Disciplemaking Genius of Jesus (Part 1): Are You Confidently Walking in Circles?

By Bill Allison and Dave Garda- Cadre International Minisries (Posted with permission.)

Are You Confidently Walking in Circles?

Scientific researchers studied what happens to people who get lost while walking in a desert or wilderness. It turns out that lost people literally go around in circles, but they don’t realize it. Worse yet, lost people tend to feel confident they are walking in a straight line, but they’re not. The study stated: “…participants were only able to keep a straight path when the sun or moon was visible. However, as soon as the sun disappeared behind some clouds, people started to walk in circles without even noticing it.” It seems we are in continual need of a reliable point of reference to keep from walking in circles.

Here’s a question for you:  When it comes to disciplemaking, could it be that we have lost our point of reference and are spending a good deal of time confidently walking in circles and we’re not even aware of it?

Why a Disciplemaking Learning Community?

“All authority in heaven and in 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.” —Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 (bold mine)

At the tail end of his earthly ministry, the resurrected Jesus appeared to his eleven disciples and commanded them to “make disciples.”

I know. You’ve heard it a thousand times. Perhaps you didn’t even bother to pause long enough to read the passage of Scripture on the previous page because you recognized it as the “make disciples” passage. Been there. Done that. Right? But this time, I dare you to stop and ponder it for a moment.

Consider this question: How would Jesus’ eleven disciples have understood his command to “make disciples”?

If you’ll graciously allow me more than a little poetic license here, I’d like to take a shot at answering that question. When Jesus commanded his original eleven disciples to “make disciples,” I suggest that they would have heard something like this:

“Guys, you know what I’ve done with you for the last three-and-a-half years? Repeat that in the exact same way over and over again! Starting right now as you go about your lives, do exactly what I did with you… with others… and help them do it with others without ever stopping. When you tell others about me, some will believe and follow me. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Be sure to pull them close—like I did with you—and show them how to love God, love people, and make disciples… until every ethnic group in the world has disciples who are making more disciples. As you live my disciplemaking way of life, you can have full assurance of my presence, power, and provision—for I am always with you.”

So how did the eleven disciples respond to Jesus’ command to “make disciples”? Did they understand? Better yet, did they obey?

The Bible is clear. Together, as they went, they sought to live and replicate Jesus’ pattern for disciplemaking… in the exact same way as Jesus… over and over. And a Jesus-like disciplemaking movement was born.

About twenty-five years later, the Apostle Paul (not one of the original eleven disciples) wrote about his Jesus-like disciplemaking way of life this way:  “Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” —1 Corinthians 4:16-17 (bold mine)

It started with Jesus who showed the original eleven disciples how to make disciplemakers. In the pattern of Jesus, these original disciples made more disciples of Jesus. Later, this Jesus-like disciplemaking way of life transformed Paul. It was precisely because Paul was imitating Jesus’ disciplemaking way of life that he could say to others, “I urge you to imitate me” (see also 1 Corinthians 11:1). Paul passed this Jesus-like disciplemaking way of life on to many others including Timothy, the church at Corinth, and “everywhere in every church” (italics mine). These cadres of Jesus-like disciplemakers were the very first Disciplemaking Learning Communities—the disciplemaking genius of Jesus at work. And they changed the world.

Stop and think about this for a moment.

Would you say that the disciplemaking pattern exemplified by Jesus, his disciples, and Paul is clear and primary today? Of course, Jesus-like disciplemakers and Disciplemaking Learning Communities have been present in some way, shape, or form in every age since Jesus. But somewhere along the way—over the years—across the cultures, have we drifted away from the clarity and primacy of the disciplemaking genius of Jesus?

In other words, when it comes to Jesus-like disciplemaking, could it be that we have lost the original point of reference and are spending a good deal of time confidently walking in circles and we’re not even aware of it?

Let’s get personal.

Have you lost sight of what Jesus means when he commands you to “make disciples”?
Dream with me for a minute.

• What would happen if you became obsessed with loving Jesus and living a Jesus-like disciplemaking way of life?
• What could God do if you gathered together with just a few others who are passionate about living a Jesus-like disciplemaking way of life?

It’s this gathering together with a few others who are passionate about living a Jesus- like disciplemaking way of life that we want to explore with you. We call this gathering of aspiring Jesus-like disciplemakers a Disciplemaking Learning Community—or DLC for short.

Why is a Disciplemaking Learning Community so critically important?

The life of Jesus shows us that the delivery conduit for disciplemaking is a Disciplemaking Learning Community. STOP! Go back and re-read the that sentence again. It’s really important. Think about it. A Disciplemaking Learning Community is not simply an ingredient for making disciples like Jesus—it’s how Jesus made disciples. (See Mark 3:13-15.) I believe the disciplemaking genius of Jesus is his Disciplemaking Learning Community.

But what does a Jesus-like Disciplemaking Learning Community look like in our 21st century Western culture?
Now that’s a great question. Short answer: I don’t fully know. I know it’s not likely that we’ll all quit our day jobs and travel around for miles on foot together—like Jesus did with his disciples. My wife and seven kids would prefer a van. While I don’t fully know the answer to that question… I know it’s the right question and I am learning. For years I’ve been prayerful and intentional about doing life in a Disciplemaking Learning Community. And I’m constantly failing, reflecting, and tweaking as I go. From time to time, I experience some aspect of a 21st century equivalent of a Jesus-like Disciplemaking Learning Community. These have wrecked my life… in life-giving ways. I’m hungry for more. Way more.

So I invite you to join me on an adventure of trying to wrap the arms of our hearts and minds around what a Jesus-like Disciplemaking Learning Community looks like in our 21st century Western culture. (Note: It takes a minimum of two people to wrestle. And a real wrestling fan knows the best wrestling matches have more than just two people in the ring at the same time. So put a few people into the ring with you and dig into this… together… with Jesus.)

The Disciplemaking Genius of Jesus © 2011 Cadre Ministries www.cadreministries.com

Note from Shane Stacey: 

Over the next weeks, with permission from my dear friends Bill Allison and Dave Garda, I’ll be posting eight leading indicators that will help you identify when you are experiencing a Jesus-like Disciplemaking Learning Community. These  will not be a definitive or exhaustive list, but simply indicators to help you begin to wrestle with what  Jesus-like Disciplemaking looks like for you in your context.

In ReachStudents, we’re sold out that missional focus student ministry requires that Jesus be our fixed point of reference and that Jesus-like Disciplemaking Learning Communities(DLC) are essential to advancing the gospel both in breadth and depth. 

Several districts are piloting Disciplemaking Learning Communities for youth workers this year with the hopes of seeing DLC’s multiplied back into each local ministry context among adults and students alike.  You can contact your District ReachStudents Director to see if there is one beginning in your area.   Or, as a first step, ask them about when the next Disciplemaking is Relationships training is coming to  your area.