RAISING DISCIPLES FOR WORLD OUTREACH

It was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who says: When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. You would observe in our previous discussion the emphasis we placed in separating discipleship and followership. This is paramount at this stage as we observed the conditions for becoming a disciple. Discipleship is not a life of enjoyment; presumably dinning and winning in the Holy Ghost. It is a life of commitment not only to enjoy Christ but to suffer and die for Him (Acts 21:13; 5:41). What are the conditions of been a Christ’s disciple: Born Again (John 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 2:13-15). You can’t discipled an unbeliever. He first has to come to the knowledge of the Master. Self-Denial (Matthew 10:32-39; 16:24). Self is an easy thing to discard with. Been a psychological construct, it is the reason for our existence. Self is why we are better than another. It is our means of expression and uniqueness. Now, Jesus is saying that anyone who decided...

A disciple is a learner or pupil; one who accepts and follows the doctrine and life of a particular teacher. A disciple is more than an observer. He is a regular, consistent and committed follower of a teacher.      From the Latin word, DISCIPULUS it is noted that a discipline is one who bounds himself strictly to the life of a certain teacher; he takes the discipline, direction and correction from such teacher and sometimes he is called by the name of the teacher and or reference is made of him in respect of his teacher.   It will be pertinent to say here that discipleship is more than followership which Christianity seems to portray. A Christian has to be discipled to accept the discipline of Christ. At this stage, he deliberately and consciously accept and carry the yoke of Christ (Matthew 11: 29). Discipleship is MAKING not MADE (Matthew 28:19, 4:19ff). One could say that, HE IS WORK IN PROGRESS. This does not mean he toyed w...