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Jubilee Article Discipleship: An Invitation to Change Nations By Today begins a series of articles, which are designed to focus on one of my passions; “Discipleship: An Invitation to Change Nations.” 1 The Importance of Discipleship Jesus was about his Father’s business in preparing disciples to become apostles, and being the sacrifice to satisfy a holy God. He did both marvelously, as our Savior, Lord and King; we are honored to be called into his family to serve. In this first article I want to focus on five principles of discipleship, as teachers of the Word, for your consideration. We must… 1. Choose wisely with an end goal in mind. In Mark 3:13-16a Jesus, after a time of observation and peaceful deliberation, chooses 12 men to become anointed, powerful apostles of the Kingdom of God. He used the metaphor of catching men as fishermen, (Matt 4:17-12, Luke 5:1-11) beginning a process followed by Peter and Paul until today of equipping the next generation of servant leaders (see 2Tim 2:1-2). Along with choosing wisely and well, we must focus on the primary goal, which is… 2. Maturity, which must be produced in the disciple over time. Matt 5:48, Eph. 1:21, Col. 1:27, speak to the importance of maturity, which had to be developed in the disciples through failures and successes, until love, faithfulness and holiness (character) was developed. The Key to maturity is submission, Heb. 3:1. The Gospel of Salvation was a start. The Gospel of the Kingdom (Christ rule overall) was the main course. (Rom 14:17). Further, in determining who to invest our lives in… 3. Assessment is Key. Of course, little is actually told of how and why Jesus chose the disciples he did. We can assume one thing; his choices were natural and spiritual. The natural relates to men’s availability, they were middleclass businessmen, followers, hungry…etc. Discipleship had a strong history in Jewish heritage. The chooser of a disciple by a master teacher was key to a successful process. Today we must also assess the level of commitment and compatibility of a student we work with. Biblical knowledge and maturity are essential to a careful and powerful assessment in wisdom. Finally, we must get to… 4. The Heart of the Matter. Henry Nouwen stated in his book The Return of the Prodigal “Giving forgiveness and generosity are then, three ways by which the image of the Father can grow in me. In brokenness, the ability to forgive and receive forgiveness and generosity of time talent and treasure are the core of a good disciple and the goal of true mentor.” Thus, we need a disciple/teacher relationship where there is… 5. A Chosen Yoke. The goal for each disciple is to put on the yoke; take up the cross and find their kingdom purpose. All the disciples lived in history; living in the dynamic tension between the kingdom that is here and now and the kingdom that isn’t yet fully. Jesus set his face like flint on his purpose; we must do likewise, and every disciple worth their salt must do the same.
Conclusion God has birthed Jubilee with a Vision to network Five Fold Ministry leaders for Kingdom service. As such, we are also to be about the Father’s business. We, the churches present and future leaders must bring the Bride to full maturity. The worthy disciples, under girded by prayer, integrity and a strong strategic foundation carried the message of the risen Christ to their World, and we must continue in that great cause; making disciples of all people groups.
Stan E. DeKoven, Ph.D., MFT President Vision International 1115 D Street Ramona, CA 92065 760-789-4700 Fax: 760-789-3023 "The Whole Word to the Whole World"
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