The Purpose for Discipleship

Christ's direction and focus remained on the larger purpose, to take the gospel to the world.  As noted by the author Bill Hull, in his book, The Disciple Making Church,  "Spreading the gospel filled his thoughts, even as early as his encounter with the woman at the well (John 4), when He called the fields ripe for harvest to the attention of His disciples." 

The purpose for discipleship rests in the fact that God has a mission to reach all people and nations of the earth with his Good News – the gospel.  This is well stated in summary for our purposes by John Stott's article in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement,

The Living God Is a Missionary God– "The nations are not gathered in automatically.  If God has promised to bless 'all the families of the earth', He has promised to do so 'through Abraham's seed' (Genesis 12:3; 22:18).  Now we are Abraham's seed by faith, and the earth's families will be blessed only if we go to them with the gospel.  That is God's plain purpose." 

To reach all peoples and nations of the earth requires multitudes of disciples.  It requires Christ's church to accomplish this biblical purpose.

Having examined some of the biblical purposes that compel us to practice discipleship, we now must consider details essential to follow Christ's command and "make disciples."  In our modern day, it looks quite different.  We are not "studying at the feet" of a single teacher as was the practice 2000 years ago.  We have a range of tools and venue possibilities from which we must seek to derive effective discipleship within our local churches. 

So next time we begin to examine some of our practices of discipleship.

Blessings and many thanks,

Larry