Disciple-Makers

At its core, what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? The basic definition would be “someone who follows Jesus”. But even that definition leaves us with the question of, What does it mean to follow Jesus? To answer this question we have to go back to Jesus’ original call to the first disciples. When Jesus called the disciples and said “Follow Me”, what was His purpose in them following? What was Jesus training the disciples to be? Good people? Theologians? Humanitarians? Church attenders? Jesus told them, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus was training his disciples to be disciple-makers. From this idea, I think we can gather that a disciple at its core is best defined as a disciple-maker. We become disciples of Jesus when we become disciple-makers. A Christian who does not make disciples is not a disciple. A disciple, by definition, makes disciples. Once we understand this truth, take it in, and let it permeate our hearts and our lives, we are no longer satisfied with being mere Christians. We long to become disciples of Jesus by being disciple-makers.