No one likes being a loser. Losing is never much fun. The taste of victory has such a flavorful sweetness to it that most athletes practice many hours every day preparing for the next competition. No Olympic sprinter, for example, ever runs their race with the goal being to lose or—worse yet—finishing dead last. So when it comes to your own spiritual race of faith, what should you do in order to prepare yourself for sure victory over sin and the world?
The mission of the local church is sort of like a relay race. It is about running really hard so that you can pass the baton over to the next person, who will then pass the baton over to the next person, who will then pass the baton over to the next person…so that we eventually finish the race and come in first place as a team! The race is called The Glory Of God. Our baton is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the actual passing of the baton is the ministry of making disciples. This Christian relay race has quite recently been coined: The Great Commission.
Your church’s role in the Great Commission is not about mustering up the sanctified soldiers to “Go.” Motivating the saints in your congregation to get up and “Go” is really not the issue at hand regarding Christ’s Great Commission. That is the Holy Spirit’s work—not ours. As Christians, our responsibility is to encourage one another toward obedience and praying for workers to be scattered throughout the abundant harvest. But the grand work of ultimate motivation rests alone in the hands of the Lord.
Aren’t you glad about that? I know I sure am.
Jesus taught this on at least one occasion when He said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” So you see, from our earthly perspective the priority of the Great Commission (the baton-exchange of Christianity) is about making disciples of Jesus Christ who will become passionate disciple makers themselves. Your life’s purpose is about disciple making; not about laying guilt trips before our brothers and sisters in the faith.
On multiple occasions, and over the course of the forty days between His resurrection and ascension, Jesus commissioned the disciples with a clear objective that called for spiritual duplication. To comprehend what Jesus had in mind requires identifying a few key ingredients in the discipleship recipe. One of these ingredients is in understanding the significance of at least one word in the original text of the Bible. This Greek word is the key to unlocking the knowledge of God’s revealed will for your life.
The word translated “make disciples” in the Matthew 28:19 text of the Great Commission passage is the Greek word mathēteuō. Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20; italics mine).
You have probably read that famous passage hundreds of times before and automatically place the emphasis of the Great Commission on the word “Go.” After all, “Go” is the first word translated for us in the verse, right? Besides that, most Christians feel like spiritual disasters when they ponder both the inadequacy and irregularity in which they share the gospel with unbelievers. Both assumptions, as we will see, would be largely incorrect. Understanding your personal mission in this world requires—not a focus on the Greek participle translated “Go”—but on the verb mathēteuō, which is translated “make disciples.”
In the Greek, mathēteuō is the main verb in the sentence. In other words, this little Greek word is the crux of why you are here on earth right now. It is why you are still breathing air. The Great Commission is not something you plan to do at a certain time of the day, week, or month. It is something you are already doing right now! As a genuine believer, you are currently engaged in the process of making disciples of Jesus Christ, whether you are comfortable doing it or not. The Greek verb’s continual present tense implies that you are already and always active in the process of making disciples and that the job, frankly, will continue until you are no longer living.
The real issue, then, is not so much, Now that you’re saved, when will you go and make disciples? but rather, How effective are you at making disciples now that you’re saved? That is a remarkable difference. Making disciples is a 24/7 job for a Christian. You are always on the clock. There are no vacations. No holidays. No sabbaticals. It is something you are required to do for others, and it is something you are always doing for yourself. Remember, Great Commission Discipleship is the reason you are still breathing right now.
“Make disciples” (mathēteuō) carries the idea of determined motivation manifested by intense labor. In other words, it requires your full concentration and power. It is non-optional behavior for anyone who names the name of Christ, regardless of whether you are young or old, sick or healthy, a babe in Christ, or even a seminary professor with more letters after your name than there are in the alphabet. The ministry of making disciples is the primary objective for the local church gathered in fellowship, as well as the church scattered amongst the nations.
The spiritual intentionality of a genuine disciple, then, as understood from this Greek word (mathēteuō), means so much more than a common churchgoer who understands a few basics of Christianity. More so than even a churchgoer mainly concerned about checking off duties from a religious to-do list. The root of the word has the idea of a true disciple being someone who persistently believes, with both an internal and external desire to learn more about their subject of interest. For genuine disciples of Christianity, the subject of our passion is Jesus Christ Himself.
The word disciple is not a term that could be used, for example, to describe a college student who completes their homework solely because their tuition-paying parents expect it. It would more adequately define a student who personally applies for admission to a specific university due to a heartfelt interest in attending that institution, desires to be instructed by that school’s professors in the major they are most interested in, and is willing to get a job in order to pay for it themselves—if that’s what is required to make it happen.
Question: Which definition of student (disciple) best describes you when it comes to loving and learning about the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you loving and learning more about Jesus everyday or are you merely going through the religious motions of a convenient Christianity? Are you being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ or just checking “God” off your to-do list? If you are not obeying the first prerequisite of God’s revealed will, what makes you think God would ever disclose His will in other areas of your life?
Jesus said it this way, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”
In describing the noun form of this particular Greek word, W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words, says, “A disciple was not only a pupil, but an adherent; hence they are spoken of as imitators of their teacher.” In other words, there is no room in the Greek word translated “make disciples” for spiritual slackers who manifest no desire to learn, imitate, or grow in the knowledge of Christ. Vine’s definition of a genuinely saved disciple could hardly be used to describe the average American churchgoer who attends church on Sunday mornings, yet commits themselves to little or no spiritual disciplines during the rest of the week.
My wife, for example, would know something was terribly wrong in our marriage if I only ever came home for a couple hours once every seven days. She would have good reason to question the level of my love and commitment to both her and our marriage.
The same goes for your relationship with God. He wants all of you or nothing from you.