MAKING DISCIPLES
Jesus never asked us to plant churches, he instead asked us to make disciples. He even took the pressure off when he said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). His focus was that he would build the church out of our disciple-making results. What Jesus was saying in effect was, if you make disciples, you always get the church. But if you make a church, you might not get disciples.
Most of us have not seen churches birthed out of a movement of disciples who make disciples. This begs the question, are disciples the only thing that Jesus seems to care about? I would go as far as to say it’s the only thing that Jesus is really counting. While we count our attendance, or budget, or acres of land. Jesus would ask the question, “are you making disciples, who make disciples, who are living transformed Kingdom lives?”
Most of us would have to admit that we are not making disciples, or the disciples that we have made are not making disciples. Furthermore most of us are not living lives focused on the Kingdom of God. At best most of us are only focused on doing church. What will it take for us to shift the focus of our churches to make disciples the way that Jesus made disciples?
People desperately need their lives to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. This occurs when you make disciples who make disciples. There is no task that you will undertake that is greater than being a part of launching a disciples-making church in your community.