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ReVision

Make Disciples

Thriving in God's economy begins here.

God’s Economy (4)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” Matthew 28.19

Our first priority
Any economy has priorities and practices which sustain and advance it. Whether that economy is a subsistence economy, one based on barter, centralized and government-directed, or free and commercial, as in our secular economy, unless those who participate in that economy understand its driving force and priorities, neither they nor the economy will thrive.

In God’s economy, where the overarching objective is to bring God’s beauty, goodness, and truth to light within human culture and society, all our activities must be directed to this end. This is the driving force of God’s work in our secular world, where we join Him in pursuit of this overarching objective.

But while everyone and everything within the Lord’s field has the potential to bring Him glory, only those who know, fear, love, serve, and enjoy Him as their Savior and King will undertake to make His glory known in all they say and do. Glorifying God thus requires disciples of Jesus Christ. If we would make God’s glory known increasingly throughout the field of the world, we must work hard at the task of making disciples.

Every believer’s calling
Within God’s economy, three priorities define the lives and callings of those who submit to Him in sowing good Kingdom seed throughout their sector of the world field. Let’s consider these in order.

Jesus described the first of these in our text: Make disciples. All believers are called to take up the work of making disciples “as they are going.” This work defines the broad parameters of all the work we’ve been given to do. Wherever we go, whatever we’re doing, whichever aspect of our work we may be pursuing, overarching and directing them all is the calling to make disciples.

Every believer, who is already a disciple, needs encouragement and strengthening in that calling. Certainly, we have many opportunities for encouraging our fellow disciples in their walk with and work for the Lord. And every nonbeliever, at the very least, deserves the opportunity to see and hear the Good News of the Kingdom; we must, therefore, make every effort to show them the life of discipleship and explain the way into it.

Two questions
We don’t want to take anything for granted in this calling. Since making disciples is what we must be about, as our first priority in stewarding the divine economy, we need to ask two important questions.

First, what is a disciple? And second, what’s involved in making disciples? Here we can only touch briefly on these.

A disciple, in the simplest of terms, is one who is a friend and follower of Jesus, and who learns from Him, and thus becomes increasingly like Him. A disciple believes that Jesus, by virtue of His redemptive work, is God’s solution to the narcissism, rebellion, disillusionment, and despair of our secular age, and who thus receives Him as Savior and Lord.

As followers of Christ we must first learn from Him (Matt. 11.28-30). We learn from Jesus by listening to Him in His Word, communing with Him in prayer, and gathering with other disciples to study and discuss His calling on our lives, and to worship Him Thus we learn Jesus, and are transformed increasingly into His image (Eph. 4.17-24; 2 Cor. 3.12-18).

In addition to learning Jesus, every believer lives as Jesus did, treading the path of holiness and service that Jesus walked when He was on earth.

Every disciple of Jesus encourages others to consider Him. With our fellow disciples, we will worship, pray, study, share, and take up works of service. With our unbelieving friends, we will show the love of Jesus and share the stories of what Jesus has done for us, explaining the teaching of Scripture concerning His saving and redeeming work on our behalf.

Discipleship is a full-time calling. If we think that being a Christian means only that we have confessed our sins and are going to heaven when we die, then we misunderstand the Lord’s calling for all who would follow Him. As we labor together at being disciples of Jesus Christ, we will find it the great joy and the noblest calling of our lives to work at helping others follow Him as well. Making disciples involves being together in the Lord, sharing what we’re learning, encouraging and edifying one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and making the most of every opportunity to demonstrate and teach what it means to follow Jesus.

In God’s economy, where glorifying God is the driving force, making disciples is the indispensable first task which enables us to accomplish the Lord’s purpose for His field.

For reflection
1.  Why is making disciples so important to realizing the goal of God’s economy?

2.  How should believers try to help their fellow believers to improve in their discipleship?

3.  Why is it important that we get to know, pray for, and make the most of every opportunity to talk with the unbelievers in our Personal Mission Field about the Lord and His Kingdom?

Next steps – Transformation: How would you describe the state of your own discipleship at this time? How about your work of disciple-making? In which areas of your discipleship would you most like to improve?

T. M. Moore

For a more developed view of the Kingdom, and of the Gospel of the Kingdom, order a copy of our book The Kingdom Turn (click here) or The Gospel of the Kingdom (click here). You can download a free PDF of Vocational Disciplines, a complement to this week’s study (click here).

We look to the Lord to provide for our needs, and He does so through those who are served by this ministry. Please prayerfully consider becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe with your financial gifts. You can send your tax-free contribution to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452, or use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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