Pastors seize an adventurous, daring enterprise — making disciples of all people! The last words of Jesus to his disciples included a command to “make disciples.”

The word Jesus used — disciple — is found only in the Gospels and Acts, not appearing in the Epistles. Neither Paul nor Peter used the word, in part because it is a descriptive term, more suitable for biography than for doctrine or exhortation. Disciple is synonymous with Christian, i.e. a true believer (Acts 11:26). In general, disciple describes a person who follows Jesus, learning from him. This includes men and women (Luke 14:26; Acts 9:36), with wide ranging levels of commitment, from the merely interested to the strongly committed, from the mature to the immature (John 6:66; Matthew 26:56; Acts 6:7; 14:21). Thus, pastors work to enroll as many people as possible in Christ’s school to learn of him.

The church is its own discipleship model. It has an internal organization and climate, which blend in a supernatural way to develop disciples. Within the church climate, the ministry of the early disciples demonstrates two types of disciple-making processes: public and private. For example, Peter preached publicly on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14) with the result that some 3,000 people decided to follow Christ. A short while later, he spoke privately in the home of Cornelius where many believed in Christ (Acts 10:23-24). Philip evangelized publicly in Samaria (Acts 8:5), then spoke privately with an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26). Paul proclaimed Christ publicly in Damascus (Acts 9:20) and, sometime later, dealt privately with Timothy (Acts 16:1-2). Jesus modeled the same rhythm of public and private ministry. He spoke publicly to masses of people (Matthew 14:13-21; 15:29-38). Yet, he engaged in intense private teaching and training of his small group of disciples (Matthew 16:13-28; 17:13).

The rhythm of disciple making flows back and forth between these two dynamics — public and private — in the life of a church. Allow me to offer two definitions. Public discipleship is the process of spiritual growth that takes place in all believers as they are exposed to, and involved in, the life of a local church. Private discipleship is the intense concentration of attention on a person or small group of people for the purpose of leadership development.

Public Discipleship

God has initiated processes in a local church, which result in the discipling of its members. An overview of this idea, but not an exact process, is presented in Ephesians 4:11-16. In this well-known passage of Scripture, Paul explained that Christ gave leaders — apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers — for the “equipping of the saints.” “Equip” is a rare word, which means “to mend.” It’s used to refer to the repairing of a fishing net (Matthew 4:21), so that it can be used to catch fish again. Another image is of a physician setting a broken bone or dislocated joint. The essential idea is that leaders are to restore broken people so that they are useful to the Lord’s work. To disciple well is to equip (repair, mend) others so that they may engage in Christ’s work so the church, the Body of Christ, is strengthened. This is to continue until every individual in the church is mature (“until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). In a few words, the goal of public discipleship is to help people in your congregation become like Christ (Romans 8:29). Christ Jesus said it himself: “it is enough for the disciple that he come like his teacher, and the slave like his master” (Matthew 10:25).

Nothing describes public discipleship better than body life. Perhaps that is why we are admonished to stir up one another to love and good works. How do we accomplish that goal? We must “not neglect to meet together” (Hebrews 10:25). It’s in the meeting together that discipleship happens as we love (John 13:34-35), encourage (1 Thessalonians 4:18), exhort (Hebrews 3:13), forgive (Colossians 3:13), confess (James 5:16), pray (James 5:16), sympathize (1 Peter 3:8), serve (Galatians 5:15), are patient (Ephesians 4:2), kind (Ephesians 4:32), bear each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), practice humility (1 Peter 5:5) and work for unity (Ephesians 4:3). It’s public disciple making that brings maturity to the body as a whole. As people participate in worship, sit under the preaching of God’s Word, engage in prayer, participate in community, give witness to their faith among family and friends and fellowship together, they grow.

Private Discipleship

The Peanuts comic strip is read by millions of people every day. In one Peanuts strip, Charlie Brown visits his psychiatrist, Lucy, and confesses, “Sometimes I think I don’t know anything about life. I need help. Tell me a great truth!”

Lucy replies, “Did you ever wake up at night and want a drink of water?”

“Sure,” says Charlie, “quite often.”

“When you are getting a drink of water in the dark,” Lucy goes on, “always rinse out the glass because there might be a bug in it! Five cents, please.”

“Great truths,” comments Charlie, “are even more simple than I thought they were.”

I suggest that they really are. One great truth about disciple making is God’s method is people. Jesus’s plan to change the world was not complex: “He appointed twelve to be with Him and to send them out” (Mark 3:14). The tendency of pastors — perhaps you? — is to make disciple-making difficult. Jesus’ approach, though, was profoundly simple: companionship and commission. One invigorates the other. Private discipleship, like raising children, is impossible by proxy.

If you desire to build up a team of leaders to accomplish God’s purposes in your church, you must spend time with a few people. Jesus’ disciples ate with him, talked with him, fished with him, prayed with him, and in doing so, became like him. Later, when people observed the power of the disciples, they recognized that “they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

It’s a scary thought, but in time, people in your church will become like you. You can’t stop it from happening any more than you can stop children from becoming like their parents. Paul recognized this and lived it. Three times Paul exhorted his followers to “be imitators of me” (1 Corinthians 4:16), “be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). “Brethren, join in following my example” (Philippians 3:17). The following principles are essential.

First, discipleship involves investing in the lives of future generations. When Jesus gathered his band of twelve disciples, he started a chain of multiplication. He discipled Andrew, who reached his brother Peter, who reached some 3,000 people on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38-41). Barnabas discipled Saul (Paul) and John Mark. Priscilla and Aquila discipled Apollos, and Paul discipled Timothy, Titus and others.

Second, discipleship involves training a few to reach the many. The purpose of discipleship is not selfish. Rather it is to train a few people who will ultimately take the Gospel of salvation to countless others. Disciples are to be witnesses to Christ’s work (Acts 1:8), to go preaching the Word (Acts 8:4-14), and to plant churches among all ethnic groups (Acts 8:26-40).

Third, discipleship involves a lifestyle that must be developed. Those who are

discipled are to develop a lifestyle whereby they teach what they know to others (2 Timothy 2:2), which is a process that never ends (“what you have heard from me entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”)

Fourth, discipleship involves seeing potential in others. A good example is Barnabas who was the first to see potential in the person of Saul (eventually Paul, Acts 9:27). After Saul’s conversion, it was Barnabas who encouraged the disciples at Damascus to accept him.

Fifth, discipleship involves selecting people to disciple. When Barnabas was faced with a challenging ministry in Antioch, he immediately “left for Tarsus to look for Saul” (Acts 11:25).

Sixth, discipleship involves sharing ministry with others. After Barnabas found Saul, “he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers” (Acts 11:26). Serving together is the primary way to train disciples. It is the method used by Jesus, Barnabas and eventually Paul.

Seventh, discipleship involves letting disciples go. Eventually, Barnabas and Paul went their separate ways in ministry (Acts 15:36-40, which may not be as bad as some have thought, since ministry was multiplied).

As you observe the people around you, who do you think has potential? Are you meeting with them? When was the last time you met with him or her? Conversations before, during and after serving together are the times when disciples are most teachable. It takes time to build a trusting relationship to disciple others. Regular times together are important.

So, who are you discipling?