Discipleship: The Biggest Word in Christianity

“The Church in North America is diminishing because we are raising converts not kings.”

Brodie Kalamen29

Chapter Footnotes and Hyperlinks

  1. Brodie Kalamen is the youth pastor at the Kelowna Christian Center. He made this comment in a Sunday Sermon entitled “Heavenly Inheritance,” March 5 th, 2006. You can download many of his sermons at www.kcc.net .

  2. John 21:1-24 and Acts 1:1-8

  3. The scripture uses the word “mountain.” Being a resident of British Columbia and having visited Israel and seen the true stature of their mountains, the word hill gives the correct impression.

  4. It is clear that this meeting with the disciples spoken of in Mathew 28:16-20 was probably not the very last time he met with the disciples. The commission was given in Galilee and the last time Jesus was seen was on the Mount of Olives after he implores the disciples to stay in Jerusalem: Acts 1:11-12. Clearly, Matthew’s Gospel presents the “Great Commission” as the very last statement of Jesus thus giving it the “last will and testament” status.

  5. Discipleship is often spoken of as just the process of teaching believers and not that it begins with taking the Gospel to the nations. I have documented seven stages of spiritual development based upon Matt. 28:19, Hebrews 5:11-14 and 1 John 2:12-14. They are pre-conversion; conversion; babyhood; childhood-adolescence; young adulthood, mature-adulthood and fatherhood.

God is a Green Light

  1. The story of Bruce Olson is told in the epic missions’ story of how he came to the Motilone people, Bruchko. I consider this to be a must read for anyone thinking about going into Cross Cultural Missions. Bruce Olson. Bruchko. Charisma House, June 1977. You can learn more about the amazing Bruce Olson at the web site: www.bruceolson.com.

Becoming All Things To All People

  1. Faith Annette Sand The Motilone (Barí) Miracle http://www.bruceolson.com/english/texts/ miracle1.html “Faith Sand [former] assistant editor of Missiology,visited Bruce Olsson on assignment for the Other Side. ”

  2. Ibid.

  3. (The Message Version )

  4. 1 Corinthians 9:23 (NIV)

  5. 1 Corinthians 9:21 (NIV)

Amish in the City

  1. Rumspringa has several interpretations. The idea that the kids are completely turned loose is more of a myth than fact. In most cases the kids are still at home with their parents and are allowed some various freedoms that help in their decision for baptism. Only a small majority completely leave their communities. Statistics bear this out with almost 90% of young adults returning to their Amish community and receiving baptism. For more info on “rumspringa” see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumspringa.

Aliens in this World

  1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

  2. 1 Peter 2:11 (NIV) Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

  3. 1 Peter 1:23 We have been born again by the seed (another word for spore) of the word of God. Being born again means that we are transformed from within.

  4. Luke 14: 26-27 (NIV) If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

The Context of Discipleship

  1. Galatians 5:14 (NIV) The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

  2. IVP New Testament Commentaries on Matthew 28: “All nations may signify all groups of "peoples," rather than the modern concept of "nation-states" (McGavran and Arn 1977:38); in many nations a variety of different peoples coexist. Thus Christ commands us to sensitively reach each culture, not merely some people from each nation. Also, far from abandoning the mission to Matthew's own people, his commission represents "peoples" and not simply "Gentiles" (Saldarini 1994:59-60, 78-81; compare Meier 1977), although in the context of his whole Gospel he lays the emphasis on Gentile peoples, whom his community most needs to be encouraged in evangelizing.” “The Report of the Church.” BibleGateway.com. Gospel Communications. 5 April 2006 http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ commentaries/index.php?

  3. Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

  4. “Eschatology simply defined means the study of last things. That is, eschatology is primarily concerned with the final prophetic events mentioned in the Bible.” Welcome. http://www.eschatology.com: 5 April 2006

  5. Articles about large-scale ecclesiastic architecture can be found at: http://www.zum.de/whkmla/art/hma/cathedrals.html

The Curriculum of Discipleship

  1. Matthew 28:20 (NIV)

  2. Jude 3 (NIV)

  3. Galatians 5:14 (NIV) “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

  4. Matthew 22:38-40 (NIV) “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

  5. Check out their history and influence on modern day Christian music at http://www.2ndchapterofacts.com

  6. Phil Keaggy was one of the most significant pioneers in Christian contemporary music. There is a good sampling of his music on this site: http://www.philkeaggy.com

Listen to Greg read this section:

Jesus has died and risen from the dead. He leaves for several weeks and then returns again to spend considerable time with His disciples in their home town by the sea of Galilee. They enjoy wonderful fellowship with the risen Lord eating and sharing together. He teaches and explains many things to them. They ask Him if He is going to establish His kingdom on earth now and He gently reminds them that this is not the time, but to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the promised coming of the Holy Spirit.30 On one of His final days He invites His eleven disciples (Judas was obviously not there) to meet and walk with Him up one of the local hills.31 It is there that He gives them some of His very last recorded words on earth.

Imagine speaking to your loved ones in this context. What would you say if you knew the very next sentences would be the last words they would hear from you for the rest of their natural lives? Would you not weigh these words? Would you not want to leave them with some lasting bit of instruction, exhortation or comfort? These would, undoubtedly, be the most important things you would ever say to your loved ones.

The Gospel of Matthew records for us one of the very last statements32 Jesus made to His eleven disciples. These words carry the weight of a “last will and testament.” Jesus gave these words the weight of finality. They can be thought of as the biggest words of Christianity. This is why the traditional summary of this passage is aptly called “The Great Commission .”

“Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

This commission must become the central motivation for all we do inside and outside of the church. It was the last directive that Jesus gave the disciples and must be the defining activity of all Christian experience. It takes within it all the stages of Christian growth from pre-conversion to full-grown maturity in Christ.33

God is a Green Light

A good friend and teacher in my Bible School days coined the phrase, “God is a green light.” He would almost always continue to rant, “The last thing Jesus told us to do is go. He didn’t say pray about going. He didn’t say think about going. He said, ‘Go.’” My friend would then, in his dramatic and almost maniacal style, begin to shout at us, “Go! Go! Go in the name of Jesus! GO!” Needless to say it did tend to quickly end the Bible study.

One young missionary, Bruce Olson,34 did just that in 1961. At the tender age of nineteen, he heard the call of Matthew 28 :18-20 and bought a one-way ticket to Venezuela leaving his family and friends in Minnesota. With almost no money, no official missionary connections and no experience, Bruce set out to reach the most remote tribe in the Amazon, the Motilone.

No white man had survived contact with this group of Indians in 400 years since the Spanish Conquistadors. As Bruce approached their territory, he was shot in the leg with a poison arrow and taken prisoner. The wound became infected forcing Bruce to escape his captors and make his way out of the jungle to get medical attention. Undaunted by this affliction, he returned to Motilone territory and again was captured. This time during his captivity he came down with hepatitis.  A helicopter saw his distress signal and rescued him.  Courageously, he returned for a third time. This time the Indians believed that he was God-sent because of the "big metal bird" which had rescued him. After living and working with these unique, tree dwelling people for many years, Bruce was able to reach them with the gospel message: Jesus came to redeem them from sin and give them a new life with God. In time, the entire tribe embraced this message.

The gospel not only brought spiritual reform to these people but it also transformed how they viewed their place in the world. The Motilones are now some of the most progressive, academic and giving native people in all of South America. The tribe has sent a small army of young people off to Secondary and Post Secondary Institutes to receive education in the fields of medicine and language as well as vocational training. Bruce has built facilities and trained people to work in eighteen health centers, forty-two bilingual schools, twenty-two agricultural centers, and eleven trading posts which function as co-ops.

The Motilone have sparked social development in places overlooked by the governments of Colombia and Venezuela. The co-operatives provide the economic base for eighteen tribal people groups. The director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Northeast Colombia is a Motilone lawyer. The director of Indian Affairs for the state government is a Motilone graduate of business administration. The coordinator for press relations for Northeast Colombia Native Peoples' Affairs is a Motilone university graduate of journalism.

Obviously, Bruce Olson took seriously the idea that Jesus conveyed: our responsibility to get outside of our own community and make disciples. He tells us to “make disciples of all nations” or people groups. He intends for us, based on His universal authority, to proselytize, evangelize, indoctrinate and completely convert every nation and people group to Christianity. . . . . .

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