So we’ve been talking about “making disciples” for Jesus, as in Matt. 28: 18-20, when Jesus said, “All power is given to Me, in heaven and in earth, so Go and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and [know this], I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  I am satisfied that ‘making disciples’ is the duty of every practicing Christian. You know, “practicing Christian” means a person who has a personal relationship with God through Jesus, and they have the Spirit of the Living God residing in their own personal hearts and bodies.  (As in 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Don’t you know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit?”)  Earlier, we have defined “practicing Christian” as one who talks to and listens to God during her daily quiet time; and as one who meets with other brothers or sisters weekly to tell each other what God is doing in their lives.

So if practicing Christians make disciples, how do they do it?  Well, that’s a pretty big subject; we probably can’t cover it in 300-400 words; but at least we could talk about how to begin.  We’ve said before that making disciples is primarily about making relationships with the people God puts you with.  And if you want to make, that is develop, relationships with other people, you have to see them on some regular basis; daily is best; weekly is probably a minimum; or maybe somewhere in between.  In any case, personal contact is a must. Seeing their faces; looking them in the eye; feeling how they’re feeling (when they’re up, and when they’re down).

Some days I don’t even know how to distinguish between a disciple who is the teacher, and a disciple who is the student, because the roles are constantly changing, because God is constantly teaching us (the teacher and the student) new things, and He’s using both the teacher and the student to teach His eternal principles to each other.  In that case probably sometimes the teacher is not listening as well as the student to what God is saying. LOL.

For today, the good news of Jesus is that the stronger and closer your relationship is with somebody, the more likely it is that you’ll succeed in the job of making disciples who can make disciples too.  (And spending time with them is the very first prerequisite for making that happen.)