For a portion of my life, I promoted discipleship but felt that involving the “church” in that process often muddied the waters. What I have now come to see is that discipleship only happens in the context of the church. Before you argue that you have witnessed plenty of successful discipleship endeavors outside of the church’s four walls, let me explain what I mean (and what the Bible says) about the church.

Jesus did not shy away from preaching both the glories and the pains of choosing to follow Him, and neither should we. Christ was clear about the troubles that lay ahead for the disciples and warned them to count the cost of what they would endure before following Him.

God is not impressed with our fancy buildings and large service attendance.  God is impressed with the man or woman who has fully surrendered their life for the gospel.  God can do far more with 50 dedicated saints than He can with 5,000 ambivalent church-goers.

Jesus put His trust in the Spirit’s ability to use a small group of devoted followers to change the world. How could this be possible? The answer … MULTIPLICATION! Jesus understood the immense power of training disciples who would make disciples who would go on to make even more disciples. This is how Jesus always has and will continue to use His church to fulfill the Great Commission.

In its broadest sense, discipleship is anything that leads people to become more like Jesus. This definition breaks the box of limiting discipleship to merely a church program or Bible study. We are all active in the process of discipleship; most of us just don’t think of it as such.

Maybe you are among those who claim they are willing to die for Christ. That is amazing! I have met many who champion their devotion to Christ by expressing their willingness to die for Him. The real question is … are they willing to live for Him?