The Worth of Discipleship

The seriousness and urgency of discipleship came to light while I was working as an associate pastor at a large church. One of my responsibilities was to make sure there were plenty of devotionals through the Gospel of John available at the door so that new believers could receive one as they left the sanctuary.

One particular Sunday morning, as I was restocking the devotionals, the urgency of sound Christian discipleship struck an even deeper chord in my heart and has been intensifying ever since. I remember the moment clearly as I felt a prompting, which I attribute to the Holy Spirit, that if we, as Christians, don’t disciple new believers (those who have recently been ‘born again’), we are as guilty of taking a newborn baby and leaving them on some else’s doorstep to raise.

Of course, the thought of such a thing is unthinkable.

And yet, it happens all the time with newly born Christians at the risk of these new children of God following false teachers and never growing in their faith.

I wandered in my faith for 14 years following poor leaders, and all because no one was there to help me understand the sacred writings of scripture.

In Paul’s final letter to Timothy just before his execution he emphasized the importance of Christian discipleship.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

My understanding of the value of sound discipleship unexpectedly came to light recently while I was meeting with a new Christian with whom I have been meeting weekly for over a year. To help him understand the glorious truth of the unmerited gift of salvation, I devised an analogy that would be helpful.

“What if someone told you, after me meeting with you for a year, that it wasn’t something I wanted to do but did it because someone was paying me $50,000 a year to do it.”

The words of the analogy had barely left my lips when he immediately responded.

“I’d say it was worth every penny!”

I was deeply humbled by the immediacy and seriousness of his response. He wasn’t kidding, and I realized how vital discipleship is and how much new Christians need and desire it.

I am reminded of Paul’s warning to the Christian leaders in Ephesus about the destructive teachings of false Christianity that threaten to mislead any Christian, old and new.

“I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

We mustn’t ever think that handing someone a book to read or encouraging them to attend a six-week discipleship class can replace walking hand in hand, one-on-one with a new believer, opening the scriptures to them, indefinitely, watching them grow into a mature Christian who can eventually do the same with others.

And the best part of it all is the joy of discovery alongside a new Christian, the ageless reminder, over and over again, that when we were dead in sin, without hope, we have been born again, made alive in Christ Jesus.

Few things are sweeter in this life than you are making an eternal difference in a newborn Christian’s life.

2 Timothy 4:3–4 | Acts 20:29–30

Photo by Karol Zieliński on Unsplash