The Life of Discipleship, Part 9: Discipling Others

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In Jesus’ final Great Commission to His disciples, as He was about to ascend to heaven, He gave His disciples the mission to evangelize and make disciples. “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” (Matthew 28:19–20). As His disciples, we also are called to be disciple-makers and to teach others about the Christian faith and help them to grow in their discipleship.

Teaching people about Jesus and helping them to grow in their faith is essential to the continuance of the faith and is how Christianity is carried forward into the future. Jesus spent about three years teaching His followers and preparing them to continue His work and to propagate the faith after His death and resurrection. Had the disciples not been faithful to “teach others to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2), the message would have died out within their generation. Discipling and teaching others are important elements of discipleship and of the continuation of the faith.

There’s a difference between preaching the gospel and teaching. The Greek word used in the New Testament for preaching means to publish, to proclaim openly. Some of the definitions of the New Testament Greek word used for teaching are to impart instruction, to instill doctrine into. Throughout Jesus’ ministry He did both—He preached and He taught, as Matthew 11:1 indicates: “When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.”

Jesus proclaimed the Good News and His teachings to the multitudes, and He also taught individuals, as we see in the case of Nicodemus (John 3:1–12) and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7–30). He declared that His mission in preaching was to proclaim the kingdom of God. “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God … for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:43). Through His teaching, He discipled people in a variety of situations and settings, and taught those who would, in turn, disciple others so that process could be repeated over and over, person by person, century by century.

Proclaiming the good news and guiding people to salvation through faith in Christ places them on the path of discipleship. Helping someone to grow in their faith and discipleship is a further step—an important one for the strengthening of new believers and their spiritual lives. The history and growth of Christianity throughout the world has been built on believers sharing their faith and making disciples, who in turn will also share their faith and be disciple-makers.

Evangelism and discipling are foundational to the growth and continuance of Christianity. Unless believers proclaim the good news, help others to grow in their faith and to carry on Christ’s commission, we can’t fulfill our calling to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

What does it mean to “disciple” someone? The following article excerpts provide helpful definitions:

Discipling is an intentional relationship in which we walk alongside other disciples in order to encourage, equip and challenge one another in love to grow toward maturity in Christ. This includes equipping the disciple to teach others as well.—Greg Ogden¹

Discipling is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot. But it simply means deliberately helping one another to grow in conformity to Jesus. Discipling is deliberate because it seeks to help specific individuals grow in specific ways toward godliness. Discipling is mutual because it’s not a one-way street with a sage on one corner and a student on the other. Every Christian needs spiritual formation, and every Christian is equipped by the Spirit to build one another up (Jude 1:20; Ephesians 4:12; 1 Peter 2:5).

You don’t need to be a disciple-making guru. You just need to be available. You don’t need to be a theologian. You just need to be a means of grace to other disciples. Disciple-making is for everyday, blood-bought, imperfect followers of Jesus. So, Christian, let’s commit to disciple one another!—Tony Shepherd²

You don’t have to be a gifted Bible teacher or have a deep knowledge of Christian doctrine to disciple someone. Discipling means that you do what you can to help others along their spiritual path and you strive to model Christ to them. Not everyone is a gifted teacher, but we should all learn how to share about our faith in God and His love and help people to grow in their understanding of Jesus, salvation, and the foundations of their faith. You can also study the Bible or other Christian reading material alongside others to help them to grow in their faith.

You may not have all the answers to the questions that someone new to the faith or someone going through a period of questioning their faith may raise. But you can help them to search for answers for their questions in the Bible or through the teachings of gifted Bible teachers, or you can share what you have learned through your personal experience in your walk with the Lord. You can pray with them, and in the process, you can help them learn how to pray and claim Bible verses.

Discipleship is a lifelong process as we are progressively transformed into the image of Christ “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Discipling someone doesn’t necessarily mean guiding them through every stage of their Christian life, but rather sharing your experience and faith with them, and directing them to the Lord and His Word. The goal is that the time you spend with them will help them to grow in their understanding of and relationship with God and be strengthened in their faith.

Discipling others may not be a formal class; it can be sharing a time of spiritual fellowship. It can be answering people’s questions, praying with them in times of trouble, and helping them to find answers to their doubts. It can be walking alongside them during times of loss and tragedy, mirroring Christ’s love and comfort to them.

Jesus invested much of His ministry time on consciously discipling His converts. It is disciples who carry on and propagate the faith, and since the goal is to make disciples of all nations, discipling others is an important part of the Great Commission. Discipling and teaching make stronger Christians out of those who come to faith in the Lord. It’s in teaching, in grounding people in their faith, in understanding core Christian beliefs, in experiencing Jesus’ presence, in developing a closer walk with God, that disciples grow in their discipleship.

From the beginning of Christianity, the natural overflow of being a disciple of Jesus has always been to make [more] disciples of Jesus. “Follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). This was a promise: Jesus would take His disciples and turn them into disciple-makers. And this was a command: He called each of His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey Him (Matthew 28:19–20). From the start, God’s design has been for every single disciple of Jesus to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples until the gospel spreads to all peoples.

He has designed all of His people to know His joy as we share His love, spread His Word, and multiply His life among all of the peoples of the earth. This is the grand purpose for which we were created: to enjoy the grace of Christ as we spread the gospel of Christ from wherever we live to the ends of the earth. And this purpose is worth giving our lives to seeing it accomplished. It’s worth it for billions of people who do not yet know the mercy and majesty of God in Christ. And it’s worth it for you and me, because we were made to be disciples who make disciples until the day when we see the face of the One we follow, and together with all nations we experience His satisfaction for all of eternity.—Francis Chan & Mark Beuving³

Following his resurrection and near the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus announced to his disciples the mandate we now know as the Great Commission, a statement loaded with implications ...

“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 everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20).

Truly, nothing melts away the bitter cold of a broken world faster than the exponential heat of one person discipling another, two discipling two, four discipling four, until new, mature believers are springing up and spreading like wildfire…

This development of spiritual growth and grounding among God’s people, especially when applied to the eager hearts of new Christians, populates the church with biblically trained insurgents whose love for seeing God’s lost children found is only rivaled by seeing his found children fed.—Ed Stetzer⁴

God’s call is to proclaim the gospel, to share His love and truth with others and to help people to grow in their discipleship. But where and how and to whom you carry out His Great Commission depends on where God has placed you, the life He’s called you to lead, and the people He’s placed in your path. Sharing the good news and discipling new believers happens in our neighborhood, our community, our workplace, the university, on a foreign mission field, in a local nonprofit—wherever God has placed you. We are commissioned by Jesus Himself to help bring others to discipleship. Disciples make disciples.

Discipling is not about a formal relationship—it is about friendship. Jesus called those He was discipling His friends: “I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). The friendship aspect is so important! There are many practical ways to create friendship-building times with people in your witnessing and discipling, such as inviting them for coffee, having them over for dinner, going for a walk, or starting a prayer group or a small Bible study group.

When you are walking with someone on their spiritual path, you are playing a part in helping them grow into a deeper relationship with God. The following article excerpts express this well:

Disciple-making is not just for the so-called spiritual elite; it is the task of every disciple (Matthew 28:18–20). Disciples make disciples.

It’s helpful to remember that Jesus called his disciples friends (John 15:12–15). This is astonishing. At the cross, God’s wrath fell on the Son, so that we could be friends with God. When the Son of God called you to discipleship, he called you to friendship with him. Experiencing Jesus’s friendship through his Word, prayer, and his people means experiencing discipleship (John 15:7–11). Disciple-making, then, means inviting others into friendship with Jesus, too. It means asking, How can I help this person know and love Jesus more?

Discipleship often means just showing up. It means praying alongside someone in a meeting. It means discussing what you learned from the sermon. It means singing loudly enough to encourage the people around you—even if your voice isn’t choir-material. It means living the Christian life in a way that models Christ and inviting others to live it alongside you. Thankfully, the spiritual growth of others is ultimately God’s doing, despite our imperfect disciple-making efforts (1 Corinthians 3:6–7). We don’t have to be the fount of all spiritual wisdom. Nor do we need a seminary degree or years of experience in vocational ministry. When we make disciples, we simply help others grow in their friendship with Jesus by sharing and modeling what we’ve learned through God’s Word in our own friendship with Jesus.—Quina Aragon⁵

A person’s spiritual life is like a journey. The place each person is coming from will be different. The Lord might call you to walk alongside someone for a while, to impart His love and truth and Word and share fellowship. You may be sowing or watering, helping them toward discipleship, or helping them grow in their discipleship if they are at the place on their journey where they are ready to commit more of themselves to God. You’re there to help, to give them counsel when they ask, to share God’s principles with them, to help them understand His Word and ways, to encourage and support, and to share your discipleship life journey with them.

Teaching and discipling someone takes time. But when we effectively disciple even one person, it’s time well spent. We may be inclined to view our success in discipling others based on the number of people we are helping in their discipleship, but that is not an accurate measure. We just need to do what God calls us to do, and witness to and disciple those whom He brings across our path, and pray and trust that the Holy Spirit will work in their lives.

Francis of Assisi once said, “It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.” Our strength and our motivation for sharing Jesus with others starts with our loving Him and our relationship with Him. The ability of the Christian to live the life of a disciple, to witness and to disciple others comes from doing those things that God has called disciples to do, such as patterning our lives according to His Word and following Jesus’ example. (See parts 1–4 of the Life of Discipleship series.) It starts with the individual—the individual loving Him and living His principles, and then also having the conviction, the drive, the desire to witness and proclaim the Good News, and to be a part of the disciple-making process.

Every one of us has some opportunity, some network, some realm in which we can be connecting with others and strengthening their faith, their hope, and their spirits through living our discipleship and bringing discipleship principles into our relationships. We are commissioned by Jesus Himself to help bring others to discipleship. As disciples, we love, believe, and follow the teachings of Jesus and we also assist in spreading the teachings, the Word of God, and helping and teaching others to grow in their discipleship.

Every Christian should be helping unbelievers become believers by showing them Christ. That is making a disciple. And every Christian should be helping other believers grow to more and more maturity. That is making a disciple.—John Piper

Disciples multiply. One of the last things Jesus said to His disciples before His ascension was the command to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). This involves evangelism—sharing the gospel and urging people to repent and believe in Christ—but it also involves discipleship. Christians should be actively engaged in training people who will in turn train others. That’s the pattern we see in Jesus’ ministry: He trained eleven men who spent the rest of their lives as disciple-makers, training others to also become disciple-makers, and so on.—Got Questions⁶

When we are transformed into his likeness, others will see Jesus in us and come to know the power that shatters fears and doubts and gives them hope. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, the apostle Paul beckons: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” There is no better model for making disciples than Jesus! He taught his followers how to disciple others by modeling his life for them.—Shawn D. Anderson

“The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace” (Colossians 1:6 NIV).

“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).

“God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:27–28 NIV).

A Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me a disciple-making way of life in Christ Jesus. As I go through every part of this day, help me to love you and love the people who cross my path... Don't let me miss the adventures you are sending my way to live and speak the Good News about Jesus today. Draw my heart to you and to specific people you want me to pull close for Jesus-like disciple-making friendships. By your Word and Spirit, transform me into a follower of Jesus who loves you, loves people, and makes disciples. In Jesus’ name, amen.⁷

¹ Greg Ogden, Transforming Discipleship (InterVarsity Press, 2016).

² Tony Shepherd, “Disciple Others,” 9Marks.org, March 30, 2021, https://www.9marks.org/article/disciple-others/.

³ Francis Chan and Mark Beuving, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples (David C. Cook, 2012).

⁴ Ed Stetzer, Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation (B&H Publishing Group, 2012).

⁵ Quina Aragon, “But I’ve Never Been Discipled,” The Gospel Coalition, August 8, 2020, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/never-been-discipled/.

⁶ “What is Christian Discipleship,” GotQuestions.org, https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-discipleship.html.

⁷ “Disciplemaker’s Prayer,” Cadre Missionaries, https://www.cadremissionaries.com/disciplemakers-prayer.