The following is an excerpt from the download, “Three Keys to Making Disciple Makers”, written by Dave Buehring, Founder & President of Lionshare. Download the rest of these keys through their website here and look for “3 Keys to Making Disciple-Makers!”
Key #1: Obedience is the Engine of Transformation
Jesus said, “If you love me, you’ll obey my commands” (John 14:15). When I was younger, I believed that to mean, “Prove that you love me by your obedience to Me”. However, over time I learned that it actually looks more like “as you continually encounter My love, obeying Me becomes a delightful must of your heart.” In other words, obeying Jesus is not done just because I should, or because He’ll love me more, or even because it advances His Kingdom. No, it’s much simpler and even richer than that — my heart has become entangled with His and obeying Him has morphed into a must mission of my heart!
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commissions His disciples to “go, make disciples…teaching them to obey…” Now, I know that’s not where it ends, but that’s right where the Holy Spirit stopped me… “teaching them to obey”! Jesus learned obedience (Heb. 5:8), He taught His disciples how to obey Him, and then He asked them to disciple others to obey Him as well. Question: are you deliberately discipling those Jesus has put around you to obey Him?
The consequential gap between something revealed by Jesus to us and the actual transformation intended by that revelation, is obedience. Obedience is the engine of transformation! Obeying Jesus yields good fruit, fruit that remains. Disobeying Jesus results in a thinness of soul, habits of doing what we think is best, and fleshly attempts to bring forth spiritual fruit that masks our spiritual impotency.
Jesus gave His disciples a command to obey: make disciples. Because of the reproducing DNA implied in this command, it means making disciple makers. Their must mission of obedience—as seen in the book of Acts—caused people, religious structures and society to be flipped upside down! Making disciple makers was a must mission of Jesus’ life and ministry—is this a must mission of yours? Practically speaking, who did you disciple last year that is now effectively reproducing this year? Is your church currently, fruitfully functioning in this must mission of Jesus?
Keys #2 and #3
Download keys 2 and 3 through Lionshare’s website here. Look for “3 Keys to Making Disciple-Makers!”
This post was provided by Lionshare, which is a multi-denominational and multi-generational community of Jesus followers committed to discipling four-generations deep. They walk alongside pastors and churches, as well as societal leaders, to help reproduce disciple makers. We ignite disciple making through our two-day d4 gatherings that are hosted throughout the country. We also have a scripturally sound, proven and practical resource we’ve used for over a decade to aid the disciple making process. Contact Lionshare at [email protected] or through their website www.lionshare.org.
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