A few weeks ago, Rob Fischer, my associate, met with the representative of a mission agency that serves 80 pastors in remote Alaska. He shared that many of these pastors admit that neither they nor their churches know how to disciple others. His comment reminded me how wide-spread this problem is! I’ve often had the same experience with pastors and lay-leaders.
The conversation Rob had prompted some common questions we often hear:
- What is discipleship?
- How do we make disciples?
- Who is responsible for discipling others?
- What’s the difference between evangelism and discipleship?
You probably know what Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:18–20 “‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” So, you know that He is counting on you and me to disciple others… but how?
If you’re like me, you know people close to you who don’t yet know Christ: a sibling, a co-worker, a neighbor, or a friend. We love that person and don’t want them to spend eternity banned from the presence of God… Jesus gave each of us as His followers the task of making disciples. He entrusted us with the Gospel — the good news about salvation by faith through Him. I know most of us desperately want to obey Him!
We don’t want to be like the servant who merely buried his master’s money instead of investing it. We want to be like the servant who invested his master’s money (the Gospel) and saw it grow. We long to hear our Master and Savior Jesus Christ say to us on that day, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
But many of us don’t know how? For the past thirty-eight years Men’s Ministry Catalyst has helped empower, equip, educate, and encourage people to know Jesus and make Him known. Almost 40% of our books written, tools for ministry from our electronic library, and most of our speaking engagements center on a very simple concept — Go Make Disciples!
Let’s start the New Year off right! Will can set resolutions that have achievable goals. I encourage you to stop what you are doing right now and ask yourself this question about the people in your network (business colleagues, relatives, or friends): who doesn’t know Jesus? Write their names down. Pray daily that the Holy Spirit would open their minds and hearts to receiving your encouragement and His Spirit, so they can really know Jesus.
It seems to me that our Savior’s return is not far off. The events and trends described in biblical prophecy are all but complete. I want to live my life in such a way that I can retire at night knowing that I’m sold out for Jesus and will do everything I can to be His witness. I regularly ask myself this question: “What would I do differently today if I knew Christ was going to return tomorrow?”
One of our primary missions this year is to better equip YOU with resources, prayers, and encouragement to help you in your mentoring of others. Have you checked our website lately to discover all the new resources available to assist you in sharing God’s Word? Go to mensministrycatalyst.org and check it out. Also, the new Bible Study Booklet Series on topics impacting men talks about the strategic barriers many men are facing and are tripping over in life. These booklets are also available on our website.
We have recorded four segments of our new weekly radio program on 89.9 KYMS in Post Falls Idaho. It is a regional broadcast that you can join. You can listen to this recorded program on their website every Saturday at 12 noon and Sunday at 1:00 PM at kymsradio.com.
If you haven’t yet reviewed our recent Year-End Letter, please do so. See how you can receive Rob Fischer’s new book called The Simplicity of Disciple-Making – And 7 Ways We’ve Complicated It!
Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Personal Application
Please remember to share our past devotionals from our archives or future devotionals with others (mensministrycatalyst.org/devotional-archives/). This is an easy and non-threatening way you can encourage others to see how God is working in people’s lives.
Be intentional about sharing and modeling the love of Jesus with others. One simple way to do this is next time you go to a restaurant make the following comment to your waiter: “Our family will be saying grace for our meal. How could we pray for you?” I’ve done this for years and only had two people ever say NO. You won’t believe how people will respond to that simple gesture! I’ve had waitresses sit down and start crying as they shared their issues; I’ve had some servers give me a hug; and others simply smile and tell me their story. By asking that question you have made them feel important by the care you are giving them. Make sure to leave a nice tip. 😊
Jim Grassi, D. Min.