Was Jesus Wrong About Making Disciples?
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For the Christian, the Bible’s command by Christ to “make disciples” is one of the most significant in all of Scripture. We know that Jesus spoke this mandate just before His ascension to heaven. The gravity of His final earthly words in the flesh is obvious: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. . .” (Matthew 28:19a NKJV). The life and example of our Lord and Savior point to this directive. Our world has been forever changed by Christians who have obeyed Jesus in carrying out what has come to be known as the Great Commission. However, considering how many parents presently make disciples, we must believe that Jesus was wrong about the methods He used.
A Lack of Emphasis on How Jesus Made Disciples
Much has been written about the evangelistic requirement of The Great Commission and many have rightly pointed out that the emphasis here is making disciples, not simply converts. But there is a profound dearth of teaching on the process of disciple-making as demonstrated by Jesus and the implications that His methods could have on the Church today. What did Jesus literally mean when He said “make disciples?”
The Fruit of Christ Versus the Fruit of Christian Parents
Jesus said that you can judge a tree by its fruit (Matthew 7:16-20). A quick glance at the fruit of Christian parents’ discipleship practices reveals a very sick tree. We know that of the twelve disciples, only Judas was lost to Satan according to the sovereign will of God. The discipleship methods of Jesus produced a retention rate of approximately 92%. You would expect similar fruit from parents that are following Christ. Instead, the statistics about today’s disciples are appalling: George Barna indicates the shocking fact that only 9% of “born again” Christians and only .005% of (one in two hundred) young adults have a Christian worldview! A Southern Baptist Convention study revealed a gut-wrenching statistic that only 12% of all Christian children are being retained by the Church. Church leaders point to complex issues to explain the root cause. But is it possible that there is a simpler reason; could it be that our discipleship process is flawed? Let’s contrast a couple of the discipleship methods of Jesus Christ with the methods of many Christian parents.
Jesus Practiced Deuteronomy 6 in Making Disciples
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, not anyone else, and He was with His disciples for the majority of most days. From that point forward they were discipled by Him alone around the clock, and His focus was on Scripture; He taught, admonished, and demonstrated to them how to live according to God’s Word. Jesus was trained by His parents using the command given in Deuteronomy 6:6-7, and then He used this same approach in training His disciples.
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
Children from Christian Homes Becoming Like Their Non-Christian Teachers
This discipleship command and example by Christ stands in stark contrast to the approach by many Christian parents today. The status quo in the Church follows the worldly practice of using many teachers who teach many different things: television, the media, movies secular music, iPods, Game Boys, the internet, school teachers, coaches, peers, parents, ministers, and Sunday School teachers, to name a few. Although our children may get a “sprinkling” of biblical truths each week, most of the time spent with these life-shaping influences is not spent on learning about Christ. The time is primarily spent receiving non-biblical (read: worldly) information.
Luke 6:40 says “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” Our children will become like their teachers. With the example set by Jesus of scriptural training for likely over one hundred hours per week, why do we think that one to five hours of biblical training per week can do the job? Is it likely that these few hours will overcome a hundred hours of worldly indoctrination? The Church’s “microwave approach” to discipleship is a far cry from what Jesus practiced.
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said. . . ‘Has God indeed said. . .’” -Genesis 3:1
Satan knows Deuteronomy 6 and how to make disciples, and he has convinced us to give him control of our children’s training nearly all day long.
Jesus Never Sent the Lambs Alone Among Wolves
In Luke 10 we see how Jesus delegated authority to His disciples and sent them out. Now keep in mind that these disciples were grown men. Nevertheless He sent them out in twos! Why would He do this? He warned these grown men that they were going out as “lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3). He recognized the fact that Satan is a real danger. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). If Jesus was this protective of grown men and insisted on training them Himself, would He advocate sending children out alone for training by others holding questionable values? Not on your child’s life! Nevertheless, the normative practice of the Christian parents today is to send our children out alone among the wolves. Should we be surprised that most of our lambs are being devoured by Satan?
Modern Day “Daniels”
At this point many will say something like, “I went through the world’s indoctrination program and I turned out OK, didn’t I? I went out alone and was not devoured. I want my children to have the same experiences that I did.” Here’s my response: If this is your experience, you are one of the 12% that did not leave the church. You are a “Daniel.” If you are certain that your child is a “Daniel” and your child is called of God to be in the world, then your child should go forth! But if you have an option and you are not absolutely certain that your child is a “Daniel” do you not want better for your children? Scripture does not have any example of parents who volunteered to send their children to be trained by the world. In every case parents were forced to send them. The question for parents is: What will you do about the 88% that we are losing? Are you willing to lose your children who are not “Daniels?” I don’t know about you, but I don’t like those odds for my children.
Now some parents do not have a choice. Some like Daniel’s parents are forced to send their children. If you are a single parent and must work outside the home, then send them out. But there are some things that you too can do like Jesus did. Pray for your children and with your children. Warn your children in advance about wolves and false teaching. Using Jesus’ method from Deuteronomy 6 immerse your children in scripture when they rise up, when you take them to school, when you sit with them in your house and when they lie down at night. Like Daniel had believing friends, help your child to have Christian friends who will stand with them when they are in the world.
Was Jesus Wrong? Or Are We?
Jesus personally taught Scripture all day long to His disciples, rather than sending them to be indoctrinated by the world. He personally took His disciples out and sent them out for evangelistic visits to the world with other adults. He didn’t send them out alone.
There is a huge gap between the discipleship practices of Jesus and thestatus quo of the Church today. The quality of the fruit is quite telling. The Christian life requires following Christ. Should we not follow Him also with our discipleship? Either Jesus was wrong about His discipleship methods, or weneed to change our methods.
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