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7 Reasons You've Never Made a Disciple

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by gb93433, Dec 13, 2011.

  1. gb93433

    gb93433 Active Member
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    Jesus tells His disciples to make disciples. That’s our mission. But apparently, only 1 in 20 Christians has even shared the Gospel.
    Less than that will ever lead someone to Christ.

    Less than that will ever invest time in leading that new disciple toward Christlikeness.

    What are we to make of so few disciples actually making disciples? If you’ve never made a disciple (or haven’t in a long time), there are at least 7 factors that might be contributing to your disciple-making slump.

    The rest of the story is at http://www.churchleaders.com/pastor...er&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Update
     
  2. JesusFan

    JesusFan Well-Known Member

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    Think that we have to be disciples of Christ ourselves first!

    Also, just don't want to 'take the time/effort" to get involved in lives of others, as we are self centered and selfish still!

    Plus, most of us not trained up ourselves and know just 'how " to do that type of training!

    Some also don't think they would be 'able" to do that, its for pastors only!
     
  3. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
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    Thanks for posting that. Simple and direct to the point. It will help me in my witnessing.
     
  4. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    Just to clarify:

    Are making disciples, soul-winning and personal witnessing the same thing? Or do they carry different meanings for some of you?
     
  5. JesusFan

    JesusFan Well-Known Member

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    To me, two different aspects!

    Stage 1 would be to do the witnessing "soul winning"
    stage 2 would be to take them from being saved to being matured/discipled in the faith!
     
  6. gb93433

    gb93433 Active Member
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    Jim Putnam writes in one of his books that there are five stages in discipleship and you cannot make someone a disciple until the person goes from self focus to others focus.
     
  7. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    gb, Would you list the stages he mentioned?
     
  8. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    But when the maniac of Gadera got saved, Christ told him to go and tell his people what had happened. The man had no experience, no theology, no training, but he told his whole village about Christ.

    The concept of "witness" means simply telling what has happened to one. Any Christian can do this, no matter how raw and untrained they are. So Peter said, "We cannot but speak of the things we have heard and seen." With that thought, I titled my Japanese personal evangelism textbook, 'Anyone Can' Evangelism.
     
  9. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    I believe that the Biblical "making disciples" is soul winning. Consider Matthew's Great Commission. First you "Go and make disciples." Then you baptize, a step that is considered part of "discipling" to many. Then you "teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you," another step that is considered discipleship by many. If "Go and make disciples" is training people to be disciples rather than winning them to Christ, then wouldn't the next two steps be redundant? So I prefer the term "followup" to "discipling."
     
  10. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    This is a great article. Thanks for sharing it.
     
  11. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    Thanks, guys. just wanted to make sure we were all talking about the same thing.

    Instead of soul-winning, I like to describe it as leading someone to the Lord, or pointing someone to Christ. I was taught a "method" of soul-winning, which included the Roman Road and the Sinner's Prayer.
    I was taught what to say at each point and how to bring to the point of praying "The Prayer."

    I still think the Roman Road is a well-organized way to "point one to Christ," and is useful for those who lack confidence.

    And I think that is the main reason some are reluctant to do personal witnessing--fear. Guys, when you're dealing with eternal matters, the fear of saying the wrong thing is real.

    For those folks, John, I tell them the same thing you do. Simply tell them what the Lord did to you. Share your conversion experience. Don't worry about "winning" somebody. The Lord Jesus can take care of that.
     
  12. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    John, I'm sure you've mentioned this in the past somewhere. What were your expectations when you went to Japan? Is the way of reaching people there similar to the way we do it in America? What kind of adjustments did you have to make for the culture?

    And I'm curious? How long was it before you saw your first conversion? How did it come about.
     
  13. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    I went to Japan all full of vim and vigor to do American style soul winning. I learned that first of all Japan is a Gospel resistant culture, that they are much harder to win to Christ than almost any culture on earth. So I had to adjust my expectations to Japan speed, and realize that God's glory is the main thing, not numbers. I also had to learn that in a Confucian culture (and some other kinds of culture) the most important thing is human relationships, not truth. So I had to learn that in many cases you have to build relationships to get the privilege of winning someone to Christ.

    The first person I believe trusted Christ through my witness was a boy of about 12 I met while doing street evangelism at a train station after about 6 months in Japanese language school. The senior missionary was elsewhere, but when he came back he questioned the boy, who appeared to have understood the Gospel and responded to it. With children the relationship is natural and does not have to be built over time. But of course children can't be baptized or even go to church without parental permission, so one can't build a church with children. So I don't believe that boy was ever "discipled."
     
  14. gb93433

    gb93433 Active Member
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    From the book Real Life Discipleship

    Dead
    • Unbelieving
    • Rebellious

    Infant
    • Ignorant
    Confused
    • Dependent

    Child
    • Self-centered, self-absorbed
    • Idealistic
    • Prideful
    • Low view of self
    • Interdependent

    Young Adult
    • Action/service-oriented
    • Zealous
    • God-centered
    • Other-centered
    • Mission-minded but incomplete in his understanding
    • Independent

    Parent
    • Intentional
    • Strategic
    • Reproduction-minded
    • Self-feeding
    • Mission-minded
    • Team-minded (unity matters)
    • Dependable
     
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