus began His work by calling chosen people to follow Him, with the intent that He would train them to not only believe in Him, but to continue His work. Discipleship was the method used by Jesus Christ to train His followers, and discipleship is what is necessary today to truly fulfill the great commission. We are called to make disciples of the nations. A disciple will be a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. We are not just called to be believers in Christ, but to be followers of Christ.

Mark 8:34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

In modern thinking, a disciple is a student; but to the people in Jesus’ time, it was much more than just being a student who was learning something for their good. A disciple was a follower or adherent of the person they were a disciple of. When a person claimed to be a disciple of someone, they were declaring their acceptance of the teaching of that person. They weren’t just declaring who they learned from, but they were declaring who they followed. An example of this is given when a man is healed by Jesus Christ. When questioned by some of the people, he asked if they intended to become Jesus’ disciple; and they declared they were disciples of Moses. They accepted Moses’ teaching, and they also accepted his authority to speak for God.

John 9:27 He answered them, I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples? 28 Then they reviled him and said, You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.

One reason we miss this important truth is that we tend to think Jesus Christ had only twelve disciples. This is a misunderstanding of the Scriptures. Jesus Christ had many disciples. The twelve were the disciples who were also made apostles.

Luke 6:13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:

At one point He sends out seventy commissioned followers. Notice, they too were laborers in the harvest of God.

Luke 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

The reason this is important is because we often try to follow the pattern of Jesus Christ, by thinking a teacher is limited to twelve followers, when there are no limits if you fully observe the pattern. The twelve disciples, also called apostles of the Lamb, have a unique place in the plans of God. The number twelve is significant because it corresponds to the twelve tribes of Israel, who formed the basis of the Old Testament people of God; and the twelve apostles, who formed the foundation of the New Testament people of God.

Revelation 21:14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

One of the problems modern groups have, when trying to implement the pattern of discipleship based on Jesus, is that they fail to understand His method was structured to make followers for Himself. We are called to fulfill the same mission. We are to train followers of Jesus Christ, not followers of ourselves.

Matthew 23:2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

We must emphasize the fact that the goal of a discipleship program in the new covenant, is not to make disciples of man, but of Christ. We need to fully understand how God uses both spiritual and natural means to accomplish this goal; but we must be careful not to make disciples of man. This has been the error of the church in the past.

The apostle Paul had to deal with this in the Corinthian church. Because of the multiplicity of ministries and gifts, people were uncertain as to who had authority in their lives. People were following others based on their charisma and personal appeal. The Apostle corrected this by placing the authority in the church, not with the many charismatic ministries and gifts that were appealing to the people. The Corinthian church was founded by the Apostle; hence, he claimed the place as the one who spoke with authority over them. He also encouraged them to follow his example.

1 Corinthians 4:14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. 15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.

With these truths in mind, we can understand the important principles of discipleship. Paul alludes to one here. He was bold enough to tell the people to imitate or follow his example. The discipleship pattern is built on people who are willing to demonstrate as well as teach lessons to their students. The apostle Paul understood this to be his example in following Christ. He was not motivated by a desire to disciple personal followers, but he was motivated by the desire to be a demonstration of Christ to those who followed him.

1 Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

This admonition from the apostle Paul to his disciples had a twofold implication. First, it pointed to Jesus Christ as the ultimate destiny we should seek to emulate. As Christians, we should always point people to Jesus Christ as the only perfect and unchangeable pattern. Although teachers should seek to give a visible example, we must ultimately point to Him as the only true example. As Christians, we must not compare ourselves to one another; but we should see Jesus as our goal to emulate.

Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

Second, after setting his sight on Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul also accepted the responsibility to demonstrate this through his own instructions and life. True leadership in the Scriptures is based on illustrated patterns or models. We need true leadership as demonstrated by Jesus Christ. He practiced what He preached. Leading through illustrated patterns has always been God’s design for training.

This was God’s pattern from the beginning. When God created man, He created us male and female in His own image and likeness. From the beginning, this was God’s intent for man. The Old Testament is filled with stories of the patriarchs who followed God’s word. These patriarchs gave us an example we should desire to emulate. In the New Testament, when God was ready to take us to another level, He sent His Son who was the visible image of the invisible God. The purpose was to, again, set a model or example for us to see and emulate. Jesus Christ was God in human form, so the pattern would be unmistakable. God’s intent was for us to demonstrate His person in the human experience. This is why Jesus had to be truly man as well as truly God.

All of the Scriptures were written so we could have examples and people to emulate. All of the patriarchs demonstrated some level of a relationship with God for us to follow, but Jesus Christ was the whole package. Jesus Christ explained this pattern when He described His relationship with the Father. The Father is the pattern; the Son is the expression of what He has seen in the Father.

John 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

Students need examples, and leaders should strive to set the example for them. This is why in the discipleship pattern one of the words used to describe the teacher was master. This is not just a word to describe authority, but expertise. Apprenticeship is based upon the same concept as discipleship. The student learns from the teacher. This instruction must be by word, but also by illustration. Why would students want to learn from someone who doesn’t practice what they preach? Why preach a message that does not have any proof of success? As Jesus instructed His disciples, He wanted them to be aware of their need to follow the Master. Jesus is the ultimate example for all of us because He is the perfect, unblemished, and spotless Lamb of God. We have His account throughout the Scriptures, and it is an account of success.

The message of the gospel tells us Jesus Christ is called to be the firstborn of many brethren. Paul, as a follower of Jesus, could tell people to follow him because he also was one who fought the fight and won the race!

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Paul didn’t claim to have won a popularity contest. His claim to be the one worthy of emulation was his steadfastness in following the Word of God and fulfilling his ministry. We need leaders today who will be willing to set an example for those who are following. Students need to follow someone who is setting an example, not someone just telling them what to do. When I was growing up, it was normal for people in leadership roles to protect our image of them. The greater society promoted the concept of earned authority by encouraging people to live up to the responsibility of their place and to guard the image that went along with it.

During the cultural conflicts of the ’60s, people began to discount this practice. The idea was that we needed honesty. People need to be themselves, and we do not need to respect the people in authority. Authority structures were challenged on every side, and the idea people who lead should set an example for others was totally discounted. This attitude has invaded the